I’m thinking of going back to school to learn “useful” skills and I was thinking that Computer Aided Drafting might be something I would like. I want to also learn the non-computer aided Drafting.
How useful is it in today’s workplaces? Can I get a job if I have these skills?
I have a lot of friends who are architects or studying to be architects (not yet certified) and they always seem to be doing a lot of drafting.
Am I fooling myself here?
Well, the answer is yes, you can defintely get a job (and a good one, too) with knowledge of CAD and no accompanying engineering degree. However, I suspect the more pertinent question is if you can get such a job in your area. I suggest you check the local newspapers’ want ads to see what industries in your area are looking for, but I think you’ll be favorably surprised - most places still want designers that can do drafting, but who the employer doesn’t have to pay as high as a degreed engineer. On the other hand, you may end up getting paid higher than engineers because designer jobs are often non-exempt, so you get time-and-a-half pay for overtime!
Anyway, yes, it would probably be worthwhile pursuing this schooling. Go ahead and take regular drafting too, but most companies aren’t looking for a drafter that still uses t-square (or parallel bar or drafting machine) and triangles and paper. Still, that is a worthwhile skill to know because many times it is simpler to just draw something up by hand than crank up the computer.
Cybersnark, P.E.
I started as a traditional draftsman many moon ago (learned in High School). I am now a GIS programmer.
Your handle is ‘FilmGeek’. Are you a visual person (that’s a plus)? Are you ‘spatialy cognizent’? Can you sketch the layout of your house or apartment?
Basic (at least) math skills are also important.
Is traditional drafting still taught?
It is very helpful to know how to use a scale, a t-square and angle. Those are roots. But I would say, probably not nesessary.
All things in this world can be associated with something else. That’s what a database is. Association.
Consider that every object has an x,y and z (position).
GIS ties it all together.
I gotta go. In short, look into CAD, or GIS. Together, CAD and GIS ties the world together.
It’s hard to say without knowing what CAD classes are offered. I’m in the business, and there’s a LOT of CAD programs out there. Unigraphics, SDRC, CATIA, AutoCAD, ProE…those are just a few of the ones available. The Big Three use UG (GM), SDRC (Ford - though it was bought out by EDS, the company that owns UG, and they’re merging the two. Learn UG if you’re going this route), and CATIA (DaimlerChrysler). Toyota also uses CATIA and ProE.
I’d second what cybersnark suggests: check in your area for CAD jobs and see what kind of CAD programs they’re requiring, then try for the CAD classes. Warning: They’re REALLY pricey; to get the complete education courses in ONE CAD program can cost you $8000 - $10000. (I’m quoting prices for CATIA and SDRC, because I’ve had to recently research those. I believe AutoCAD wouldn’t be as expensive.)
Oh, and you don’t necessarily need an engineering degree. I don’t have one, for example. However, if you can get a job without one and your employer is willing to pay for you to get one, I’d recommend going for it. A lot of employers are leaning that way anymore.
Mr. Ujest is a CAD manager and uses Auto CAD ( he has other important job titles too.)
As we live in the Car Capital of the Universe, there is always a need for this in the 27 billion engineering firms in our area.
The plus side is that Mr. Ujest uses his skills for his hobby of being a builder and modifies the houseplans on his equipment. He has made a little money on the side for friends ( which isn’t important) and reimburses his company for the paper used. It’s saved us gobs of money, apparently. And can be used to make LARGE SIGNS FOR PARTIES, which is always a plus.
I’ve got a certificate in Autocad from a local tech school and I used to draw with a pencil and triangles. A few people have shown an intrest in this but that’s all. I have Autocad LT on my computer at home and I have just learned to survey.
I’m studying civil engineering and when I graduate I plan to get my surveyor’s license along with a real job. I can run a traverse and level and draw the plat now, but I can’t sign it and make it a legal document without the sheepskin.
I’ve pimped CAD to another poster. There’s definitely a demand for good CAD guys, you’ll just hafta check your area. You’ll also have to see what programs are offered at your local school. I’m in civil engineering and we use AutoCAD and Microstation. And it doesn’t have ot be that expensive to get training. Around here, you can take a two year community college course and they’ll even help place you after the first year.
Out of curiosity, are the vendor courses (I’m assuming that’s who’d be offering a course in that price range) viewed that much more highly then a drafting course at a community college? I remember the one I went to had an AutoCad lab and offered a series of courses in it…
CAD is quite useful. While I can’t address the overall market, I’ll comment on something I’ve noticed. Houston, where I live, has long been a fruitful market for CAD operators, with oil companies being a large part of that market.
When CAD finally became entrenched, in the late '80s, we thought it was great. A lot of the Leroy and rapidograph folks didn’t make the switch, and they’re just about gone, now. Chartpak tape and airbrushed output were effectively completely replaced by digital presentation materials.
But we haven’t outsourced to a CAD shop in about five years. That’s because our workstation work product output can easily be presentation material quality, so we now generate a sales package ourselves. The thought is that it would take me as much time and effort to prepare something for a CAD shop as it would for me to just generate it myself.
Along the same lines, my niece is an architect. I’ve gathered from her that nobody gets an architecture degree anymore without being able to use AutoCAD. But, I think their stuff still does get worked over by a CAD department.
I seek not to dissuade you. Not at all.
I’m thinking of a good friend of mine who’s been an AutoCAD operator since DOS days. Last year he was laid off by the oil company he’d worked for for about a decade. It may be partially due to the phenomenon I noted regarding oil and gas prospect generators producing their own final output a lot more these days, but D’s been having trouble finding work, here in the city that usually dodges economic slowdowns.
It may also have something to do with the fact that after almost twenty years of doing CAD work for oil and gas companies and environmental consulting companies, D doesn’t know squat about geology.
Learn some complimentary ancillary skills along with acquiring CAD proficiency. Be able to tell that the electrical circuit you’ve been given has a flaw, or that the contours on the map show a that a critical fault has no throw. I’ll throw in another, an independent CAD/GIS guy I’ve worked with who’s in Mississippi. While I met him through oil biz dealings, one of his bigger contracts during the time we conversed involved setting up a “smart” map for 911 services in rural parts of Mississippi. He threw himself into a project that almost nobody really knew anything about. He learned a lot and became vital to the continued progress of the project.
Judging by the lives lead by the few CAD operators I know, you can make a good living if you master it.
Good luck!
Thanks for all the input.
I can get a two year associates at the local community college in a year and a half for around $3000 (especially since I have a liberal arts degree and all the core classes like English for Idiots, etcetera are covered). I believe they just do AutoCAD, but I don’t know exactly.
The job market around here (Kansas City) is pretty pitiful for any job catagory, so I’m not sure if the small number of listings is due to that or the lack of need for CAD people.
I’m a design engineer and CAD user for 15 years and feel pretty comfortable in saying that if you don’t have any training or background in a particular field such as product design, architectural, civil, or machine automation (my expertise), then a non-descript CAD degree is all but worthless in tomorrow’s engineering environment. There are hundreds of vocational & tech schools turning out thousands of CAD monkeys every year who value their CAD skills but really can’t design anything with it. Basically it’s a nifty tool that compliments the engineering design knowledge that’s in your head, nothing more.