In order to obtain better data about potential young specifiers, I would propose a survey about how we all got started to see what the norm was as we became specifers.
What is your current age?
Did you receive education beyond high school?
What was your your major?
At what age did you first prepare some significant specifications?
Did you have a mentor in specifications?
How was the mentor related to you (office, CSI chapter, etc.)?
At what age did you first take a formal education seminar or course in specifications?
Who provided the education?
At what age did you achieve CCS (will be later for many because of when the program started)?
At what age did you first become a full-time specifier?
A complilation of the above data from a significant number of today’s specifier’s will provide us good information to compare with what is happening today.
To make the complilation easier, please copy and use the following outline for responses:
Current age:
Higher education: Yes or No
Major?
Age when first prepared specs:
Have a mentor: Yes or No
Mentor Relationship:
Age at first formal education:
Education provider:
Age at CCS:
Age as full-time specifier:
Current age: 45
Higher education: Yes
Major? Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 34
Have a mentor: No
Mentor Relationship:
Age at first formal education: CSI CDT/CCS
Education provider: self
Age at CCS: 35/36
Age as full-time specifier: 35
Current age: 55
Higher education: Yes
Major? Photography
Age when first prepared specs: 44
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: Director of Specifications
Age at first formal education: 44
Education provider: CSI CDT Certification through the Firm
Age at CCS: 48
Age as full-time specifier: 44
Current age: 65
Higher education: Yes
Major? Psychology (undergrad); Architecture (Masters)
Age when first prepared specs: 49
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: Coworker/supervisor
Age at first formal education: For spec writing? 51
Education provider: CSI, mentor
Age at CCS: 55
Age as full-time specifier: 51 (while working towards CDT)
Current age: 44
Higher education: A.B then M.Arch
Major? Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 29
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: Director of Specifications
Age at first formal education: 27, M.Arch class on professional practice.
Education provider: Graduate school
Age at CCS: 29 (4 months after first job as specifier)
Age as full-time specifier: 30
Current age: 43
Higher education: Yes
Major? Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 29
Have a mentor: No
Mentor Relationship: na
Age at first formal education: 31
Education provider: CSI, CDT Seminar
Age at CCS: 35
Age as full-time specifier: Not a full-time specifier
Robert: One year at a SCIP meeting, I asked several specifiers (particularly women) how they got started as specifiers. There were many interesting stories, but no ‘norm’ path. I’ll be interested to see what your survey finds.
Current age: 58
Higher education: Yes
Major: Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 32
Have a mentor: No
Mentor Relationship:
Age at first formal education: 49
Education provider: CSI, CDT
Age at CCS: 51
Age as full-time specifier: 49
Current age: 73
Higher education: Yes
Major? Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 30
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: Firm Partner
Age at first formal education: 32
Education provider: Private seminar
Age at CCS: 74 hopefully
Age as full-time specifier: 60
Are you going to post your own response to the survey? Most of us know your background, but it might interest those who don’t know you to understand the depth of the experience you bring to these discussions.
By the way, I answered “no mentor” because I assume it related to when we first prepared a spec. But I must credit you, and several others who regularly post here on 4specs, as being wonderful mentors when I finally got around to specifying full-time and realizing how little I knew for the first 20 years of my career. Thank you all.
Current age: 48 (as of tomorrow)
Higher education: Yes
Major? Architecture (B. Arch)
Age when first prepared specs: 23 (but I hadn’t a clue as to what I was doing)
Have a mentor: Yes, sort of…
Mentor Relationship: Various senior architects I worked with, but none in regard to specifications preparation
Age at first formal education: 39
Education provider: CSI
Age at CCS: 41
Age as full-time specifier: 42
Current age: 51
Higher education: Yes
Major: Architecture (B.Arch)
Age when first prepared specs: 32
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: Supervisor
Age at first formal education: 42
Education provider: CSI
Age at CCS: 44
Age as full-time specifier: 42
Current age: 64
Higher education: Yes
Major? Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 35
Have a mentor: No
Mentor Relationship:
Age at first formal education: 40
Education provider: CSI
Age at CCS: 55
Age as full-time specifier: 42
Yes George I was planning on responding - waited a little bit to see if people were willing to participate. Looks like they are.
Robbin - Norm was probably not the best term to use. I guess the goal is to see “how young” we were when we got into the spec biz.
I plan on doing a complilation that would include highs, lows, average, and maybe means. So the results would indicate the extremes as well as the average. This would then give us some historical data upon which to evaluate the situation today.
Current age: 70
Higher education: Yes
Major: Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 26
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: CSI chapter member
Age at first formal education: 28
Education provider: CSI chapter - before CDT/CCS
Age at CCS: 43
Age as full-time specifier: 43
Current age: 62
Higher education: Yes (Canada)
Major? Architectural Technology
Age when first prepared specs: 26
Have a mentor: Yes.
Mentor Relationship: Firm principal who did the specifications and over the years, other specifiers, and 4Specs.com. Learning never stops.
Age at first formal education: 27
Education provider: Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) via their correspondence course. Pre MOPs.
Age at CCS: 43
Age as full-time specifier: I think I was 27 or 28. I eventually took over from my mentor. Over the years I have been a consultant in private practice (pre SCIP), inhouse dedicated specifier, and occupied combined roles as specifier, contract admin, job caption, etc. At the outset I used the cut and paste method with a typist and Xerox copier. Tools of the trade were triangle scale for cutting, stapler and clear tape for pasting, red “Stylist” pen for edits and new text, quad pad, typist, copier. Fax machines came later. Have been a dedicated specifier for firms in Canada and the US (Hawaii and WA). Currently 1 of 5 in firm.
Current age: 62
Higher education: Yes
Major? Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 29
Have a mentor: Initially, no - years 3 through 7 yes.
Mentor Relationship: Head of Specifications for the Office
Age at first formal education: 27
Education provider: University of Tennessee, School of Architecture, before CSI
Age at CCS: 41 or 42
Age as full-time specifier: 30
Current age: 47
Higher education: Yes
Major? M Arch and MBA
Age when first prepared specs: 30
Have a mentor: No
Mentor Relationship:
Age at first formal education: 41- CDT, 42 - CCS
Education provider: Local Chapter study group
Age at CCS: 42
Age as full-time specifier: 40
Current age: 41
Higher education: Yes, B. Arch.
Major? Architecture
Age when first prepared specs: 30-ish
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: Spec leaders in other offices of large architecture firm
Age at first formal education: 33
Education provider: Self-study, CSI materials
Age at CCS: 34
Age as full-time specifier: 33
Current age: 50
Higher education: Yes
Major? Business
Age when first prepared specs: 27
Have a mentor: Yes
Mentor Relationship: Owner of firm
Age at first formal education: 29
Education provider: CSI
Age at CCS: 33
Age as full-time specifier: 33