Alumni profile: Hiba Alobaydi

Meet UCL MA Architectural History Alum Hiba Alobaydi who talks to us about her journey from UCL to being an Assistant Editor.

Please share a brief introduction to your career path, from graduation to where you are now.  

Hard work, resilience and resourcefulness have been instrumental in my success. Following my graduation from BA Architecture, I spent a year undertaking various internships (Architecture Ireland magazine and Dezeen) and volunteer positions (RIBA and St. Paul’s Cathedral Architectural Archive) to help build up my experience. Then, during my MA Architectural History studies at the Bartlett, I volunteered at the Design Museum as part of their very first editorial team. Despite graduating with a Distinction, I found it difficult to secure an editorial position. So, I decided to explore other roles within the architecture industry including curation and PR before making a return to editorial and, finally, landing my current position as Assistant Editor at Foster + Partners. Most recently, I was appointed to be a Young Trustee at the Architecture Foundation, selected as a Mentor for UAL’s annual Industry Mentoring Programme and awarded the prestigious Society of Architectural Historians Opler Grant for Emerging Scholars. I was also named a 'Rising Star' by the RIBA Journal. 

Provide a brief summary of your core duties and describe what skills are important to your role?   

I work closely with the editor to produce Foster + Partners' journal, +Plus, and upcoming publications to the highest international standard. 

Keen attention to detail, ability to work under pressure, organisation, interpersonal and written communication skills are all incredibly important to the role.

How did your time at UCL prepare you for the workplace?

I would say that my time at UCL exposed to me to a breadth of knowledge and alternate ways of thinking about the built environment that I hadn’t considered prior to undertaking my studies, which has proved invaluable. 

The UCL Alumni Community has given me a newfound appreciation for - and motivated me to engage with UCL.

Were there any challenges in your job hunt?  

There were many challenges during my job hunt – especially early on – due to the whole catch-22 of if I don’t have a job, I can’t get the experience but if I can’t get experience I can’t get a job which left me feeling a little exasperated. But I think there’s a lot to be said for casting your net far and wide and being unafraid to take chances on people e.g., reaching out to people whose career you admire on LinkedIn. 

Also, if you believe a decision is right for your career then by all means go for it! Quite a few people expressed their doubts as I did a fair bit of job-hopping early on in my career which covered a wide range of roles within the architecture sector, but I knew that it would help me establish a variety of skills, relationships and help me determine what I wanted to pursue. A lot of people fail to trust their intuition with regards to vocational decisions.  

Do not be afraid to experiment with different things early on - because if you do, you are more likely to set yourself up for success in the long term. 

Top tips for current students: List up to 3 short quick tips that you would like to share with current students.

Obviously, given the current state of things and the exceptionally competitive job market, I would say do everything in your power to give yourself a fighting chance. So, if that means: 

1. Rewriting your CV – do it.  
2. If that means starting a blog – do it.  
3. If that means overhauling your social media presence – do it.  

Because, at the end of the day, no one is going to care more about your career than you do.