Technician, drafter or designer?

[ReMark]

C A D a h o l i c. burp! Excuse me.

[kfauver]

Why even put CAD in the title? When we were drawing on the drafting board we didn't call ourselves drafting board technicians. I'm for the following:

 

Drafter = Entry level CAD drafter (implied they are using CAD)

Designer = Designer (implied that they are using CAD)

CAD Manager = Manages the CAD system and possibly the drafters

CAD Administrator = Manages the CAD system

[SuperCAD]

WOOHOO! Found out Friday that I got my promotion. I'm now the "Lead CAD" person. It's kind of an assistant manager position, even though we don't have an official CAD Manager, which is my next step (gonna push for this next year).

[Strix]

whoo hoo! congratulations!

[nocturne00]

Congratulations. but "lead CAD person"? if your company doesnt have a CAD Manager position, the lead cad position as you've mentioned should already be the CAD Manager position.

Just a thought

[SuperCAD]

True, but taking promotions in baby steps like this increases my chances of getting more money in the long run. If I were to jump from "typical CAD user" straight to "CAD Manager" I doubt my pay increase would have been much higher than what I just received, given the current economic fuster cluck we're in. Now I can haggle with my boss to get more money for taking on more responsibility.

[skipsophrenic]

I'm with strix on this one - Cad operator (Or CAD Monkey )

[nocturne00]

hahahah! ok thats true, placing positions for levels of work is a also equal to having a position for promotion from lower levels.. w/c is equals increments on salary. sweet.. tricky.. but sweet nonetheless.

This gives me an idea... :twisted:

[SuperCAD]

Getting back to the point of this thread/poll, I spoke with my supervisor about this last week. He didn't like "designer" or "technician" in the title. His reasons were that "designer" makes us sound kind of elitist and "technician" made us sound like we worked for a hospital. His idea was "CAD Specialist" and so far we've all agreed on it. So I guess my official title is "Lead CAD Specialist."

 

Judging by the responses of this poll, it wouldn't have really mattered since the answers are pretty much split with either 7 or 8 votes going to each possible poll option. I was kind of looking for more of a one sided result rather than having it split so evenly. For instance, if 50% or more chose CAD Drafter, that would have helped me by saying "this was a result of my peers in the CAD profession."

[f700es]

CAD GOD!!! Buhahahahaha!

 

[SuperCAD]

True, but I wasn't going to go all egotistical on them. LOL!

[GypsyQueen]

I don't have a preference as to the title (i.e. Technician or Drafter). When I became a Drafter for the company I am with now, I became the first female drafter in the company's history. While I had been working as a secretary here, the drafters had always been referred to as draftsmen. Now we're Cad Technicians. Or at least that's what they are putting on all our business cards.

Believe it or not, every employee within our company has their own business card.

 

We're an MEP Engineering Firm. We have Engineers, Designers, and Drafters. CAD Technician is just what was kindly placed on the business cards by our office manager. I would have to say though, I would love to have a title that didn't contain some form of word that detracts from it.

 

Well, that's my 2 cents.. For what it was worth.

[MaxwellEdison]

We recently reviewed our job descriptions at my company (log home industry) to insure they still jived with the workload. Turns out I am a Design/Drafting Engineering Technician. I'm not even sure how well that fits as I'm responsible for drafting the preliminary plans, Creating the 3D model, implementing the engineer's structural recommendations, creating final plans for the customer and their building department, creating shop paperwork, exporting the model to the shop for fabrication, and creating the BOM. Oh, and sometimes I get to do renderings!

[ReMark]

MaxwellEd: You have the same job title i do:

 

NOT - THE - ENGINEER

 

But I play one on TV.

[EMS_0525]

I just got a new job as a Civil CAD Designer.

[LifeoRiley0]

I started off as a CADprentice and had my sights set on CADministrator, but alas I fell victim to a CADtastrophie of CADastrophic proportions!

[GypsyQueen]

I started off as a CADprentice and had my sights set on CADministrator, but alas I fell victim to a CADtastrophie of CADastrophic proportions!

 

Wow! (There's not much more one can say to that, eh?)

[grain]

I wonder how many people become actual engineers and designers who started off as CAD technicians. It would be really interesting to hear of peoples career development. And it would also be interesting to hear how peoples CAD careers degenerate. What happened LifeoRiley. Someone said to me today: Dont you get fedup of staring at a screen all day. It is a window but sometimes you want to get out into the fresh air.

[GypsyQueen]

I wonder how many people become actual engineers and designers who started off as CAD technicians. It would be really interesting to hear of peoples career development. And it would also be interesting to hear how peoples CAD careers degenerate. What happened LifeoRiley. Someone said to me today: Dont you get fedup of staring at a screen all day. It is a window but sometimes you want to get out into the fresh air.

 

Well, interestingly enough all the engineers at our firm were drafters that became engineers

As for staring at a screen all day, yeah some days I don't want to be staring at it all day, but then I realize, "hey.. I can get up and go outside for a waft of fresh air anytime I like."

Those that sit at their desk everyday and think that they're tired of staring at the computer screen, or whatever it is they have to work with have lost their love of the job and should consider either taking a deserved vacation or changing careers. We're not machines after all. And eventually we will tire of things, some faster than others, but in the end, if you can put your pen/pencil/mouse down and feel accomplished, then you're probably still enjoying your job.

 

In short, I'm saying I'm darn proud of everyone on this forum that still drives to learn more about what they're doing, and for those that are content where they are in their careers. And I'm proud to say that I am a member of a forum where everyone is darn good at what they do.

 

*climbs down from the soapbox and stuffs it back behind the desk*

*cough cough*

Sorry, got caught up in the moment, and it just seems like those of us that are using these CAD products don't hear enough from those who enjoy the fruits of our labors.

 

Damn Fine Job!

[SuperCAD]

...it just seems like those of us that are using these CAD products don't hear enough from those who enjoy the fruits of our labors.

 

I get that feeling quite often, but not today. I got a minor ego boost at work today. Apparently, the owner of one of our largest accounts called our owner today about concerns he had over a very important and large project coming up in '09. He specifically requested that the "guy who does the really cool 3D drawings" works on this project. Now I'm flying out to meet with the design team next week and talk about this project. How cool is that?