Working as an architect is very fulfilling, primarily because it is a rewarding career; one that even allows you to become an employer if you play your cards right. One of the things you must do to excel in this field is to take continuing education (CE) seriously. It’s crucial to work in a firm that offers enough support and encouragement to pursue continuing education.
In this article, you will learn some of the top ways your firm can support architects to ensure they retain their AIA member status.
What You Should Know About Architect CE
Continuing education for architects refers to any educational activities that architects engage in to maintain and increase their knowledge and competence. Architects are, by default, supposed to meet pre-defined CE requirements that differ depending on the state in which one works or is based.
Generally, however, you will have to acquire specific continuing education units for architects within a set period. Of course, the easiest way to do this would be to take a CE course from a reputable education provider like RocketCert. However, there are other accepted forms of continuing education, such as attending webinars, seminars, conferences, workshops, and tours.
How Can Firms Encourage Continuing Education?
Every architectural firm should promote a culture of lifelong learning by supporting its architects’ pursuit of continuing education. The top ways to achieve this goal include, but aren’t limited to:
1. Offering Financial Support
The first and most important way that firms can encourage continuing education is by allocating a budget for CE expenses like travel, course fees, and accommodation. If that’s not an option, reimbursement or subsidy offers for CE activities will work great. As an employee, you can suggest such offers to your employer to ensure every architect in the company benefits.
If you’re in management or, even better, you own an architectural firm, offering such benefits is an easy way to show your commitment to professional development.
2. Introducing a Learning Culture
It’s also a good idea to promote a culture of continuous learning within the firm, as this will encourage the architects to engage in CE activities. As a firm owner or manager, you can develop such a culture by creating an internal platform where architects challenge each other to invest in professional development by sharing their learning experiences and insights.
What’s more, be active in promoting knowledge-sharing by organising unique activities such as lunch-and-learn sessions. Such sessions are supposed to be fun so that everyone in the team feels motivated to acquire a thing or two.
3. Provide Learning Opportunities
In addition to enabling learning, a firm owner or manager can go a step further and offer the learning opportunities themselves. Wondering how this works? Well, it’s rather straightforward. As an employer or manager, you can arrange free webinars, partner with educational institutions to offer additional courses, or even organise architectural tours.
Such learning opportunities don’t even have to be expensive. Just ensure training is conducted by industry experts so that your teams can benefit from the trainers’ vast experience. What’s more, try to offer learning opportunities in different formats where possible to cater to the different preferences and needs of your employees.
4. Schedule Dedicated Learning Time
Not every second or minute should be dedicated to work. Whether you are an architect or an employer, you should set aside some time that will be used exclusively for learning. This tip is especially important for firm managers or owners, since very few allocate enough time to professional development.
So, even as you encourage your employees to focus on bettering themselves, also make it possible for them by gifting them one of the most important resources they need for that: time.
CE for Architects Made Easier
The bottom line here is that professional development is vital for success in architecture. However, most experts in this field find it more challenging than it is meant to be, mostly because of looking in the wrong places.
That’s why you want to try CE courses from RocketCert. These are designed to offer maximum convenience, being online courses. Additionally, they are easier to take, as they’ve been fully narrated by experts. So, head over to rocketcert.com today to learn more and start your professional development journey.
