Dead Career - Drafting

If you are thinking about going to school for a Drafting Degree then
RUN!

Drafters draw blueprints and engineers design them. The current
problem is that somehow Drafting and Designing have become synonymous
terms. It used to be that a Drafter would draw blueprints from an
engineer's/architect's verbal instructions and/or the
engineer's/architect's sketches. Now the Drafter is supposed to know
what took an engineer/architect 4+ years to learn. If the Drafter
cannot "pick it up" what took the engineers/architects 4+ years to
learn then they throw you out the back door on your face in the gravel.

Also, Engineers or Architects are refusing to take time to train
Drafters. They say that they don't have time or go grab a book off of
the shelf and figure it out.

A two-year Associate Degree in Drafting WILL NOT prepare you to be an
engineer and do an engineer's job!

I have not designed (like an engineer) commercial buildings or other
engineering projects, but I did draw them by verbal instruction,
engineering sketches and blueprints.

My Computer Aided Drafting degree, basically, prepared me to draw
blueprints using AutoCAD software. Unfortunately, the local Drafting
courses in Kentucky, the Two-Year Drafting programs, do not prepare you
to do engineering design work (what engineers due with a 4+ year
degree).

Typically, all students come out ready to draw blueprints, as Drafters
have always done in the past, but not design without a Bachelors degree
like an engineer is trained to do.

Today, for the modern Drafter, it is turning into the old catch 22
you-need-experience situation. No one has time or is willing to train
yet they demand experience. Furthermore, if you can't "pick up" what
took engineers four years to learn in a year or; in most cases, thirty
days or less then they will lay you off and insult you by saying you
couldn't catch on fast enough. So what is the Drafter left to do?

A downside for the engineer in today's modern engineering office is
that they are expected to spend all of their time drafting while they
could, more productively, spend their time dealing with public
relations and engineering design. Also, most architects and engineers
that I have spoken with have a weak background in CAD and take only a
couple of classes in Drafting during their college education.

Lastly, as stated in my objective, I am looking for a company who is
flexible and willing to train for non-Drafting engineer Design tasks.
The former title for my past experience would be a "CAD
Detailer/Drafter". I have drawn blueprints, as I was prepared to do by
my two-year Associate Degree, but I have not "designed" as one who is
"trained" by an architectural or engineering firm.

Currently, I have been out of a Drafting position for over 2 years
because engineering firms have become too "picky" and want something
for nothing. I guess it time for me to move on and realize that
Drafting is a dead field.

 

i know several guys that are prospering in a drafting field that dont even
have that 2 year degree. education is not a substitute for common sense or
taking pride in your work.

 

Maybe it varies from country to country. CAD Drafties here in Oz seem to be
in short supply like many other construction trades.

 

Same here in Canada. I don't know the OP at all, and I don't know what he
hopes to gain by his post. I don't know anything about him, but if the days
of "dumb drafting" are over you won't see me shed a tear.

I once worked in an office of mostly community college cad jockeys, and
their attitude towards their work was deplorable. The only thing they cared
about were their paychecks, beer, pot, sex, and their cars. One guy handed
me a supposedly finished set of plans for a house and there was an entire of
corner of the house which had no means of structural support. When I asked
him how he could take a set of drawings as far as he did without a clue
about how it stood up, he said he couldn't figure that part out, so he just
moved on.

Elsewhere, I have had the honor of working with "mere" draftsman who
elevated their work to the level of a fine craft, and they taught me a lot
that I still carry around today. These guys don't have to look for work.
Work comes looking for them.

 

I hope these "cad jockeys" aren't expected to design structural support.
That's the job of the structural engineer.

We generate models in 3D. With 3D "walkthrough" software, we can visualize
the model. We can even give a "published" version of the model (not the DWG)
to the client with the 3D viewer and they can visualize what their plant
will look like. The response was tremendous when we first started doing
this.

What I'm getting at, is men and women looking to enter the drafting trades
should consider honing their 3D skills. We have a hard time finding people
who 3D well!
-S

 

Intergraph 20+ years ago IIRC, among others.
You are way behind.

2D alone has been obsolete for over 20 years. IIRC 1982 was the
last year I worked with such. On a fully 3D system (CADDS III).
Drawings are for annotation of 3D models where such data is
not directly in the 3D model. Notes, labels, perhaps a few dimensions,
depending, tolerances, etc.

 

There's a lot of ground between structural calculations and common sense. My
point is that some fools think that because some fancy-pants, university
trained guy is taking ultimate responsibility for the project, they don't
have to apply common sense to their work.

I wouldn't draw anything I didn't understand, because I wouldn't have any
way of knowing if I had even drawn it correctly, and I would need continual
supervision. That's completely unproductive. If I had to supervise every
"from point" and "to point" I might as well draw it myself. (I ended up
redrawing this guys work, rather than explain it to him.)

 

I guess I'm luck then, I've been working as a drafter for 15 years,
switched my employer 3 times and my 2nd employer begged and paid me to
return.

I haven't had many good experiences with new drafters coming out of
school. So far we've gone thru 6 over the last 2 years. The problems
we usually have are bad work habits (tardiness, taking off sick often,
and not being very motivated), also most want to argue how a job is to
be done and not wanting to follow company drafting methods.

So basically in a nut shell, we won't hire a fresh drafter anymore.
There are too many drafter / designers out of work willing to actually
work.

 

I can draw 2d or 3d, but in the 15 years that I've worked with Cad
I've never had to draw anything in 3D. (HVAC/Plumbing/electrical
building systems)


I also hope we don't switch to 3D in the building services field, Its
bad enough having to change 100,000 square foot hvac or electrical
designs in 2D every time an architect changes a walls location by 3
inches.

 

Doesn't that get back to this?
I can teach you CAD in 40 hours, I can teach you architecture in 40 years.

 

it depends on the person.. some people will never get it. others will pick
it up just by watching someone else do it once.

 

I don't know about "once" but some get it faster than others, while many
never do.

 

There exist standards for such and most systems can
be configured to use them by default.
ANSI, JIS, ISO, etc.
Was that what you had in mind?

OTOH If your firm violates standards as THE rule ....

 

We are beyond many companies in our business. Many of our clients have never
seen this capability offered. Sure, mainframe systems have been avaialble
for years and even PC based 3D has been available since the late 80's, but
smaller engineering firms could not afford mainframes so they used PCs. PCs
could not handle large models until the late 90's when large memory became
affordable and CPUs got faster.

 

I am not surprised by the insulting replies of these posts why the CAD
Drafter will always be in a catch 22 situation. Expected to "design"
with no engineering education, or as some have mentioned, not even a
Drafting degree!

I wouldn't be surprised if closed-minded engineers who always enjoy
blaming the CAD operator for their lack of design skills made these
posts. Every engineer needs a scapegoat. Why not the Drafter?

Drafters draw blueprints and engineers design them.

So you either train the Drafter or you end up having a huge company
turnover in the CAD Department. Duhh! I thought companies were
smarter than that.

I am not trying to be pejorative or overly snarky. I just feel that I
have been in a catch 22 situation at every architectural or engineering
firm. They always expect more than what my degree prepared me for.

You don't have to worry. I have been out of my field for two years. I
have applied at over 20 engineering firms and get the same, "Can you
design BS."

No one will train and no one gives a flying monkey's arse. They expect
you to walk-in and do the engineers job for him/her.

I am sorry. I just feel that what engineering/architectural firms
expect from the Drafter is unfair. I also think the schools are
responsible for not preparing the students for the demands of the
engineering firms.

I asked one Architect, "What type of education would it take to have me
prepared enough to work for your company?"

He said, "I don’t know, but all I know is that we need a designer and
we don't have time to train you."

Wow! If he didn't know then who does?

There is either the two-year Associate Degree Drafting courses or
engineering courses.

What the Hell am I supposed to do to be good enough? I mean, I already
went to school for two-years and a certified AutoCAD Drafting course?!!
I am sorry but I think engineering firms are too damn picky and expect
a rocket scientist for minimal pay.

My definition of Drafter/CAD Operator: Underpaid Engineer


My point: You cant squeeze blood from a turnip.

As one poster mentioned, what do I have to accomplish?

I dont know, but I was filling out an application for McDonalds while
putting on the application that I have a two-year Associate Degree.

And for the smart asses, I do take pride in my work and did my best,
but it wasn't good enough. They wanted engineers/architects.

The engineers and architects love to whine and moan about not finding
good CAD Opereators. Have they ever considered that their standards
may be too high and that the fact that they wont train is the issue.

Hell, I forgot, everyone needs a scapegoat.

 

For your information: I am drug free and have no criminal record.

If you are worried about potheads then start having drug tests.

And what someone does in his or her personal life is none of your
business as long as it is within the laws of the land.

Unless you’re an intolerant religious or sports fanatic who expects
everyone to be exactly like you.

It is about whether or not an employee can do the job or not.

Remember: Equal Opportunity Employer

Wait, that is a myth. ;-)

 

I notice that you use the pejorative term "cad jockeys".

I am a “professional” and my title is "Drafter" or "CAD Operator". I
am not just another burger flipper in your engineering firm. I have a
degree if you can even give me enough respect to acknowledge that fact.

I call you an "engineer" and "Sir". Not a big "engineer jerk" or
"asshole architect".

This is another issue I have seen in all engineering offices.

LACK OF RESPECT

You gripe about wanting a team environment but don’t have enough
respect to call someone by their appropriate title.

How immature.

I am a Drafter not a cad jockey.

Now quit pointing fingers and see if you’re the one who has the problem.

 

I haven't had many good experiences with new drafters coming out of

Someone trained you. You have experience. New Drafters are not given
chances like you had in the past.

What are engineers/architects going to do when all of the old school
"trained" Drafters die?

You can’t gain experience unless you are trained and allowed to acquire
experience.

When will the logic of these concepts ever compute with today's
companies?

Looks like the engineer will be getting to do ALL of the CAD work. ;-)

Then they will be moaning and groaning and asking why they are stuck
working such long hours.

 

Often a company's turnover reflects a company's attitude towards its
employees.

Not implying that you are, but I have learned one thing working for a
know-it-all-jerk -- nothing you do is ever good enough.

If you cant "pick it up" in less than 90 days then they toss you out
the back door.

Usually, they are the one's who hold you back by expecting you to read
their minds.

Communication is everything. Yes, even for the glorious engineer who
knows all.

 

I suspect that was meant to be an insult.

I did take pride in my work and was on the honor role at my Technical
College. Guess What? Still not good enough for them!