I am a Registered Interior Designer and an architectural project manager. My clients have exclaimed “What? How did that happen?!” I am a product of evolution, but you may not have to take the same long journey.

I have never considered myself to be brilliantly creative. I have always loved the arts and could produce a passible drawing or painting, but I also loved science and technology. I started my college career in graphic design, but I soon decided I was just not talented enough to compete with the other artists. I decided to change my major to architecture, which seemed like a good blend of art and technical skills, to which my father, the architect, immediately replied “No! There are too many architects. We need professional interior designers.” So off I went across campus to the interior design program in the School of Architecture. This was in the early 1980’s when the State of Alabama was just beginning to regulate the commercial interior design profession.

I am happy to say that our university programs are now becoming aware of the fact that some students, like me, may not be best suited for strictly creative design positions, but they may be excellent organizers and love to dig into the details of materials and specifications. Design schools are exploring alternative tracks within the interior design curricula to accommodate all facets of design industry skills. Interior design firms, architectural firms, design-build contractors, facilities management groups, product manufacturers, and other adjacent professions need project managers, estimators, and specifications writers with design skills. Interior design services are considered a luxury by many and can be greatly affected by economic downturns. Expanding your qualifications gives you more flexibility in both job security and salary.

I started with my current architectural firm more than 35 years ago as an entry-level draftsman who got to pick a few finishes. This is where you will quickly learn you don’t know everything just because you have an expensive degree. The best advice I received was while I was just starting interior design in college. An interior designer who often worked with my father advised me to get out of the classroom – and my drafting station – on every field trip, site visit, client meeting, and professional association meeting as possible. Even if it sounds boring, you will learn something useful and make important connections. In recent years, the firm’s partners began looking towards retirement and have found other things in life they would like to pursue – like artistic endeavors and spoiling the grandchildren. Several years ago, they began nudging me into more and more responsibility over our projects. Not being an architect, I was hesitant to take on the task, but I now love it and am honored they had the confidence in me to handle the job.

Currently, our major clients are institutional, utilities, military, and military contractors, so there is rarely anything high-style happening with these projects. Even though the opportunity for publication-worthy creations is somewhat lacking, our clients are high-profile organizations who demand specialized technical skills and confidentiality. The projects are challenging, and we have all learned a lot about unique design elements never anticipated by our design degree programs. My clients are often astounded to learn I am “only” an interior designer. It looks great for our profession when we can prove that we are far more capable than the public (and some legislators) believe.

For the organizers out there, typical project management tasks could include the following:

• Contracts
• Project fee proposals
• Invoicing
• Planning project meetings
• Scheduling progress submittals
• Full design services
• Contracting with and managing the requisite engineers and other consultants
• Estimating (a specialty we desperately need in all design disciplines)
• Specifications (another specialty we desperately need in all design disciplines)
• Construction Bid process
• Construction management (working with the Contractors and Owners during construction, construction progress observations and reports, checking materials and methods submittals to make sure they comply with our specifications, developing solutions to construction issues, contract modifications)
• Producing Record Documents for the Owner
• Contract Close-Outs

It’s a big job. If you love design but also love organizing, developing closer client relations, and managing design projects through construction, then a project manager position may be something to consider. And the bonus – you get to see the results of the design and learn from what went right and wrong during construction. I am astonished at how few designers get this opportunity!