At CMBA, we love new ideas and perspectives, meaning our internship program is much more than a pre-graduate work opportunity. It’s a time of growth for our interns and CMBA as we look into the amazingly creative minds of those working towards their degrees. In this episode, we’re chatting with our intern Parker Wold who gives us some insight into his time with CMBA and what he’s learned while working alongside our team.
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Episode Transcript
Skyler: Welcome to another episode of Laying the Foundation.
Skyler: Hello everybody and welcome back to Laying the Foundation. Today I, Skyler the marketing coordinator over at CMBA. I am joined with Brian himself.
Brian: Hello.
Skyler: And today we are going to be doing sort of a behind the blueprint special episode with Parker. He's one of our interns. Parker, welcome to the show.
Parker: Thanks for having me.
Skyler: Absolutely. So today we're going to be talking with Parker about his experiences with the internship program here at CMBA, what kind of projects he's worked on, what people he worked with, and basically just a little bit of everything that you've been involved with as far as your internship goes.
Parker: Yeah, for sure. I mean, to start, this was my first internship experience anywhere. And it definitely was a better experience than I could have expected. So my experience as an intern at CMBA initially, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I mean, you hear from different past architects and older students what kind of internship experiences they have and they all kind of vary. They all differ in different levels. For the most part I was just expecting to do a lot of grunt work, you know, you hand me toilet plans and sharing plans and then I'd just do those.
Skyler: Have you go get us coffee.
Parker: Exactly. Very typical stuff. I didn't have high expectations. I was just excited to be part of it. Like ah, I'm in it now and sure. And then coming in here and getting to be part of the workforce and the way you guys do things, it was way better than expected. And I know that this was, when I joined, it was the first time you guys did that kind of internship day. The first day down...
Brian: Oh yeah, the very focused internship.
Parker: Yeah, down in Omaha. And that was a great way to start, I think. And I think from there you guys can develop it even further. I remember giving a lot of feedback to Kirsten about it and just so many positive things. I'm like, well, this is a great way to start and I'm getting paid for just a day trip and feed me and hang out.
Brian: Just to hang out.
Parker: So started off on such a positive note and then when it got to it, you guys were all just so very helpful. I was assigned a mentor that was Adam. He's been great. But everyone was essentially a mentor and that's what I liked about it the most, is that everyone was very well-connected. You could see those social connections between everyone too. And the Monday meetings we have, those are always just kind of fun and uplifting a little bit and kind of joke around and not so mundane. And it's an office, but it doesn't have to feel like an office, you know what I mean?
Brian: There's things we have to cover in those meetings, but we're still trying to see how everybody's weekend went and have fun with some of those types of things.
Parker: Bringing that human connection with each other too. We're still people. We still got lives going on.
Brian: Exactly.
Skyler: Absolutely.
Parker: And then that brings me into the other point, how you guys work is... I mean, obviously post COVID, everyone had to adjust and do a lot of things, and so that brought in the possibility of working from home and flex work and that kind of thing. And just seeing how you guys approached that. So many people here are parents. They have kids and family issues going on. And when something arises, you guys have no problem letting them take care of their priorities first. And that's something I really valued. So just coming into CMBA and after leaving it, it's kind of also left me with a standard. You guys set a gold standard for me.
Brian: Oh, that's awesome.
Skyler: Awesome. That's good to hear. Yeah, we did all right. Absolutely. So maybe let's back up just a second. Where are you at school-wise? Let's talk about that just a little bit.
Parker: Yeah, that's a great point. So I'm halfway through my senior year, fourth year architecture student, and I go to NDSU up at their program. And I joined for this past summer, so ending of my junior year. And that's typically, I heard when you guys take interns... I mean, that's about when you should be getting an internship. Obviously you can get one as a second year student, but I think the main thing comes down to is knowledge of the softwares. Knowing how to use Revit was a big one. And at the time of my second year, I didn't know nearly as much as I knew coming into my third year, nearly as much as I know now. I mean, after working with you guys too, that boosted my Revit knowledge in software, everything just tenfold.
Brian: Yeah. And did you work for us also remotely while you were up there? Did you do any of that? I know some of our interns have done that.
Parker: Yeah, and so that kind of brings it into that post COVID discussion. So I was able to work remotely while at school and that was a huge opportunity. Unfortunately, I didn't get to get in as many hours as I wanted to because it got really busy.
Skyler: School comes first.
Parker: Yes. School comes first. That option was always there and that's what it really liked. And being an architecture student, it can be so hard to find a reliable job. And so I know a lot of kids I go to school with in my class, they do part-time work and they'll work usually jobs at the college because they're way more flexible. But it's hard to not have a job outside of that because they're not as flexible or you don't get as much pay and you're lucky to make 12, 10 bucks an hour somewhere. So having that opportunity was huge. Definitely fed me for a few lunches.
Skyler: Fair enough.
Brian: That's awesome. So what kind of projects did you work on while you're here and...
Parker: That weren't getting coffee and...
Skyler: Yeah, exactly. And getting yelled at and all that stuff.
Brian: I'm sure you didn't get yelled at all, is my guess.
Skyler: We don't have to...
Parker: Projects I worked on were a lot of different things. So that was the interesting thing. Like I said, when I got in here, I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but I was always just kind of that helping hand. So I might not be on a project from start to finish. I could have been, some interns were, but I was always kind of hopping around that extra appendage, like hey, we need a guy on this. He knows how to do it. We can get him on there. So I worked on to start that Headstart daycare center down in Macy, Nebraska. That one was probably my most significant one personally, because one of the first one I did, first project I worked on in the real world.
And two, I know me, Devin and [inaudible 00:06:37], the two other interns I worked with here at this office, we came up with floor plan ideas for that proposal. And that proposal ended up going through and getting accepted. So then it felt really good knowing that I worked on something that is coming into fruition. And so then you just mentioned that the master plans are starting there and things of that sort. So I played a role in that.
Skyler: That's kind of crazy to...
Brian: Yeah, that's awesome.
Parker: And I obviously did something right because they liked that proposal. So that felt really good. And then other things I worked on was I was really good at rendering. And you guys liked that. And that made me feel pretty proud too. I'm glad I could provide a valuable asset to the company. I did renderings for another daycare in Lake City, Iowa that turned out pretty well. NCC in Sheldon, the college, I did renderings for that early on when they were developing the exterior materials and the whole back patio area. And along with that, I did renderings for the Unity Point entrance. And that was a really fun one too because we explored a lot of different possibilities, magnitudes of changes, more grand changes, more subtle changes, things like that. YMCA and Lamar's, I did renderings for that too as well, and kind of different things there.
And the fun thing too is you guys actually threw me into some design opportunities where I wasn't just doing grunt work and just getting coffee. I was actually coming up with design plans. Like I said, the one in Macy, that Headstart, I was actually designing floor plans. And then the New Life Church, that project I got to work on designing the exterior with Devin. And that was really cool too. And that's just something I never expected to do as an intern and I don't have a lot to compare it to, but jokingly talking to, like I said other people, that's just not something that I would expect to get into at all my first internship. So I've been really happy with the amount of exposure and projects I've had so far.
Skyler: Awesome. That's great. You mentioned getting a lot of experience with Revit and things like that and having that kind of buildup within the position. What would you say is your most beneficial... What was the biggest take away from the internship as a whole?
Parker: Yeah, that's a really good question because I think the thing that left... That was most impactful for me was just being in the real world of architecture, that real world experience. Because when you're in college, it's a much different experience. If you can relate Brian, being in there, it's much more kind of artistic, expressionist.
Brian: Theoretical.
Parker: Theoretical. Definitely. You're pushing boundaries, nothing set in stone. You can design a building that almost floats in the air.
Brian: You're almost encouraged to do that at the end in architecture school.
Parker: Crazy stuff. For example, I just finished my capstone project this past semester. It went really well, by the way.
Brian: Awesome.
Parker: I'd love to show you guys sometime, and I'm sure I'll be back in the summer, but that's for a different time. But anyway, our professors were talking to us in years past. That's how it was. Very, very theoretical, just crazy stuff. They just wanted to see something crazy where you had people designing upside down buildings underneath bridges, like the Golden Gate Bridge, someone designed like high rise buildings, upside down, things like that. So now where we are, we're much more practical. This capstone project was the most practical project I think I've ever done which I'm happy about. But being in this internship really diverted me into more practical architecture. It's got to work. Coming out of it, I definitely started to be more focused on function rather than making things just look pretty, because we can get away with that in college and it's gone a long way, especially with a good understanding of how things need to be and why they need to be, the way they need to be. Just little things like that and little innuendos that you pick up on working here.
Brian: Yeah, working with real clients that aren't theoretical like an instructor. They want to see real solutions. They don't understand this ethereal kind of design, I guess motifs, if you will, that we put together in architecture school. They want to see how does that metal panel look in my building? And how does the door interact with that? How am I going to walk up to the door? And they really understand that because that's what they live with every day. So for us to throw out something that they don't understand doesn't work because they just can't understand it.
Parker: And that was another big component too, is translating, is how I would put it. Being in a college of architectures.
Brian: It's hard work.
Parker: Exactly. You're always surrounded by people that know how to read plans, what you're doing, the phrases you use, where you bring it out here, if I'm talking to my family members at Christmas or whatever, they don't really know all these funny...
Brian: They look at you kind of funny, don't they?
Parker: Yeah. Exactly. This experience does help teach people how to translate to reach out to people, not in architecture field or design field, if you will.
Skyler: That's a great way to put that. I really like that. Sort of, it's a definition in and of itself.
Brian: Yeah, definitely.
Parker: Yeah, because there's definitely an architectural language.
Brian: We have lingo.
Parker: Yes.
Brian: For sure. Skyler's aware of that.
Skyler: Yeah, sure. That's what we've been talking about in the marketing department is if they ever say something that you're just sitting there like, what in the world does that mean? Just ask for the dumb down version, just to clarify.
Brian: We'll do that.
Skyler: Good. It's part of the profession.
Parker: Yes.
Skyler: So moving forward, obviously we have our internship program that we do every year. What advice would you give to other architecture students that might be looking into, whether it be our internship program or even another internship program, what advice would you give them going into that?
Parker: Yeah, that's a great question. The biggest thing and the biggest thing I got too is put yourself out there. Definitely apply to a lot of places. And don't worry that you don't have the best portfolio, the best resume. And I mean, you're young, you're students, you're not going to have a lot, some of your work might not be the best to show, but show something. Show that you have skill and willingness to learn. I think the biggest is willingness to learn and coachability, that kind of thing.
Brian: Absolutely.
Parker: Because you come into an internship office that sees your potential and they'll want to cultivate that. I mean, that's kind of how I felt being here. You guys saw that in me and helped me rise to a better student, if you will. And that's left an impact on me where I want to keep working for you guys.
Brian: That's awesome.
Parker: And so there's other companies that I know that want to do the same thing for students. The biggest thing I think you can do other than putting yourself out there, is maybe doing some research about the companies you're looking into, work for, what kind of work they're doing. So that kind of gives you scope of what kind of work you want to expose yourself to and what kind of softwares they use. I mean, for the most part, we've talked about Revit. That's a big one.
So me personally, I wanted to make sure I knew Revit really well before my internship because I was looking at getting an internship here the year before. And that's what was mentioned. Like, okay, well can he do Revit? And I mean, it makes sense. Totally makes sense why you guys had that as your most important prerequisite. And so that's what I'd recommend to these young interns. If you go into an office, sometimes they don't always use Revit. Sometimes they use other modeling softwares such as SketchUp. Obviously you want to know a basis of AutoCAD. I had a buddy that worked at a firm where they were all AutoCAD and no Revit, much smaller firm, but yeah.
Brian: Sure. Still on the AutoCAD side?
Parker: Yeah, but it's surprising to hear that being in today's modern world, where it's like you have such a powerful tool that's perfect for the job, does everything CAD can and more, but they can still work off CAD. So that's the thing I think people really want to look into.
Skyler: And I would say you'd want to start early too with that, because you can't wait until April, May timeframe because you're almost out of school at that point. So you need to do your research early enough and make contact with those firms early enough, so that they can get to know you can get to know them, ask the questions about software is a good example.
Parker: Yes, exactly. And a great resource for that is career fairs.
Skyler: Oh, yeah, definitely.
Parker: And that's where I kind of expose myself to a lot more firms when I first started. From my experience getting internships, like, oh, it's kind of this big daunting thing, super nervous. And the research early is good. Research in the fall semester leading up until winter break, because there's a handful of firms that have deadlines at the end of the year like December 31st. But there's also a lot that go later into the season, like spring. So you always have options. That's why you want multiple. One falls through, you got those options. But yeah, career... I didn't know what I really even wanted to do or go to until I visited a career fair at NDSU in the spring. And that was, I think late January, just about or early February. And you guys weren't even there.
Brian: We weren't. We're going this year.
Skyler: Last year we were not.
Parker: And I'm happy to hear that. I feel like I had a little bit of influence on that.
Brian: Definitely.
Skyler: Absolutely.
Parker: And then just talking to the firms. That's where you get your first set of research and knowledge, like, oh, so this one specialized in this, this and this. Because if you hop on the internet, you just look up architecture firms, you're not exactly going to know which one to look into first. I mean, I did it and then I had 30 computer tabs open and things like that, just back and forth. But no, then you get to talk to them in person. They see a face, they recognize you with the name, and then you can hand them your resume that way. So you do go to these career fairs, make sure you have something you want to give them. That's the biggest thing to connect you. And so that they can contact you too.
Brian: Most definitely. Great advice. Definitely.
Skyler: So on the flip side, you talked about what advice you'd give from what you got out of the internship per se. On the flip side, what were you nervous about when you went into the kind of internship search?
Parker: Yeah. See, that's the interesting thing. I don't know if there's one thing I could say I would be nervous about other than just saying I was nervous about everything. I mean, it's a scary prospect. I mean, it's very much getting a new job or whatever the case, you're going into an unfamiliar space. Oh yeah, that was a big part of it, because you're just this little guy, you want to make a good impression on all these professionals and big wigs.
And that's one reason why I gravitated towards you guys too, and just interviewing with you guys. You guys, I could tell were just very upbeat, so I could gravitate towards that. And so people can find their niche of where they want to be in that kind of way. But regardless of that, I was still nervous, anxious. My biggest thing was, oh man, once I was in the office and I was here... It's one thing getting accepted. That's a whole nervous ball in itself. And then when you get accepted, then you're like, okay, how should I prepare? Obviously, you can talk to your firm and they can help you, but then when you're in there... David hands me a project and he says 50 things in a minute. And I'm just like...
Brian: Can you write this down for me?
Parker: Exactly. And obviously you will, just ask, people are going to work at their pace, but I mean, if you work at the right place, they'll be more than willing to slow it down to your pace. Because they understand you're new, you're a student, especially if it's your first internship, there's a lot you have yet to be exposed to and understand. And although they'll kind of just throw you in the deep end of things, they'll give you floaties.
Skyler: They will.
Brian: Yes.
Skyler: That's an amazing metaphor right there. That's awesome.
Brian: They'll throw the buoy to you.
Parker: That's right. Exactly. So you're not left for dead. And that kind of helped me just get over it a lot better, and I just was so afraid of them handing me something and I accidentally delete the whole project.
Brian: We have backups. It's okay. Like control Z. Control Z.
Parker: Exactly. You guys plan for these kinds of things. And that's another thing to keep in mind for other incoming interns that might be nervous is that, you guys go through interns every year. This is nothing new to you guys. They know how to work with new kids.
Brian: Yeah, definitely. I think the internship program, because it used to be... We'd get one or two per summer and wasn't a real structured thing. So we've made an effort to say, hey, let's make it the best that we can for interns. First it's, how do we gain employees long term? That's really the reason for it. But it's also to create a great experience for you. How can we help you as a person to be the best architect that you can be at some point in your career?
Parker: Yeah, exactly. And it definitely shows. I think it goes a long ways, and that's why, I mean, I'm still here and hope to come back in the summer. I'm going to be looking at other options, of course. Naturally. But I have a big draw to this place now because of that, because I had such a great experience. And you can tell that there's an initiative being taken to focus on the interns and make that a program just more structured.
Brian: Definitely.
Speaker 5: Attention architecture students. Are you looking for a hands-on internship opportunity that will provide you with real world experience and a competitive pay rate? Look no further than CMBA Architects, our internship program offers flexible scheduling, a casual dress code, and team building exercises to help you build valuable skills and connections in the industry. Plus, who doesn't love having Fridays off?
Skyler: To learn more about our internship program, visit the careers page at cmbaarchitects.com and spend your summer with CMBA.
Brian: I think the two words that I think about you every time, and you're going to roll your eyes at this, but when you said lawn sofa on that one design project, it was a little park thing that we did out to the east of the building here.
Parker: That's right.
Brian: And I just remember seeing that on the design. I'm going, lawn sofa, what's he talking about? But maybe you want to talk about that in just a second. Lawn sofa. I love it.
Parker: That was actually a really fun project. We were designing a pocket park right next to our whole office building here. It was going to take up a parking lot spaces down there. And so we all had different ideas, and I wanted to bring a lot more greenery into the scene and just looking up ideas on Pinterest, I kept finding these, I don't know how I would put it, seats formed in the earth.
Skyler: Like chairs almost?
Parker: But they were just chairs, one seaters. And I'm like, okay, well, what if you turn into a couch like a sofa? And then that became one of my iconic pieces in the park and introducing them.
Brian: Lawn sofa.
Skyler: That's awesome.
Parker: Everyone loved it. It was like, I don't know if you're laughing because you think it's funny or a good idea, but I'll take it.
Skyler: Yeah, I'll take it. It's unique.
Brian: It's unique.
Parker: Exactly.
Brian: It's good.
Parker: And that's what I wanted. I mean, this was a creative project, so I'm like, I'm going to get creative. Have fun with it. And that's what I did. And then that's just another thing that I enjoyed here is you guys allowed me to get creative at times, and I think that's huge being an architectural student. Being in college, that's our strongest point right now. We might not how to redline everything or do construction documents or even read plans all that well, but our creativity is through the roof.
Brian: Exactly. That's why we do it also is because we know that you don't know how to put buildings fully together, the details of a wall and a window and a wall or a door and a wall. But we know that you have a creative side that's just flowing right now because of the way college is structured. So let's take that opportunity, let's throw them in, see what they can come up with. You never know.
Skyler: Yeah, fresh ideas.
Parker: That's amazing.
Skyler: Yeah, absolutely.
Parker: Yeah, it's very smart to do that.
Skyler: It can be kind of frustrating from an industry perspective to get so bogged down with all the technical details and knowing like, well, I know I can't do it this way because it's got to be done this way, or whatever the case. And then having that fresh new ideas just come in...
Brian: And try to get out of the box, right?
Skyler: Yeah, absolutely.
Brian: Buildings are built. They're actually physical things, and if we can get outside of that box on occasion, pull it back in when we need to later on, once the client goes, yeah, I really like the look of that, then we got to figure out how to make it work. So we can't go too far out there and have a building that floats in the air. But if there's some unique design things, let's figure out how to detail it. Let's figure out how to do it.
Skyler: Absolutely.
Parker: There's almost kind of a beauty to the ignorance of us.
Skyler: Yeah, that's true.
Parker: You sprinkle in a little bit of ignorance and well, they don't know better, so they're just going to do whatever. And then bam. Then like you said, you can make something that looks really good, but we just have to figure out how to make it work.
Skyler: Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Parker, for sitting down with us and giving us this overview of everything that you did with the internship.
Parker: Of course.
Skyler: Everything like that, because it's definitely something that we want to be able to share with anybody that might be looking into, again, whether it be an internship with us or just a architectural...
Brian: In general.
Skyler: An internship in general. So if you are interested and you're listening to this podcast and you want to look into having an internship with CMBA, you can do so by checking out cmbaarchitects.com and heading over to our careers tab. And underneath there you'll find a tab for internships. You can check out what we've got all the information on there, how you can apply for the internship, when we usually do our internship programs throughout the year. So be sure to do that. And once again, I just want to say thank you, Parker, for stopping by and sitting down with us.
Parker: Of course, thanks for having me.
Skyler: Absolutely.
Parker: This was fun.
Brian: Good luck in Belgium.
Skyler: Yes. That's awesome.
Parker: Yeah. Thank you. It's going to be quite the experience. Hopefully I get to take a lot of cool pictures and come back with those, I don't know, historic architectural experiences.
Skyler: You bet.
Brian: Get on the train, go all throughout Europe, because you can really easily. I didn't study abroad. I wasn't able to during college, but I did take a trip over with the guard side. But yeah, get on the train and go see everything that you can.
Skyler: Oh yeah, definitely.
Parker: I plan on it. I am actually just about to buy the Eurail pass that goes through the whole Schengen Area, if I pronounce it right. I don't know. It has over 25 to 30 different countries that you can go through for free without border checks on the train, and it's pretty expensive for three months. And so you can bet that I'm going to abuse it every day.
Skyler: Yes, make the most of it.
Brian: Yeah. Good luck with that. Absolutely.
Parker: Thank Good. Thank you so much.
Skyler: Yeah. Awesome. Well, I'm Skyler.
Brian: I'm Brian.
Skyler: And this has been Laying the Foundation.
Parker: Adios.
Skyler: If you'd like to find out more about the Laying The Foundation podcast, you can head over to any podcast streaming platform such as Spotify, iTunes, Google podcasts, and others. You can also find out more about CMBA Architects through social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Additionally, you can head over to the CMBA website at cmbaarchitects.com. If you're an architecture or design professional or an intern looking for an internship within those fields, please be sure to check out our website and click on the careers tab to find out more about what opportunities we offer. This has been another episode of Laying the Foundation podcast. We'll see you next time.
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April 6, 2023