It\u2019s exam time again on the Part 3 course and, given the state of things, I\u2019m surprised at how blas\u00e9 the tutors seem. By contrast, the students \u2013 sorry, \u2018candidates\u2019 \u2013 have endured yet another gruelling nine months of post-Brexit downturn, fluctuating immigration statuses and now the cancellation of HS2. There are longer hours, shorter contracts, pay freezes and straight\u2011up \u2018restructuring\u2019 which notably protects the Revit-illiterate seniors while sending tremors through early career foundations.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re briefed by the watery-eyed head of course that we should be kind \u2013 but not too kind! It is an exam, and they need to understand the gravity of the situation. And we should be rigorous in our questions \u2013 but don\u2019t make it weird! Stressed people don\u2019t give good answers. Make sure to ask them about the Building Safety Act, but don\u2019t get too specific, in case they ask the question back to us and, crikey, we have no idea, am I right! Mirthless chuckling. Oh, and make sure you ask them about their personal ethical stance, which they must have, and live by. Even though we can see they\u2019re swimming in the same toxic swamp as the rest of us and it is, technically, just a job.<\/p>\n
Our first candidate is a shoo-in. Solid work, solid answers to clarification questions, lovely. NEXT! Oh my, you are sweaty, sir. No, no, have a seat, no rush, deep breath, it\u2019s just a conversation. Haha, sort of. So, how are you \u2026? Oh I\u2019m sorry to hear your practice is making redundancies, that\u2019s always a stressful process. Are you \u2026 part of that? Yes, you are, OK. What\u2019s your, um, ethical position on that? No, go ahead, you can swear if you want to.<\/p>\n
The next three candidates are similar, although perspiring less. Turns out for every B-Corp practice with dubious working hours and below-benchmark pay (it\u2019s a local authority client, what are we supposed to doooooo?!) there\u2019s an equally cynical Employee \u2018Owned\u2019 Trust trying to back-fill a resource gap by kicking the can down the road and hiding it all in an over-elaborate InDesign template. Either way, they\u2019re cutting staff, there\u2019s no budget for a pay rise (soz!) and, no, you can\u2019t have time off in lieu. Be grateful for the golden handcuffs. Smile, you\u2019ll be wearing them for two years.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m getting a bit bleary-eyed with the onslaught of ennui, when Candidate 6 sits down. He\u2019s calm, his answers are concise but specific and he elaborates when asked. We\u2019re done; he\u2019s cleared the RIBA\/ARB hurdles \u2026 what to do with the remaining 15 minutes? I go for a broad-spectrum question \u2013 what are your reflections on working in architecture now that you\u2019ve completed your Part 3? What are your takeaways? He pauses and sighs.<\/p>\n
\u2018Honestly, the vibes are just off, you know?\u2019 he says, eyeballing my silver haired co-examiner, as if daring her to question the colloquialism. Yes, she replies, yes, I am aware that the vibe has been off for some time. There is a pause. So how is your practice handling the economic uncertainty around your case study project? [Hint: it\u2019s one of the HS2 casualties]. \u2018Well they announced this morning that they\u2019d be making redundancies.\u2019<\/p>\n
Ah, did they know you had your Part 3 exam today? \u2018Oh yeah, they said it\u2019d be a good talking point for the interview.\u2019<\/p>\n
Nice. Ok, so what are your immediate thoughts then, given the \u2018surprise\u2019? \u2018Well you know, I\u2019m kind of fine with it? I took this job because they offered to pay for the Part 3, and if they make me redundant, it gets me out of the pay-back clause. There\u2019s no projects anyway, and framework bids are soul-destroying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I could go be a design manager, especially as the ARB are talking about abolishing the Part 3 system anyway. So really, I\u2019m kind of hoping they cut me. A severance pack and gardening leave sounds pretty good right now.\u2019<\/p>\n My turn to be stunned. Everything he\u2019s said is reasonable, accurate and honest. I really wish he was wrong, but he\u2019s not. Time\u2019s up, so we shake hands and wish him the best of luck getting made redundant. I ponder my own ethical position on the train home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The vibe really is off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s exam time again on the Part 3 course and, given the state of things, I\u2019m surprised at how blas\u00e9 the tutors seem. By contrast, the students \u2013 sorry, \u2018candidates\u2019 \u2013 have endured yet another gruelling nine months of post-Brexit downturn, fluctuating immigration statuses and now the cancellation of HS2. There are longer hours, shorter …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9844,"featured_media":720280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[745],"tags":[2518,1466,72352],"yoast_head":"\n