Tuesday May 07, 2024
Last weekend was a busy but incredibly fulfilling one as we held our first ever Portfolio and Resume Clinic—a new addition to our events roster designed to support those searching for job opportunities in the architecture and design industry.
Throughout the day, 128 attendees coming from all across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond were able to receive one-on-one feedback on their portfolios through 25-minute long appointments with one of our 22 guest reviewers. Providing great advice and useful tips was a stellar roster of experienced professionals representing a wide variety of practices within the industry including architects, landscape architects and interior designers. Attendees were also invited to make use of our Resume Review table where 7 additional reviewers, including several representatives of recruitment consultancies, provided insight and guidance on resumes, cover letters, and general questions related to job searching and career development.
In total over 140 individuals joined us for either a portfolio or resume review, with most people taking advantage of both!
The need for this event was first identified in 2018 when the TSA launched a multi-year initiative to reduce barriers to participation and better support those entering the industry. The Clinic now joins existing programs like TSA CONNECT—our structured networking event for students, newcomers and emerging practitioners—and our annual Newcomer in Architecture Information Session done in partnership with the CACB and the OAA, in providing the resources, information and support required by early-career professionals and those transitioning into the profession and region.
An event like this is a true community effort requiring the contributions of dozens of individuals, and we want to take a minute to say thank you to all those who made it possible including our portfolio and resume reviewers, Initiative Leads, and event volunteers. We also want to tip our hat to our TSA staff for the smooth running of the event, including so much behind-the-scenes coordination and logistics. Last but not least, we want to give a big thank you to all of our attendees for their trust and support as they participated in our first ever clinic–we hope you found the event helpful and welcoming. And, of course, we want to give a shout out to this year’s host Arcadis for providing the perfect setting for this initiative.
Given the popularity of this weekend’s Clinic and the feedback received so far, it is clear there is a need for more events like this one in the future. So while this might have been our first portfolio and resume clinic, it certainly won’t be our last!
Looking for some final words of wisdom to incorporate into your portfolio? We’ve put together a short reel sharing some final tips and advice from some of this year’s guest reviewers.
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