Intern Survey Part 1: Summary and Response

The first in a series of Intern Surveys was concluded in 2009. The results of that survey reveal interesting information which will be considered by not only the Intern Architect Committee, but also the Registration and Licensing Board and, ultimately, Council itself.

If you would like to see the summary results of the survey, they are available at the Survey Monkey site.

First of all, we were gratified that 84 interns chose to respond to the survey (about 20% of the intern group). Thank you to all who responded. This survey covered background information such as route of entry to internship, employment situations and compensation. Future surveys will drill down into more specific areas and issues of concern for interns and the profession.

Some of the interesting “learnings” from this survey include:

• The most important factor for interns’ choice of firm appears to be the level of responsibility granted. This is overwhelmingly so, with over 90 percent of responses in the somewhat to very important range. Compensation, reputation of firm, firm practice emphasis, and commitment to interns fall in a roughly equal band at 72-78 percent somewhat to very important. Surprisingly, benefits and personal/family considerations, rank relatively low on the scale.

• A considerable number of respondents (35%) that they do not get sufficient exposure to the necessary range of work to complete their CERB hours. The detailed responses reveal that contract and construction administration are the areas of most concern. This is borne out by results of oral review exams where these areas are the most common ones in which candidates fall short.
• On the brighter side, perhaps, is that almost half of the respondents report salaries of $55,000 or more. This is tempered by the comments received on the survey that it was not sufficiently granular at the $60,000 or more level and by the fact that 30% of interns report that they are not being compensated for overtime as is required by employment legislation in BC.
• Most telling of all are the responses to questions 16 through 19 which reveal general dissatisfaction with the way in which interns are valued and compensated. A large majority (over 70 percent) of respondents feel that they have not been adequately compensated and almost 60 percent of respondents report that they do not feel that the time and energy spent towards getting registered has not been worthwhile. The detailed responses to this question reveal a range of issues ranging from educational experience, length and difficulty of the registration process, compensation and work-life issues, and direction of the profession itself as contributing factors. Future surveys will look at some of these issues in more detail.
• Closing out on this theme, question 20 asked for ideas and suggestions about intern surveys. There were a number of useful responses/themes which will help improve how we do surveys and provide topics for future surveys. Stay tuned.

AIBC Intern Architect Survey Results (Part 1)

Thank you to those who participated in the survey. The survey results will be used by the AIBC’s Registration and Licensing Board as well as the National Intern Architect Program Task Force to drive changes to the Intern Architect Program (IAP). To view the results of the first survey, click here. Please stay tuned, as we will have a second survey posted soon. The following is a summary of the results written by Johnnie Kuo IA.AIBC, a member of the Intern Architect Committee:

The survey has drawn its result from 59 responses. Most respondents (over 84%) have never been registered as intern architects outside of Canada or BC. There is a small percentage (15%) of respondents who are registered architects outside of Canada. Nearly 73% of respondent interns are employed full time, while 12% are unemployed.

Highlights from the survey results:

• When choosing firms, level of responsibility granted is rated “Very Important’ for 63% of respondents, size of firm and benefits are rated “Somewhat Important” by 42% of respondents; identity of firm principals seems to be least important.
• Over 60% of interns feel they are sufficiently exposed to a range of work that allow them to fulfill CERB requirement; among the remaining 37%, most often identified issues are lack of contract administration, construction and site related experience.
• Two-thirds of respondents are paid annual salary, compensated for overtime pay that is either straight time banked as holiday time or time-and-a-half paid out/towards holidays. The same percentage reported that they do not supplement income with outside work.
• 25% of respondents are paid 60K or more; about 56% are paid between 45K and 60K annually. The same percentage of respondents feel their compensation package is fair. Two-thirds of respondents reported that their compensation package insufficient to meet their living needs.
• Most commonly provided benefits are full payment of AIBC annual dues, cost shared dental, and AIBC PD courses.
• Most concerning is the fact that nearly 60% of respondents do not find the time and effort spend towards getting registered as an architect worth it from a professional or personal perspective. They also do not feel that they have been adequately compensated financially for the time and effort already spent towards getting registered.

Future survey topics and pertinent comments include:

• Employment standards and compensation
• Ethics
• AIBC improved monitoring or regulation of the current system to ensure interns are getting appropriate experience
• NCARB
• Support and respect for interns in their professional development, work environment, and finances
• Intern resources and peer support (juggling demands from work, exams, and courses while maintaining a healthy life style)
• Internship process here in BC vs. elsewhere
• CERB and exams, NCARB exams vs. EXAC
• Young firms and design culture
• Registration requirements
• Perspectives from self-employed or contract-base interns
• Unemployment

AIBC Intern Architect Survey Series

The AIBC and the Intern Architect Committee want to know what is happening with the Intern Architects in BC. A series of short surveys have been developed and each will be posted every couple of months linked to the Intern Architect blog and in the Intern Architects section of the AIBC website.

Please take the time to fill out the surveys to let us know how you are doing. The surveys will ask you about a series of categories such as mandatory course work, exam processes, experience with your mentors, your professional involvement with the community, satisfaction with the intern program, what your greatest obstacles have been, and submitting CERB hours. Your feedback is vital for improving the program. The first survey will review your current and previous employment, remuneration, and your career path. Please take a moment and begin the first survey.