I alluded briefly at the end of the last post to a phenomenon, that silly as it may seem, happens with too much frequency. Maybe I should give it a term. Let's see...I'll call it ...Social Promotion. That seems like an apt title. Social promotion is the act of employers, in this case employing architectural interns, to promote an inexperienced person to a higher title, like project manager, without pay or true responsibility. Now, the intern being promoted into such a position will naturally be thrilled and put out much effort in order to fulfill the new title. However, it will ultimately be to no avail because the intern is not really a project manager. He or she is still an intern.
Social Promotion is a blatant lie on the part of employers to exact additional work from an intern. The employer gets an abnormal amount of overtime hours from the intern. Those hours are typically pro bono, and the intern works with little guidance or mentoring - after all they are project managers, what mentoring do they need? How can this work, you ask?
It works because the profession has allowed it to. We have allowed the expectation of competence to become diluted to the point that we desire only to hide behind a screen of contractual mumbo jumbo and point the finger at our consultants when things go wrong. The level of expectation from clients has fallen also, as well as, that of contractors. I have been embarrassed so many times in the field by incomplete and incorrect drawings...it is no wonder that contractors hold architects in such low esteem. But, I digress. Let's get back to the intern / employer issues...
Why do I rail? The things I have described, I have observed over and over again. These observations have been made over many years and in various architectural firms. These observations have been made as a member of several AIA boards, interacting with many firms over time. These observations have been made as a teacher in a school of architecture. These things happened to me...and I fell right into the trap.
Yea, I was a golden child for a time. I graduated second in my class and had the pride to go with it. My first bosses were glad to promote my title after I proved that I was willing to go the extra mile. I was too ignorant to realize I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I was selfish for the recognition. I was incompetent as an architect. I was left, after several years, disillusioned and desiring to leave the profession. I grew up the hard way, exploited by the very profession I desired to embrace.
It breaks my heart to see these thing happening to other interns. Yet it does with alarming frequency. I want to stop that. There are many posts that might come from this rambling introduction, but I feel that they are all necessary. I am not the only voice in this fight. Others are in the battle too. I have been on the sidelines for a while, but I think its time to get back into the game...
