The most important difference in the nature of experience in architectural offices most often relates to the size of the firm. Some offices have more than 300 employees, a few have thousands of employees, with offices across the globe, while others can have less than ten. And, in the USA and the UK at least, nearly 50% of offices consist of solo practitioners – men and women often working from a front room or a garage in their home, on small jobs, usually renovations or re-modelling projects. Recently an additional office type, the boutique firm, has joined the two other types.The boutique firm is a small office that often focuses only on one or two building types, say private homes or small retail stores, and builds up such a reputation that it can be selective about work. All types of office can provide excellent experience, but you need to

know the difference between them.The question you therefore need to ask first is – would you like join a large and complex corporate environment, a small specialized setting, or are you more comfortable doing a wide range of tasks with perhaps only one other person?