by Mary Beth Klatt

Summary: Architects nationwide are looking for new opportunities in various ways. From pro bono work that might lead to paying gigs to teaching college courses to maintaining a high profile on social networking sites, these architects are employing creativity to build their businesses.

How do you . . . search for new work, opportunities in a tough market?

Jane Frederick, AIA, LEED-AP principal at Frederick +Frederick in Beaufort, S.C., offers a Realtor® service. In the past, she’d help buyers select lots, which in turn led to projects. Now she tends to work closely with Realtors selling existing homes, and charges an hourly rate for suggestions on how to improve the residences. She recently became busier since a few projects that been on hold have been resurrected including an addition for a 10-year-old house and a new North Augusta, S.C. house. Her firm has also become known as a bathroom specialist, thanks to calls from owners seeking general contractors. Now she’s working on making a bathroom handicapped accessible for a 70-year-old. These little projects are “nice fillers” for the bigger ones, she says.

Frederick has also sought out local Rotary clubs, doing presentations on what area architects, including herself, can do to help sell a house. The talks haven’t lead to jobs yet, but she says Rotary members have taken business cards.

Chicago architect William Massey, AIA hasn’t resorted to small renovation jobs yet, even though he laid off two staffers at Massey Hoffman when projects were put on hiatus. He has done some promotional work during his downtime, including hiring a web designer and doing pro bono design at a local church. He has since picked up new clients, including a single-family Chicago residence with another project around the corner. He’s also doing an addition/renovation for a home in the city’s Rogers Park area as well as a historic bungalow in Glencoe, Ill.

Wade Ziperstein, laid off from Conway + Schulte in Minneapolis, is also doing home design. He was able to land a contract position with New York decorator Scott Salvator after he applied for a posting on the AIA Minnesota online job bank. Salvator was so overwhelmed by resumes, he hired a recruiter who already knew Ziperstein to make the final decision. By chance, Ziperstein called the recruiter, one of several he contacts regularly, and he told him about the temporary full-time job. The two met, and Ziperstein was hired. “Recruiters are helpful,” he says. “They’re going to contact you because you’re the best fit for the job.”

Ziperstein makes a point of keeping his LinkedIn profile updated with testimonials from previous employers. He’d eventually like to add images of completed projects to the site’s slideshow application, making it easier for prospective employers to see his work. He’s taken Photoshop and InDesign classes, skills that could be valuable in future opportunities.

He’s improving his social skills, taking classes at SagePresence, a Minneapolis business coaching company. He’s now focused on conveying only the most important points during interviews. “You have all this information in your head and only a limited amount of time,” he says.

Like Massey, Pasqualino Pannone, AIA continues to work full-time at Architectural Resources Cambridge; however, he is seeking out additional opportunities because his wife stays at home with their young twin daughters. He plans to do either seminars or weekly classes on economical ways to erect a dream home. “The idea is to reach out to people who don’t know how to find an architect. I’m an architect, ask me questions,” he says. He wants to reach those middle- class homeowners who don’t hire architects because they’re “perceived as a luxury.” He either plans to do seminars or weekly classes. His working title: The economics of building in a recession.

He’s also hired a publicist, a colleague from the public relations department at his previous job at a kitchen design firm.

Finally, Pannone has gotten involved with an organization trying to revive the Sharon, Mass., downtown. The team approaches businesses to encourage them to move into empty storefronts. “It forces me to make more contacts,” he says. “For me to be waiting for someone to knock on my door-I will be waiting a long time.”