₦airaland Forum

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Surface treatment...

Compacting process...

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Fredique:
I am an Architect. 15 years since graduation and registered with ARCON and an NIA full member. Since you made your option Architecture vs Civil Engineering, I'll give you an honest response: Please choose CIVIL Engineering.

The reason is that it is more versatile. If you want to work in employment, you will have more opportunities and higher chances in other sectors than an Architect would. For example, road construction, oil and gas, and structural engineering consulting. It's only in Architectural consulting firms and more recently, in property development firms that Architects are sought. They may go to other sectors, but they may not work as architects there.

The second reason you should consider civil engineering. As an architect in consulting, my projects come from clients directly. For every project going more than one floor, I MUST engage a civil engineer, or advise my client to engage one. So a civil engineer gets paid for every Architect's project that is not a bungalow. My go-to civil engineer receives projects from many other Architects -without needing to get jobs from clients personally. This translates, on average, to more projects for civil engineers in the building consulting sector than architects (they may not be paid as much for one project, but on average if you are good, you will have more volume of work because your source will be from several architects, and this translates to more money)

The third reason is immigration. I recommend choosing a course that is easier to immigrate with should you consider immigration later. Do a google search now for occupations in demand in Canada or Australia, you will most likely find civil engineering (or its related synonyms), and not Architecture.

Someone here mentioned how you can make money as a student studying Architecture. I see it as a disadvantage. As an architect in practice, the fact that clients can meet students for something that we trained years for in Nigeria is bad (Obviously, they don't get the same quality and professional service). But the point is don't study something in school that anyone can do because of the poor regulation in Nigeria.

During my time of choosing a course, I did not consider an alternative. It was Architecture or nothing. So my advice is because you are considering the two and you consider that any of them will be OK for you.

If you must choose Architecture, make sure you are absolutely passionate about it and extremely able to delay gratification and have great capability for long-suffering. It can be rewarding, no doubt. But for most people, it gets tough at first before it gets rewarding -especially if you subject yourself to the process of real professional training.

I said all I said because you made your options Architecture vs Civil Engineering. That said, PLEASE CONSIDER AVOIDING THE TWO COMPLETELY. Go for IT (your maths and physics will come in handy). The world has changed. There are easier ways to attain professional fulfilment. IT is versatile. if you are skilled, you will be sought after in every sector and qualify for most immigration programmes. Don't take my word for it, do a google search -compare entry-level salaries of IT professionals and Architecture graduates (ENTRY LEVEL). Search sites like indeed and glassdoor. Also, check occupations in demand for immigration programmes. Don't do any course that limits you to Nigeria, or with which you will have issues transitioning to work abroad even if you succeed in immigrating. IT qualifications are universal. Architecture and Civil engineering licences are local. For example, I am a registered Architect in Nigeria, but I will not be considered an architect in the UK unless I go through the process of acquiring their licence.

I hope you find my '2 kobo' opinion helpful

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Do follow your heart...

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Rounding up on filling work..

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