Hi everyone, I’m Aylin Round, the founder and owner of ArchJobs, an online platform designed to assist architectural practices in advertising their roles across the UK, but also to provide a one-stop shop for anyone with hiring needs or who is looking for a new role within Architecture.
After leaving my Senior Recruitment job in April 2022, I was eager to create something that combines all my knowledge and understanding of the architectural industry and the hiring process, while also giving me the freedom to work from anywhere in the world. Knowing some of the pain points for both job seekers and practices, I decided that creating an architectural job board would give me the opportunity to make a positive impact.
About ArchJobs
As mentioned above, ArchJobs is an online platform designed to assist architectural practices in advertising their positions across the UK. I quickly decided that I wanted ArchJobs to be much more than just a job board and to not only support hiring managers/practices but also to offer guidance to job seekers. Over time, we added more features to the platform such as Salary Guides, an Unpaid Overtime Calculator, tailored Articles and Guides for Job Seekers, Career Coaching Sessions, Find a Recruiter, and more.
My aim is to create a one-stop platform that not only provides architectural professionals with job opportunities but also offers them information to navigate the current job market and understand their worth, including overseas professionals considering a move to the UK.
Overview on our current Features
Architectural Job Board
Everything started with the architectural job board where we help practices and multi-disciplinary companies advertise their architectural roles across the UK. What sets our job board apart from others is the level of support we offer to our clients. Whether you need help drafting a compelling job advert, guidance on salary ranges, or insight into competitive benefits, we are here to fully support you. This service is ideal for anyone new to hiring, seeking to attract the right talent, or interested in discussing the current market.
Due to our in-depth knowledge, we understand what job seekers are looking for in a job advert and what would encourage them to apply. These may be simple adjustments, but even including details about your benefits package, salary ranges, working arrangements, and not requiring job seekers to write a cover letter can make a huge difference.
On each job listing, we highlight some of the best selling points, providing candidates with a simple overview of software requirements, sectors, working style, and experience level. This helps candidates quickly identify if the role could be of interest. Applications can be directed to your preferred Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or straight to the hiring manager’s email address.
Articles/Guides
The Articles and Guides we provide are all written by us and tailored to the field of architecture. Whether you want to learn how to write and structure your CV, prepare your architectural portfolio, understand salary ranges, and more, we have you covered.
Navigating today’s job market is already confusing and stressful enough, and we aim to provide job seekers with as much free support as possible. Our guides require a lot of time and effort, and we continually update them and add new ones.
Salary Guide
The architectural Salary Guide was one of our first features we created. Recognising the amount of misinformation circulating on the internet, especially regarding salaries, we knew we had to provide something more accurate and also focus on different areas across the UK. The salary guide is useful for anyone who is either looking to move cities or wondering if they are being paid the current market rates.
Simply choose the architectural job title you want to check, and the map will display the average salaries in various cities across the UK. While London offers the highest salaries, the cost of living is also significantly higher, potentially leaving you with less money in your pockets compared to living elsewhere, particularly in the North of England. This is especially important to consider for overseas qualified professionals, who should factor in the cost of living, taxes, transportation, visa requirements, and other expenses before deciding to relocate.
Unpaid Overtime Calculator
After researching for an article, “UK Architectural Salaries, Living Wages, Unpaid Overtime, and more”, I discovered that workers have protections if unpaid overtime makes your hourly wage fall beneath the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage.Â
This tool not only helps you quickly understand the impact of all those unpaid overtime hours on your salary, but also whether you’re being paid above the legal National Minimum Wage and/or Living Wage (depending on whether your practice is RIBA Chartered).Â
The free Unpaid Overtime Calculator is easy to use. Simply fill out:
- Contracted hours per week
- Your annual salary
- Unpaid hours worked per week (average)
- Age bracket (for minimum wage calculations)
- In or Outside London (for living wage calculations)
And press “Calculate”.
Trust me, it’s eye-opening to see how a few extra hours here and there can lower your hourly rate to below the Living Wage or even the Minimum Wage. FYI – The National Minimum Wage will go up 4th April 2024 and we will update the tool.Â
Find a Recruiter
The Find a Recruiter feature came to life as I kept receiving messages on LinkedIn from job seekers who needed help with their job search. As this goes beyond ArchJobs’s scope and knowing that every industry has its share of good and bad eggs, I wanted to ensure that job seekers and hiring managers only work with the best and most trusted architectural recruiters.
Before we decide to work with or support any recruiters or recruitment agencies, we thoroughly vet them to ensure they have the right knowledge and experience. Ideally, we aim to have multiple recruiters who focus on various areas across the UK.Â
As a small startup ourselves, we especially enjoy supporting smaller and more unique recruitment agencies, knowing from experience how challenging it can be to navigate the industry’s noise. We are always happy to have a chat if someone is interested in joining our group of trusted architectural recruiters.Â
Architectural Career Coaching
I decided to offer career coaching sessions as they provide me with the opportunity to offer tailored advice and delve deeply into someone’s situation. Many job seekers wonder if their CV is strong enough, how to best present their architectural portfolio, what hiring managers are looking for, and how to structure their job search. This is also ideal for overseas qualified professionals considering a move to the UK who are unsure about requirements, how to handle their applications, salary ranges, job titles, and more.
Being able to offer such tailored advice is very rewarding and helps candidates focus on the right steps, giving them the confidence to navigate the job market effectively.
Hiring Hub
The Architectural Hiring Hub is one of our latest editions to ArchJobs. Hiring can be daunting and confusing and we want to provide hiring managers with as much support as possible. Whether it’s your first time hiring, or you regularly hire, there should be useful tips there for everyone.
The Hiring Hub is a collection of resources you can check out whenever you’re thinking of hiring Architectural Staff.Â
It includes:
- Guidance on Salary Ranges
- Tips on how to write high converting Job Adverts
- Example Job Descriptions
- Detailed Hiring Guides for specific job roles
- A list of vetted & trusted Recruiters you can work with
- Advice on how and where to advertise roles
These resources are useful if you’re wondering where to get started with hiring or reviewing your hiring processes and want to see if there are any useful takeaways for you. We are continually adding new articles to the page, and in case you need any further support, we are here to help.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ArchJobs stands out as more than just another job board in the architectural industry. We are committed to being a comprehensive platform, offering a range of resources and support tailored to the needs of both architectural practices and job seekers. From features like the Salary Guide and Architectural Hiring Hub to personalised career coaching sessions, we aim to provide the architectural community with everything they need to succeed. With our dedication to continual improvement and the aim to serve as a one-stop platform for the architectural community, we are excited about how far we’ve come and look forward to seeing where it will lead us.
