[gobbs]

I graduate with a B.Architecture in June but will likely be going into a mix web design/tech entrepreneurship. While the economy is relatively lousy at the moment I think the high unemployment rate is a mixture of both a decrease in jobs and the stubbornness/pride of architectural graduates. Many other professions you'd be glad to take most jobs in your field that offer a good pay, but I know of many firms I'd turn down on principal even if I was offered an attractive wage. Unfortunately the average pay for recent arch grads after 5 years tends to rest in the 35-45k/year range, so going into a different field where I could make more in less time is hard to turn down.

[sshumaker]

The pay for architecture grads is awful given how much in debt you'll be after going through architecture school. And it's even worse once you factor in the ridiculous hours and realize that if you calculate your hourly pay, it actually works out to less than minimum wage.

[itsmicks]

I was an architecture undergrad myself and immediately moved to the web upon graduating a few years ago. Thing is, I would still highly recommend it is as a major (...at least, the program I was in -- definitely varies school to school). My experience was of four years of mixed media problem solving through models, mylar, computer animation (Flash/Actionscript/Maya), etc. Definitely shaped how I think/approach everything I work on.

If I had a startup that was looking to hire innovative UX/design people right now, ex-Archs would be towards the top of my list.