One of the most crucial part of a landscape architecture degree is the placement year. I will be sharing my own experience here, what I did and how I applied. I did a 4-year masters course so I only had 9 months available for placement instead of a year. Nowadays the placement is usually a year. Not all degrees will have a placement year, for some courses, you can choose to take a placement year, and do an integrated master’s. Some postgraduate landscape architecture courses will require you to have done a year in practice as an entry requirement. Best to check depending on the course you want to do. For integrated masters like mine, the placement year usually happens during the 3rd year of your degree.
What is the purpose of a placement year in professional practice, and why might you want to choose it?
To put it simply, it’s a taste of the future. You will gain valuable professional experience, you can test the waters and see what the landscape world can offer you. Also, it’s a great opportunity to work abroad if you want to! Moreover, in some cases, if you find an employer you enjoy working for and vice versa you could potentially have a job after graduation. I had classmates that got offered permanent jobs after their placement, all they had to do was finish their final year. Working in professional practice will open doors for your future, you will make connections and find out what path you might want to take.
Placement Tips
My placement period was the second semester of my 3rd year from January to September. I started looking for a placement a few months in advance. For me, I started in October/ November. Firstly to apply you will need to pull together a portfolio, a CV, and a cover letter. In my cover letter, I wrote about what attracted me to their practice, whether that’s a project they did, or their design vision aligns with mine. I also wrote about my interest as a designer, how I see landscape architecture (in terms of what it means for me), and what design skills I have to offer. Remember this is what I did, everyone is different and what you write is up to you.
Portfolio
A portfolio is a collation of the work you have done so far, university or personal work. You want to include a variation from hand drawings to digital visualisations. Images of models are a good one too. You want to show a range of scales, by that I mean large strategic scale projects down to smaller scale detailed designs. Don’t be afraid to modify the work you have done to make it look better. If you feel you lack certain pieces of work, add them in! Create new drawings, add in hand sketches, anything that might make you stand out.
I also did a standard written CV with a design statement added. Some people include a short CV within the portfolio showing only the relevant information. I would advise having a separate CV and a short one in the portfolio. It’s easier for an employer to access your CV and see all your qualifications at a glance, rather than scrolling through your portfolio to find the information. I would also advise having a graphics CV rather than a standard written one. I didn’t do this when applying for placement work, but I did when I applied for graduate jobs. It makes a big difference, by making you stand out more and showing off some creative flare.
Applying
To commence the application part. Research firms that you want to work for, many firms offer internships for year-out students. Look at their projects, and design approach, maybe location is one to consider too. For my professional practice, I wanted to work abroad, as I have always wanted to experience landscape architecture outside of the UK. So for the first 2 months, I only applied for practices outside the UK. I applied across practices in Europe and Singapore. However, after 3 months of not many opportunities and the logistics of an offer not working out, I had to change strategy. I started looking for placement work in the UK. Think about where you want to be, and have a backup plan when one option is not working out.
The Waiting Game
You have sent off some applications, now it’s waiting time. I am going to be honest about this part, for some applications you might not get a response. I sent off about 30/ 40 odd applications and maybe only got a handful of responses. Try not to get too discouraged by it all, I know it’s easier said than done. I have been through it and was very disheartened by all the silence and rejections. For each application, I had put my hopes up so high. But let me tell you, this is common, especially in the design world, there are many applicants, and it’s a competitive world. Sometimes they don’t have the time to respond. Also, most hiring managers are very busy people, so responding to you might not be at the top of their priority list. I am not trying to make excuses for anyone but that unfortunately is a bit of a reality. The more you go through job hunting the easier it will get with rejections.
I have learned over the years to not put too much hope in receiving a response. I know it sounds sad but it helps. Otherwise, the disappointment is huge, or sometimes no response is worse. Focus instead of making your portfolio better, try new things or a new approach. I can assure you that it does make a difference and the hard work will pay off!
The Interview
You got sent an invitation for an interview, yay! One step closer. But how to prepare for one? Now I can’t say for every practice and how the interviews will go. But I can tell you my experience and how I prepared. Firstly, I made sure I knew all my projects in the portfolio well, and what technical skills each one showed off and made sure to highlight them. I would write a little speech for each project, outlining what it was about and the outputs. Secondly, I researched the projects the practice completed. Get to know about the practice in general, for example, are they multidisciplinary? What is their design ethos? Is there anything additional that might be of interest to me? I then write up everything into questions and answers to help me structure my talk.
I would suggest you prepare some questions too, don’t forget you are also interviewing them. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions. Be prepared, rest well, and go smash that interview!
Offers
So you had the interview, and got given an offer, happy days! It’s time to accept the job. Let’s let me pause you right there, and tell you my experience of declining a placement offer. One that I really wanted too.
I was offered a placement abroad in Asia, in a great company and ideal location. But when I found out about the hours, the pay, and holiday entitlement, I had to think twice before accepting. Not only that, I also had to apply for a very pricey visa from my own pocket. Additionally, based on the pay I was getting it was very difficult to afford living in that city, due to high accommodation prices and high cost of living. Therefore, my advise to you is be sure to review the contract package! What is being offered to you and think about the logistics too.
Practical Things
It’s easy to be happy and overly excited when you receive an offer to immediately accept it. However, for those who are looking to work abroad, my advice is to do your research! Different places have different work cultures, this company had much longer work hours in comparison to the UK. But that was the culture and norm, and as someone who is Asian, I can tell you that is common in Asia. Do your research about the cost of living in the place you want to move to, how much food shopping costs, accommodation, transport, flights, and think about the practical stuff. In my example, I was relying on myself financially with no external support. Therefore, given my circumstances, it wasn’t feasible. Yes, the experience would have been great but in turn, I would be struggling to make ends meet.
On top of that, working long hours wasn’t ideal. This was because as well as working full-time I also had to do three 60-credit university courses via remote learning. So if I were to work long hours with limited annual leave, that would leave me no time to study and do my work. Remember you are still a student and have to pass this placement year, I was assessed through remote learning but yours might be different. (To note every degree is different, I had to study and work, but the course you are taking might not. I would suggest you find out in advance when applying.)
I would also advise you to speak to your tutors at the university if you are unsure about an offer of employment. There have been cases where some employers can take advantage of placement students, especially when they are new and don’t know the industry well. I spoke to my tutor about my offer and was given very useful advice and information.
Change Of Strategy
By the time I had declined the offer, it was already December and we technically should be starting our placement in January. I had to think harder and change my job-hunting strategy. Therefore, I decided to give up the working abroad dream, I spent my Christmas updating my portfolio seeing as it wasn’t attracting many jobs for me. The job hunting location became the UK, and I started firing out applications in January. I eventually ended up getting a placement in a small practice in Cornwall. The job offer was the polar opposite of the other one I had. I packed my bags and moved down south on a 10.5-hour train journey from Edinburgh. I still remember I moved a few days before the beast from the East arrived, which was lucky. Cornwall was covered in snow for the first time in 17 years or something.
My time in Cornwall was amazing. My bosses are lovely people, I learned and developed so much as a designer and in my skills. I was in a lovely part of the country, with access to so many great landscapes and gardens. I learned many new things about Cornwall, like the Cornish palette of planting and landscape features. It was a fantastic experience. On top of that, I spent my spare time visiting scenic and beautiful places across Cornwall. It’s a stunning part of the country, that is worth a visit!
Since it took me a while to get a placement secured, my contract was only for 6 months. The experience gave me great insights into working in practice and making connections with other landscape architects. I got exposed to real-life projects, working with architects, and being out on construction sites. I bagged a lot of experience that helped me look for jobs after graduation and apply those skills.
If you are looking for a placement or a job in landscape architecture, I wish you the best of luck. I hope this post has given you an insight into the process. Don’t get discouraged by the lack of responses and rejections. There might be 20 or 30 nos initially, but there will be a yes at some point. Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions about job hunting, click on the contact page and drop me a message. I would love to hear from you.
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