<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2010&sol;10&sol;dreamstime&lowbar;10943498&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2549" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2010&sol;10&sol;dreamstime&lowbar;10943498&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Career Planning" width&equals;"369" height&equals;"480" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;--INFOLINKS&lowbar;OFF--><br &sol;>&NewLine;Do you have a love for home architecture&quest; Have you always wanted to design and build houses to fit the specific needs of individuals&quest; Or maybe you want to create beautiful <strong><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;designerhomesperth&period;com&sol;">luxury and designer homes<&sol;a><&sol;strong> that will be featured in top design magazines&period; If so&comma; becoming a home designer or architect may be a great career option&period; Read on for steps to achieving your dream of designing homes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Study architecture&period;<&sol;strong> The first step to becoming qualified to design and build homes is to study architecture&period;  Don&&num;8217&semi;t make the decision to get a degree in architecture lightly&period; Architecture programs are competitive and require a lot of hard work&period; Only those who are truly interested in all aspects of architecture should pursue this course of study&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Job shadow and conduct informational interviews&period;<&sol;strong> Home design is particularly competitive&comma; because many architects are interested in designing homes&period; In order to get your foot in the door of this particular niche&comma; you&&num;8217&semi;ll need to get some experience and learn from other home designers&period; Contact home designers in your area and ask if you can job shadow for a day or two&period; Also&comma; conduct informational interviews in order to learn how to break into home design&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Get internship experience&period; <&sol;strong>As with any industry&comma; you want to gain as much internship experience as possible&period; Not only will interning provide work experience to put on your resume&comma; but it will also allow you to make industry contacts &lpar;see below&rpar; and you may be hired on by these same companies after graduation&period; Even if you aren&&num;8217&semi;t able to intern for a home building or design company&comma; experience counts and can propel you toward your end goal&period;<strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Make industry contacts&period; <&sol;strong>Start making contacts with professionals in the architecture and design industry before you graduate&period; A couple of great ways to create a professional network are to intern and&sol;or job shadow &lpar;see above&rpar; and to talk to your professors&period; Your instructors likely have industry experience and can prove invaluable as you navigate the competitive job market&period;<strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Prove yourself&period; <&sol;strong>Before you start the interesting stuff&comma; you&&num;8217&semi;ll likely have to prove yourself worthy of designing entire structures on your own&period; These first years may not be what you envisioned when you decided to become an architect&comma; but they are critical to building skills and experience&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Architecture can be competitive and stressful career&period; You&&num;8217&semi;re not only responsible for a structure&&num;8217&semi;s function and appearance&comma; but also it&&num;8217&semi;s safety&period; However&comma; it can be extremely rewarding to see a <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;designerhomesperth&period;com&sol;">beautiful home<&sol;a> or building that you designed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;