Landscape Architect

Slide Show: America's Best Careers 2010

Jobs by SimplyHired

The rundown:

Planning the layout of flower beds and colorful blossoms can be part of your work as a landscape architect, but the job is much more than floristry. You'll work with architects and engineers from the start of a project to determine the best placement for buildings, driveways, roads, and sidewalks, as well as the best areas for fountains, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Environmental conservation and restoration play an increasingly important role in landscape architecture, so you may find yourself working with environmental scientists or foresters when planning a site. While you'll spend lots of time focused on your client's wants and needs, you'll also have to ensure that the project is in line with government regulations. While working on site plans, you may also be responsible for sketches, models, video simulations of the finished site, photographs, and cost estimates of the work. You might work on wetlands restoration, college campuses, or shopping centers.

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The outlook:

Employment of landscape architects is expected to jump 20 percent between 2008 and 2018—well above average for all occupations. Add a growing population and increasing concerns about land use, resources, and sustainability, and you have a recipe that requires landscape architects.

Upward mobility:

With experience, landscape architects will have a broad range of opportunities. Next steps might involve striking out on your own or becoming a project manager. You might consider a related occupation, such as environmental planner or landscape consultant. Over time, you might gain partnership in a landscape architecture firm.

Activity level:

Variable. You'll spend plenty of time in your office, working on site designs and working out details, often in meetings. Particularly if you're just starting out, most of your time may be spent at a computer. Ultimately, it's not a desk job. There will also be time spent at the construction site, often at various points during the project.

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Stress level:

Reasonable. The hours are pretty regular. If you work for yourself, you may find the days are longer and more difficult as you build a clientele.

Education and preparation:

The easiest route for students is a bachelor of landscape architecture or a bachelor of science in landscape architecture. If you choose to pursue an advanced degree, the master of landscape architecture would take about two years. With an undergrad degree in an unrelated field, the master's program takes about three years. Note that nearly every state requires landscape architects to be licensed. You'll generally need a degree and a few years interning under a licensed landscape architect, and you'll have to pass a registration exam.

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Money:

Median pay for landscape architects is $58,960. The highest-paid 10 percent earn north of $97,370, while the lowest-paid 10 percent can pull in less than $36,500. Those figures do not account for the 21 percent of landscape architects who are self-employed.