Business - Architectural Issues - Resident Alien - Fraser S Bannister

Fraser S Bannister shares some of his experiences from the USA

An increasing number of Architectural Technologists are choosing to work outside the UK.

In most of the offices I have worked in over the years, there has almost always been someone else who had worked or had just returned from working abroad.

America, South Africa, even the Middle East. They had all experienced working in an alien environment, somewhere different from that in which they had trained.

I had previously tried to find employment in another country, but at that time did not have the experience that overseas employers were looking for.

In the late 1980s - after a couple of vacations in America - I seriously considered the prospect of again trying to find overseas employment, specifically in the United States.

As it turned out, it was the medical profession that finally opened the door to me working abroad.

During the late 1980s there was a shortage of qualified nurses in the United States (this is still ongoing today, some 12 years later).

Recruiters from American hospitals were travelling around Europe looking for qualified medical personnel. My wife is a registered nurse and she responded to an advertisement in the local newspaper. After an interview with the American recruiters at an Edinburgh hotel, she was offered a job on the spot.

However getting the job was the easy part. The Immigration process took another year before we eventually ended up moving to California’s Central Valley.

Under the terms of her Visa application, my wife was able to work while her Green Card application was being processed.

I was able to accompany her to the States, but would not be able to work for another two years until I had obtained a Green Card - the all important document that allows foreign nationals to work legally in the States.

This time scale has probably expanded dramatically, due to the unfortunate events that occurred in the autumn of 2001.

The Green Card renewal process took three times longer than we were initially told.

As Churchill pointed out ‘England and America are two countries separated by a common language’. That is only the beginning.

Consider the following: when I was finally issued my Green Card, I found employment with a local house builder, and the job included meeting prospective home buyers.

I would usually be greeted with ‘we just love your accent, where are you from, Australia?’ OK, yes, Mel Gibson did play a Scotsman in Braveheart.

For most people in California, English is their second language - this is in a state where the majority of the population speaks Spanish, and they have just elected an Austrian to the office of Governor!

Once you get past the language difficulties, (and driving on the wrong side of the road, and comparing the cost of American products in pounds sterling, as if you are on vacation, sorry, on holiday) everything else is just a question of translation.

I have found that anything non-American (even in some cases non-Californian) is generally scoffed at or questioned. Yes you are a qualified architectural technologist (‘you’re a what?’) That is when you have to be prepared to work and prove your worth.

After two years getting on-site experience I changed jobs and returned to the familiar surroundings of an architect’s office where I have been ever since. Again it was a case of ‘show us what you can do’. ‘You’re a member of the BIAT, what’s that?’

Newly qualified technologists/technicians will be familiar with the metric system of measurement. However, if you are one of us who were educated in the 1960s or 70s, and experienced the demise of that system of measurement called Imperial (feet and inches) working in America will be like stepping back in time.

Imperial measurement is the standard here. Those younger newly qualified members will have to learn Imperial/Standard measurement. The nearest thing to metric is the use of decimals by civil engineers, that is decimals of a foot, not decimals of a metre.

California’s Silicon Valley outside San Francisco is noted for its development of computer technology so CAD experience is a must. When I arrived here I had limited CAD experience, however it was just another aspect of the job to master.

You will hear a lot of ‘that’s not the way we do it here’. Everything that you were taught about construction and project management, at college or university in the UK, is relevant - it just requires translation.

Everything you learn in another country will expand your knowledge base and can only enhance your CV or ‘resume’.

In the last ten years the global market place has come to the fore, regional boundaries are disappearing. Knowing what’s going on beyond your regional and national borders is essential in this new millennium.

Things may have changed since I worked in Scotland, but I have never worked with a design team that consisted of an American architect, a Scottish project co-ordinator, a South African structural engineer, a Japanese electrical engineer, and a Spanish speaking mechanical engineer.

The general contractors have crews consisting of mainly Spanish speaking subcontractors building the job. But this is California!

Fraser S Bannister MBIAT ACIOB

Published Date: October 6th, 2005