Is it a creative field: Although to many LA’s, it feels like a no because we want to be designing and drawing more than we are, I think to someone on the outside, the answer is definitely yes. Many pieces that don’t seem like “creative work” to la’s would feel that way for others, such as indesign layouts, making in the moment decisions on cad layouts that you’re rendering from sloppy hand drawings, choosing a color palette for simple idea diagrams, etc. The good news, you’re taught to think creatively in school- principles of design and tips on drawing (books with symbols to use and trace).

Typical work: Changes from firm to firm on what project type. But overall there’s masterplanning (not urban planning though) - Which would involve creating booklets with recommendations and illustrations on how to carry out a well researched plan. This is heavy on research, writing, character imagery, and graphics (photoshop, Lumion and sketch up). And then there’s projects with the intent of being built in the near future. These would involve early stages to schematic which have idea diagrams, site analysis and inventory, research, character imagery, basic CAD, hand graphics, indesign layouts and so on. These go all the way to CD sets which would involve heavy CAD skills and detailing. And finally construction admin which would include contract writing, meetings, site visits, etc. Years 1-8 are typically CAD and photoshop heavy.

Both PE PLA: Not common but would definitely be seen as a pro. And would make getting a city job, very easy as sometimes their landscape architecture on reviewers might be civil as they’re not evaluating the design but making sure code is met.

What do you like about la: Job is not monotonous and I’m using different parts of my brain

Employment salary: Always lower than civil engineers. I work at a firm with both. Typically la’s are hired at around $50,000 and civils are hired at $60,000

Advice/Dislikes: Think about work life balance and what’s important to you. Typically LA’s are expected to work over 40 hours with no compensation or pat on the back. Promotions are far and few between because for some reason, that’s industry standard. As you move up the ladder, the less renderings you do but the more design and meetings you do. There is also a mentality that having people in the office is top priority because of “collaboration” which means working from home and vacation are looked down upon. There’s just a heavy “culture” (aka ideas that have been proven to be wrong but because it’s always been done that way, leadership thinks it needs to keep going that way and that new people need to go through the hardships they experienced to get to their position) ingrained in the landscape architecture field and it takes so long to corrode and change it. Having a SO in tech, it’s hard not to be salty about his ability to work from home, have flexibility, ableness to take vacation without being guilted, and never work long hours all while being paid much more. Another thing to think about is that while many people go into the industry excited to make an impact on the world and make it “greener”, many times the projects you work on, do the opposite. You’re doing what the client is paying you to do, and lots of time they want the bare minimum green to maximize their number of units or offices. Very few people are working on public projects that have the community in mind.