Architecture CV example for architects and Part 1 and 2 students

The CV and the portfolio do different jobs

Practices ask for both because they answer different questions. The portfolio shows how you think and draw. The CV shows what you have done, on which kinds of building, at which stages and with how much responsibility. A partner flicking through applications often reads the CV first to decide whether the portfolio is worth opening, so the CV has to stand on its own.

Keep them separate. Send a short sample portfolio as a PDF with a small file size, and bring or offer the full one at interview. Put a single link or a line saying "Sample portfolio attached" near the top of the CV. Resist the urge to turn the CV itself into a portfolio page with renders in the margins: it becomes hard to read, hard to print and hard for any screening software to parse.

Say exactly where you are in your training

In the UK the title "architect" is protected by law. The Architects Registration Board keeps the Register, and only people on it may call themselves architects in business. Getting this wrong on a CV is a red flag to any practice, because it suggests you either do not know the rules or are stretching them. Use the wording that matches your stage:

• Part 1: "Part 1 architectural assistant" once you have your first degree, and "BA (Hons) Architecture, ARB/RIBA Part 1" in education.
• Part 2: "Part 2 architectural assistant", with your MArch or equivalent listed as Part 2.
• Studying for Part 3: "Part 2 architectural assistant, Part 3 in progress", with the course and expected finish.
• Registered: "Architect (ARB registered)". The registration year is useful; your registration number is not needed on the CV.

The National Careers Service describes the usual route: a Part 1 degree, a year of practical experience, a further two years for Part 2, another year of practical training and the Part 3 exam. It also lists apprenticeships (Architectural Assistant Level 6 for Part 1 and an Architect Level 7 integrated degree apprenticeship for Parts 2 and 3) and RIBA Studio, which lets you study while working in a practice. If you came through one of these routes, name it in full so the reader understands your timeline.

Build the project list around RIBA stages

The RIBA Plan of Work 2020 splits a building project into eight stages, numbered 0 to 7, and UK practices commonly use those numbers as shorthand. They tell a hiring partner exactly where your experience sits. Someone who has only worked on competition entries and planning drawings has a different profile from someone who has done technical design and been on site.

Under each practice, list your main projects one per line: building type, rough scale, the stages you worked on and what you did. Contract values are useful when you know them and the practice would not mind them being shared.

Software: name it and be honest about level

Practices hire people who can open the project file on day one, so software matters more than on most professional CVs. Name what you use and how: Revit for full models and documentation, AutoCAD for 2D details, Rhino or SketchUp for massing and design options, and whichever rendering and Adobe tools you actually produce presentation work in. If you have worked on BIM projects, say what your role in the model was, such as producing a discipline model or coordinating clashes.

Avoid rating bars and percentage scores. A practice that runs on Revit will test you on Revit at interview or in your first week, and a claimed "90%" that turns out to be 50% costs more trust than admitting you are still learning families.

Part 1 and Part 2 students looking for a placement

A year-out CV has less to list, so the order changes. Put education first, with your degree, school of architecture and expected result, then two or three studio projects written like jobs: the brief, the site, what you produced and one line on the idea. Any work in practice, even a summer week, goes next with your tasks spelt out, such as survey drawings, planning drawings or physical models.

Show the practical skills small practices need from an assistant straight away: drawing up existing plans from a measured survey, model making, producing planning drawings, and software you can use without help. Competitions, exhibitions and design awards get a short section of their own. Jobs outside architecture still count; a bar job shows reliability, and one line is enough.

Moving up to project architect

The step from architect to project architect is about running a job, not only designing it. The National Careers Service lists the work: discussing ideas, materials, costs and timelines with clients, managing projects, making sure designs meet regulations and working with construction professionals to deal with problems. Your CV should show each of those with a real example. Name the clients you were the day-to-day contact for, the planning or building regulations applications you led, the consultant team you coordinated and the site you inspected. If you have administered a building contract or signed off stages, say which.

A layout that looks designed but reads easily

Architects are judged on how things look, and a clumsy CV counts against you. That does not mean decoration. Use one clean typeface, a clear grid, generous margins and consistent alignment. A single-column layout with a restrained accent colour works well, prints properly and keeps the text in reading order for any applicant tracking system a large practice uses. Save it as a PDF, check it on a phone, and keep the file name professional.

Mistakes that put practices off

• Calling yourself an architect before you are on the ARB Register.
• A project list with no stages, so the reader cannot tell design work from site work.
• A 30 MB portfolio attached to the first email.
• Renders and logos on the CV that make it unreadable when printed in black and white.
• Software lists with every package from university, including ones you could not use today.
• No sign of which projects were built, which were not, and what you did on each.

Architect pay

The National Careers Service gives an average of £31,000 a year for a starter architect and £58,000 for an experienced one.