Junior / Project Architect (private firm)
The pathSkills
You join a private architecture firm and produce drawings, 3D models, and construction documents under senior architects. This is the default 'stay in architecture' path and the baseline most other paths are compared against. Entry pay is modest; your software portfolio, not the degree alone, is the real gate.
The steps in this path
Common questions
No. You can be employed doing design work without it — you just can't call yourself 'Architect' until you register. The Supreme Court (2020, COA v. Mukesh Goyal) confirmed unregistered people can practise design; registration gates the title, not the job.