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✨ We are HIRING! · Mid Mod Remodel

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're hiring.
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking for someone who is obsessed with mid-century houses.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Is this person you?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it someone you know?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: In which case, help out a small business and your friend send this video to someone who's looking for a chance to be part of something amazing.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Della.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an architect and owner of MidmodWest.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I lead a small team of dedicated mid-century obsessives and creatives.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Our new design team member will work closely with all of us, myself, Rebecca, our operations manager, and our other design illustrators, to turn the dreams, style, and existing homes that our clients come to us with into thoughtful, creative, and buildable design options that can be developed into a master plan package that keeps them going, whether they're doing everything all at once or knocking off one small DIY project a year until their house is exactly as they want it to be.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking for someone who is obsessed with mid-century houses, who thinks they're cute and charming in every shape, and is always on the lookout for good ideas they can infuse into their next design project.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Also, someone who has an eye towards practical solutions and budget-friendly changes.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you have done work on your own mid-century house, that's a huge bonus.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's certainly even very informative towards my design process.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking for someone who can collaborate but also likes to work independently.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is a remote position, and a lot of our communication happens asynchronously, sending sketches and videos back and forth, although we'll meet face to face through a camera a couple of times a week.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Our design process looks a little different from your traditional residential architecture firm.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: We stick to schematic design.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: We will not be going into design development, CDs, or construction management in most cases.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: But our schematic designs do focus on buildable, cost-conscious decisions that work with structure and can be picked up and carried forward by your average general contractor or homeowner working on their own process.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: As a residential designer, I am deeply curious about the lives that my clients are leading, and I want to design options for them that reflect and support the lifestyle they want to live in the house.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to design the perfect kitchen update.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I want to design one that suits the people that live in the house.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Their hosting style, their collaborative or individual cooking style, their tolerance for clutter.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And even though we do a lot of work to gather information before we get started on design, I don't think we're going to come up with one answer that will solve all our clients' problems.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So each master plan solutions package includes typically three options for each of the major areas with more or less openness, larger or smaller changes to the existing house, with budget ramifications to follow, and different choices for finishes and built-ins along the way so that the clients have as much to consider as possible when they're looking at their options.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: When you join our team, you'll be learning the design strategies that we often like to recommend and some of my personal preferences and go-to style solutions, but I'm also interested in getting your input and infusing our design process with new creativity and new ideas.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Expect to contribute to and give feedback on scheme options and propose fun design ideas from examples you've seen in life or from reference materials.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Our process for handling a master plan goes like this we start by getting a lot of information about the project.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: This involves giving our clients homework.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: We'll ask them to write a little essay about what they value, what they're looking for, what their ideal home feels and looks like.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: We'll also extensively document their house with photos of every nook and cranny and floor plan information.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll ask them to help us focus what mid-century means to them, because that's a big tense, so we need to know whether they're looking for something that's very time-capsule 1950s, or a bit of an updated take on a 60s mod style.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they may not know exactly what they're looking for, and it's our job to provide them with possibilities, but we want to narrow the focus as much as possible, so we're not going to suggest something they don't like.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: After I meet with the client in our kickoff to get as much follow-up information on everything they've shared so far, we get to a rough outline and plan of the schemes.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Small, medium, and large changes that nest together and have some interlocking pieces.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Once we've got a floor plan locked in, we want to look at the space in perspective sketches.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: These make the house most legible to homeowners who may or may not be very familiar with the process of reading a floor plan.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: They also help us inject a lot more specificity of vintage mid-century style choices, or even modern updates on mid-century style choices, and steer our clients clear of a lot of the default remodeling choices to gonna lead to a trendy remodel that goes out of style in just a few years.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we can highlight storage options, space planning, screen wall elements, details of lighting, produce a collection of floor plan options, and matching perspective views that are not just pretty, but also informative and really help our clients understand what the options they're considering are.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Part of your job will be to identify what are the key elements that show up in plan and in the sketches and put them into verbal form as well.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got them for our clients who take in information that way.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Being a good verbal communicator as well as a visual thinker and someone who can handle a stylus or pen will help you go far in this job.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Once I've guided them through our workshop meeting and they've explored all the options and had a chance to sit with them, they come back to us with their preferences, and it's our task to boil down everything they've chosen into one final schematic drawing package.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that's as simple as saying, hey, they like scheme two.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it involves a little bit more revision to meld multiple floor plans together, prioritizing the things they liked most without sacrificing elements they also loved.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Working in this way, you'll be deep diving into a new house every month or so, as well as picking back up past projects that have come back to us for their combination solutions, and looking forward to the next house down the line.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is a great role for anyone with an insatiable curiosity about the inside of other people's lives and specifically their houses.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: In practice, this means a lot of time spent drawing, thinking about faces of someone's existing home, and imagining options for how they could make it better.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Both our process and our output are hand drafted.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Digital, so we can easily share designs back and forth and collaborate remotely.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: We don't use AutoCAD, Revit, or any other computer drafting program.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: We give ourselves a boost with SketchUp to make sure the massing and overall measurements add up.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: But our design process takes place almost entirely on a tablet screen, not on the computer.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that sounds like a boon.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a little resting on your sketching skills, but the rest of this process sounds amazing to you and mid-century houses are your jam, get in touch and we'll see where we stand.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: An eye for detail is important, making sure each plan coordinates properly with all of its attendant views.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Consistent built-ins, hardware, windows replaced or preserved are all elements that should stay top of mind.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: If our somewhat unorthodox method of helping people plan their remodels seems charming to you, you can find everything you need to know about the position on our careers page, linked below this video.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Follow the instructions and get in touch right away so we can follow up with next steps.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And for anyone else who just watched this video all the way to the end, let's put your thinking cap on.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you know who might love this work?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Some of our best past connections have been made through word of mouth or past clients.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: So send this video to the person in your life who's most obsessed with mid century houses and let's see if we're a fit.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.