Alternative careers for specifiers?

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1

I am seriously considering a career change from specification writing to something more lucrative and definitely more stable.

Last Friday I was laid off from my job due to lack of work. This is not the first time that I have been laid off due to downsizing and it probably won’t be the last if I stay in this field. Quite frankly I am really tired of the hire and fire game.

This year I turned 50 and should be at the top of my game career-wise. I should be planning for my retirement, not filing for unemployment.

I am pretty pessimistic about the US economy. I think it will be years before we crawl out of this recession.

I have made some good friends, learned a lot, and had some great experiences…but I think now is the time to make a change.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

2

Any career change ideas, eh? Well, at my recent 50th high school reunion, I found that the male classmate voted “Most Likely to Succeed” (and who was one of only two classmates to attend and graduate from MIT) has opened up a medical marijuana clinic in California. He says it has been very successful. It is apparently located across the street from a high school…

3

Bummed to hear about the layoff. What part of the world are you in?

As for future steps, here is my suggestion:
Master the transition from Masterspec to the new digital stuff from Arcom and BSD. Be a independent consultant to help firms build up their in-house templates within those systems, help firms regionalize their masters within those national products.

Focus on this niche, and not so much on just specs. You’d get enough spec work out of the contacts you make that you don’t need to advertise that.

Importantly, no matter what your philosophical stance is on the e-specs viability, firms are migrating to it in droves as the specifications industry ages and retires. This is a market niche ripe for specialization

4

LOL. LA City Council just voted last night to close all those establishments

5

Run for president. I’ll vote for you.

Sorry to hear it David. Obviously you are diligent in what you do.

Have you considered contacting some of the spec consulting firms in your region? Perhaps if anyone is busy they can hand off some work your way.

Unfortunately most of us have been in your same position and no one is guaranteed a job beyond today. We can only be hopeful.

Best of luck. I’m sure you’ll land on your feet.

6

Step 1: Accept that you have a new fulltime job. It is finding a new job or career.

Step 2: Buy “What Color is Your Parachute.” It will be a substantial resource for you in evaluating what you want to do and how to effectively find a new job … or career. It is available at any bookstore or Amazon. You can jump into it at any point and deal with the content as intensely or superficially as you want at the moment.

Step 3: Hang out your shingle. That is, be an independent specifications writer (“consultant” or, more properly, a contract worker). Your last employer is your best prospect for a client, servicing their current, limited portfolio of projects.

Step 4: Network. Network. Network. It is the most effective way to find work (fits in with key advice from Step 2). It’s what you’re doing here on 4specs.com.

Step 5: Evaluate your skills and interests. Now is the time to figure out what you want to be when you grow up … emphasis on “want”. Again, Step 2 has effective tools.

Step 6: Evaluate the marketplace. What sort of projects are being designed (medical projects have the most potential IMHO)? Where are the design firms that have work; maybe not the Northwest?

Step 7: Take care of yourself. You are your most valuable asset. Sleep for renewal and not for escape. Exercise your mind and body. Eat and drink healthy.

May you succeed well in this adventure.

7

David, so sorry to hear this bro, but seriously if you love specwriting, go independent…I don’t know what being an independent specwriter is like in Seattle, so I suggest you ask around esp on this board, and once you become independent become a member of SCIP - not a plug, just a lot of good people belong to it. Now back to your dreams at 50, well I’ll be 60 next year and I’m not thinking about retirement, of course the last five years have been the worst of my life, a debilitating recession and my wife’s cancer battles, her loss and the continued sadness in my family has brought me as close to the brink as I’ve ever come. Still I’ve hung in there and am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, and hell I predominately do private funded work, you have all that experience in the public sector, why let that go. Definitely take the advice of Nathan (I wish I was 10 years younger) and John (words of wisdom for sure), but if you love writing specs and researching new and wonderous materials while working on projects all over the world…damn it stay a specwriter.
It just so happens my oldest and best client was the last firm I was employed by as an architect, they continue to be my most consistent client, so don’t burn any bridges, and you will find that many small to mid-size firms can not afford an inhouse specwriter nor do the principals have time to write specs, networking, talking to reps, will eventually open doors for you. You might also want to consider writing specs for manufacturers, esp. new products, I see a lot of manufacturers with minimal to no specifications on their websites, who really need specs. I’ve been approached in the past to write specs for manufacturers and actually turned them down, pretty dumb, I thought there might be a conflict of interest, really dumb, but these are lessons you learn so at 50 you have plenty of time to plan your retirement.
Who retires so soon these days, well I guess pro sports players do, but not most real people, so forget retirement, you have plenty of time for those morbid thoughts… if you are not married, get married, it does not matter what sex, though I’d stay away from farm animals, not good for the image…if you are not healthy, get healthy, stop smoking if you are, eat healthy, do all the other stuff everyone is told to do these days to get healthy, exercise, and definitely sleep as much as you can…and most important what ever you do enjoy doing it, as an independent you will work long hours, so you better enjoy doing it, still being an independent specwriter allows me to be my own boss and stay flexible with my time. I could never go back to work in a 9-5 job, an office, how am I going to cook kale, shrooms, and quinoa for lunch if I’m working in an office, and getting dressed up for work for me means putting on a clean t-shirt, the last time I wore a tie was to a funeral…I get to buy my fresh produce when every one else is fighting traffic, and if I want to sleep to 10am, wel lthe office opens late, never have to clock in, and if I have to meet with a client its always non-rush hour, who needs that stress.
I don’t have much faith in Obama or Romney, I think the recession needs to run its course and that might be several more years nationwide, but there does appear to be some activity, so don’t give up.
I’ve had several colleagues move to the Middle East, Qatar for work, lot’s of work going on there and if you have no family ties that’s a good way to get global experience and make some money, let me know if you are interested in that I still have contacts there.
So I expect to see David Axt Specwriter -AXT SPECS or the AXT Effect (wait, I think that is taken) or some cute moniker soon and if you need a recommendation for SCIP, just ask..good luck my friend I do not think you will need it, from the context of our past discussions you seem to be a damn good specwriter.

Oh yeah, negotiate with your current firm on health insurance, they should be able to cover you for a while, that has been one of my biggest expenses, Cobra is good, but once that runs out it gets really expensive unless you are a beast and extremely healthy.

8

BTW David, the reason I mentioned getting married is that its good to have a partner bring in bi-weekly income, regular salary is not guaranteed as an independent specwriter and sometimes your partner can provide health insurance, that was a big help for me. just make sure your partner is not in the same profession as you…who wants to talk about architecture all the time…boring.

9

David,

So sorry about your news. I think there’s some good advice here.

Something else that hasn’t been mentioned, since the recession we’ve seen a number of established architectural firms getting public work for the first time. They could certainly use your experience, not just with the specifications, but also with Division 00/01 and general Drawing/CAD conventions for public work.

Also, as an independent, I particularly like working with some of our smaller clients. I think they appreciate a fresh set of eyes on the Drawings, especially in a firm with one boss and three relatively inexperienced draftspeople/interns. We specifiers can help with technical issues with which they are less familiar, simply because we see a greater volume and variety of work than they do.

So hang out your shingle; update your LinkedIn page; and get going! Best of luck!

10

Well, I came to offer advice, but you’ve already got the best from the best. So I’ll just add my wishes and prayers for success in whatever you decide to do!

11

The same skill set should work for code consulting as well as doors, frames, & hardware.

Please post your ‘home’ email address and geographic location so we can keep up with you.

12

Suggest updating your contact information in the CSI Member Directory.

13

I suggest responding to this thread!

14

David:

Thank you for “letting it hang out” in this discussion thread and others.

I’d like to focus on the skills of a specifier, which would be helpful to know in order to get another job as a construction specifications writer or another career. Here are some, which I hope others will add to for our mutual understanding:

  • Research in construction products: identify and evaluate building products

  • Organize information, specifically construction product information and codes and standards; reorganize and refine information (e.g., make manufacturers’ guide specs coherent and conforming to CSI formats).

  • Coordinate information, such as drawing and specifications.

  • Review and critique information, such as specifications. This involves updating product information, codes and standards. There are “quality control” firms who charge as much as the fee paid to the specifications writer just to find errors and omissions in cross-references (a clerical task since it just points out problems and doesn’t offer solutions).

  • Mentoring: Assisting others in learning to research and evaluate products and produce appropriate drawing details and specifications.

Other skills?

15

David:

I think I already know the answer to this, from many years of experience. Does your previous employer have any idea of how much “corporate memory” went out the door with you?

16

Bummer, Dude… Surf’s up in the consulting world. Your old firm may want to discuss a consulting arrangement with you.

The other track you may want to consider is product representation.

Although this is not something you may want to hear, the economy is better in other parts of the country. You may want to contact a headhunter about relocation possibilities.

17

You know things are bad when firms that survived the Great Depression are suddenly having to call it quits. In our local CSI chapter, half of the officers and board members have been through a layoff over the last several years. To put it in the best light - it really sucks.

You can’t take it personally when your time comes. Accept these two truths: 1) It isn’t because you failed and 2) you are no less valuable just because one firm can’t keep you on. I can tell from your posts on this forum that you have a lot to offer.

Take some time to reflect on your own career and decide only after careful consideration (and it might take months to get over the sting) if the career that you have pursued, investing years of hard work, is no longer able to satisfy your personal desires. If there is something you have always wanted to do, investigate what it might take to make a living at it. You may never have a better opportunity to give it a try.

18

As we advised our kids, figure out what you love to do and then figure out a way to make money at it.

That still works at age 50 - and beyond. Life isn’t over yet!

19

David,

Sorry to hear about this latest turn of events.

Theres a tremendous amount of wise advice already posted. Something not mentioned yet would be exploring opportunities in the contracting world., in particular those relating to their implementation and use of BIM for virtual construction.

In a recent discussion with an academic colleague I was told that contractors are hiring most of the architectural graduates these days as they seek BIM skills to produce models for their virtual construction efforts. Your expertise might provide a critical link to tie the 3D BIM model together with their needs for “4D” and “5D” cost and schedule information.

Best of luck,

John

20

I agree, the advice here is good so far.

Another idea is to check out the alumni office of your college. They usually offer job placement counseling, including the kind involving career changes. My wife and I have both done that and it helped. Maybe your old firm can be persuaded to provide you with outplacement services, too. They are a big help.

Unfortunately, I doubt changing careers will give you any greater job security. I think that job insecurity is simply a part of the capitalist economy as practiced in the US.

If you move to Massachusetts, I can proudly say you will be guaranteed to be able to purchase health insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions or ability to pay. I can’t say the same about getting a job here though.