Experience Requirements Overview

  • Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
  • Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
  • Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
  • Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: Bachelor's Degree

Related Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

On-Site or In-Plant Training: N.A.

On-the-Job Training: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

Detailed Work Activities

  • Document technical design details.
  • Discuss designs or plans with clients.
  • Prepare contracts, disclosures, or applications.
  • Design structures or facilities.
  • Prepare procedural documents.

Work Values

Independence

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Achievement

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Tasks

  • Administer construction contracts.
  • Develop final construction plans that include aesthetic representations of the structure or details for its construction.
  • Prepare scale drawings or architectural designs, using computer-aided design or other tools.
  • Prepare information regarding design, structure specifications, materials, color, equipment, estimated costs, or construction time.
  • Consult with clients to determine functional or spatial requirements of structures.
  • Meet with clients to review or discuss architectural drawings.
  • Monitor the work of specialists, such as electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, interior designers, or sound specialists to ensure optimal form or function of designs or final structures.
  • Integrate engineering elements into unified architectural designs.
  • Plan layouts of structural architectural projects.
  • Conduct periodic on-site observations of construction work to monitor compliance with plans.
  • Prepare contract documents for building contractors.
  • Plan or design structures such as residences, office buildings, theatres, factories, or other structural properties in accordance with environmental, safety, or other regulations.
  • Direct activities of technicians engaged in preparing drawings or specification documents.
  • Create three-dimensional or interactive representations of designs, using computer-assisted design software.
  • Represent clients in obtaining bids or awarding construction contracts.
  • Develop marketing materials, proposals, or presentations to generate new work opportunities.
  • Perform predesign services, such as feasibility or environmental impact studies.
  • Design structures that incorporate environmentally friendly building practices or concepts, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
  • Design or plan construction of green building projects to minimize adverse environmental impact or conserve energy.
  • Gather information related to projects' environmental sustainability or operational efficiency.
  • Inspect proposed building sites to determine suitability for construction.
  • Design environmentally sound structural upgrades to existing buildings, such as natural lighting systems, green roofs, or rainwater collection systems.
  • Calculate potential energy savings by comparing estimated energy consumption of proposed design to baseline standards.
  • Prepare operating and maintenance manuals, studies, or reports.

Work Styles

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Persistence

Initiative

Leadership

Cooperation

Concern for Others

Social Orientation

Self-Control

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Dependability

Attention to Detail

Integrity

Independence

Innovation

Analytical Thinking

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 28.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.