‘Skills can be taught’: what do recruiters look for in a candidate?

According to Jeames Hanley, national design technology manager at architectural practice Gray Puksand, technology is set to shake the architecture industry “to the core”.

He says design firms have traditionally been slow to adopt technology, resulting in an industry ‘brain drain’.

“We’ve seen tech-savvy staff leave traditional firms [for] technology start-ups and companies that are harnessing technology to try and innovate within the industry.

“Some are leaving the industry altogether,” Hanley says. That’s problematic, given the current demand for design-based roles.

“The world’s building stock is expected to double by 2060. That is building a New York City every month for the next 40 odd years. We need designers to join the industry, push design boundaries and how we work to deliver what we deliver,” says Hanley.

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Hanley believes automation offers huge opportunities for the architectural industry, and the roles of those within it.

“Making computer coding accessible to the masses via visual scripting means architects can now easily automate tedious tasks that took days and complete them in minutes,” says Hanley, noting artificial intelligence is also emerging as a “watch this space” technology in the field.

According to Hanley, tertiary institutes are behind in the software and technology they are teaching students.

“Students are finding they are not prepared for what is required in real-world day-to-day practice life,” he says.

Architectural practices also have a key role to play by supporting those already in the field adapt to a technology-reliant future.

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“Practices must also take care of the existing industry members who need to reskill in order to stay relevant in the industry,” Hanley says.

Despite wishing graduates were entering architecture with stronger technical skills than he typically sees, when Hanley is hiring he is actually looking for something else.

“I hire people for their personalities, not their skills. Technology skills can be taught, but personality, not so much,” he says.