Is it possible to start as a drafter by being self-taught?

[Michael K.]

I need help learning how the drafting profession works. To what extent can someone enter the drafting profession by being entirely self-taught? By self-taught, I mean using resources apart from those found in synchronous full-time school. Can I learn from tutorial books and places like LinkedIn, Udemy, SourceCAD, and Balkan Architect? Is it possible to get a job by showing you can use the software so that, on the job, that is what you would mostly be doing? Is this what CAD Operators do? As far as design goes, that is left up to the architect and engineer right? I know an engineer will use the software in a more sophisticated way, but there is a reason there are drafters as well as engineers, right?

 

I know I could attempt to get an AutoCAD and Revit professional or user certification. I would also imagine that copying a set of blueprints and then modeling it in 3D is another project I could attempt. Would this be enough to get my foot in the door with certain companies? Is there anything else I should try and do? Can I get help coming up with a list of things to do that I could then display in a portfolio or put on a resume? Is there a way I can prove to myself and whoever views my portfolio that I will be able to work well with an architect and his engineer or a millwork company?

 

Are there employers that would appreciate my efforts in this direction? Or does this kind of skill and knowledge mean nothing without a diploma or degree backing it up? 

 

I am hoping I can have a CAD job so I can start working on a self-paced online university degree.
 

[CyberAngel]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I was recently informed that CAD is getting sophisticated enough that engineers won't need drafters. Not only that, they're adding AI to the software.

 

I have my doubts. If you've ever seen an engineer try to put together a set of plans, you would too. They have a particular mindset, which they need to do what they do, but which leaves them ill equipped to handle other disciplines. Would you want to eat at a restaurant where the chefs handle every task, including serving and cleaning? And if they did, how would that impact their cooking?

 

Without professional experience, the best thing you can do is put together a portfolio. You'll be able to show potential employers that you understand the software, how to lay out plans, and what the various elements mean. Research the companies you most want to work for. Get copies of their plans if you can. Draw something in the same style (but not a direct copy).

 

I'm afraid that the industry will dispense with the services of drafters too soon. When they find out engineers and AI are not enough, they may permanently lose some institutional knowledge and vital skills. But at least they'll have saved some money.

[tombu]

I'm a retired licensed Land Surveyor with a surveying degree who went from working outside for 20 years to doing AutoCAD based on what I knew about surveying and civil engineering with no AutoCAD experience. Few of the engineers I've worked with did much CAD and the two on my team didn't even have it installed or their PCs. Don't expect the architect or engineer to hold your hand, you're going to need to know enough about the field you're working in to do the work for the most part yourself with as little input as necessary.

Most of the drawings we did other than survey and civil engineering drawings were maps using both ArcGIS and AutoCAD Map. There are many types of AutoDesk software and each are used many different ways by many different professions. Required experience and education requirement vary from one extreme to the other.

 

What type of self-paced online university degree are you thinking about? Getting a job in that field would be the way to go. Knowing you're going to school to work in their profession many employers will gladly hire someone for CAD work expecting you'll become an asset to them in the future. Nobody in our office had ever had AutoCAD experience before but all worked years in the field working with drawings and understood what they needed to be.

[BIGAL]

You did not mention which field you want to work in, if as already suggested you can get some plans redraw them. It really depends on the company I have worked where the engineers do the computations and sketches then would draw those plans up. I am a qualified Civil Engineer. At the time it was easier to be a contract drafter but as an engineer understood the tasks. 

 

Some small companies may be looking for someone as the boss is working way to many hours a week trying to keep up. 

 

If you can do say a school/college/Tafe course, (where I am),  would be advantageous. 

 

The engineer doing the drafting were I last worked yes was the answer but we had CIV3D plus Civil Site Design, so plan production was a button push, we mainly did road designs, the only real task was quantities. 

 

So go door knocking with your resume, there is a high % of jobs not advertised, you have to be in the right spot at the right time.

 

Good luck.

Edited July 2 by BIGAL

[Michael K.]

 

3 hours ago, CyberAngel said:

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks.

3 hours ago, CyberAngel said:

Without professional experience, the best thing you can do is put together a portfolio. You'll be able to show potential employers that you understand the software, how to lay out plans, and what the various elements mean. Research the companies you most want to work for. Get copies of their plans if you can. Draw something in the same style (but not a direct copy).

How do I modify original plans, unless I have the skills of a designer?

4 hours ago, CyberAngel said:

I'm afraid that the industry will dispense with the services of drafters too soon.

My hope is that it happens gradually enough so it allows drafters to update their skills in time, skills which don't need higher intelligence.

 

3 hours ago, tombu said:

What type of self-paced online university degree are you thinking about? Getting a job in that field would be the way to go. Knowing you're going to school to work in their profession many employers will gladly hire someone for CAD work expecting you'll become an asset to them in the future. Nobody in our office had ever had AutoCAD experience before but all worked years in the field working with drawings and understood what they needed to be.

I am thinking of studying for a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Athabasca University in Canada. This is why I am asking about drafting because it is related. I was hoping creating residential designs as well just for the sake of creating design concepts, in addition to everything else would show I could become an asset in the future. However these designs would be just designs with no knowledge of building code or engineering....could that still have some value if becoming an architect is my goal?

 

1 hour ago, BIGAL said:

So go door knocking with your resume, there is a high % of jobs not advertised, you have to be in the right spot at the right time.

I am still in the process of creating a plan about how my resume should look like. Are you saying Autodesk certifications and the building plan copy/3D model are enough? Or are there any other things I could do?

 

[SLW210]

If you plan on doing university for architecture, you will probably have a good chance of landing employment, check with the university, lots of companies get students to work for them on a full time and/or part time basis, at least here in the USA.

 

Getting some online experience and working through tutorials, etc. plus showing you are doing the schooling for a degree in architecture would go a long way toward getting hired.

 

I am completely self taught for AutoCAD as well as 3D CAD and modeling, though I have a mechanical degree and started on board drafting, I started out working in machine shops and doing fabrication and welding.

 

Forums like CADTutor,  Autodesk and others are great for help when you hit any roadblocks along the way.

[BIGAL]

You can get a Education version of Autocad if your registered as a student and its Free. But be aware you can not use it for commercial work. Great for practicing.

Edited July 2 by BIGAL

[MatthewB]

I need help learning how the drafting profession works. To what extent can someone enter the drafting profession by being entirely self-taught? By self-taught, I mean using resources apart from those found in synchronous full-time school. Can I learn from tutorial books and places like LinkedIn, Udemy, SourceCAD, and Balkan Architect?

I am self taught, and I was tutored by my dad. When I was 12 he taught me Trigonometry, I did Trig math over the summer, and he would design using my calculations in the evening. He taught me how to letter and how to be neat and professional. When I graduated HS I was 17, he asked if I wanted to continue to live in his house.  Duh, of course, he handed me two sets of books. Terry T. Wohler's - Applying AutoCAD: A Step-By-Step Approach for AutoCAD Release 12 and Rip Weaver's Process Piping Drafting and Process Piping Design. I sat down at 286 PC and went through the Applying AutoCAD book, and then I studied Rip Weaver's Process drafting, taking the test in the books, and being tested by my dad in the evenings. In three months I had completed both sets of books. I had a knowledge of drafting practices and the software it would be drafted on. This was a long time ago (1992), when DOS was the operating system and Windows was barely a thing. Now a days there are so many different places you can learn from. It also depends on your ability to study on your own. If you are a student then you can get a student license for AutoCAD, then alongside LinkedIn Learning, you can teach yourself the software. I learned Inventor and Plant3d both use and administration from LinkedIn Learning. You can buy reputable training guides that will dig deeper from the basics you learn on LinkedIn, that depth will serve you your entire career. Long story short, yes you can teach yourself, however being guided by someone who knows is so much better.

 

 

Is it possible to get a job by showing you can use the software so that, on the job, that is what you would mostly be doing? Is this what CAD Operators do?

If you are looking for Entry Level Drafting jobs, then yes probably, especially if you have some knowledge on drafting practices and a deep understanding of the software. Even entry level jobs want you to know something.

 

 

As far as design goes, that is left up to the architect and engineer right? I know an engineer will use the software in a more sophisticated way, but there is a reason there are drafters as well as engineers, right?

Design is what you obtain through years of drafting and some tutoring from a designer and possibly a checker. Drafting is the knowledge of what and how drawings are put together. Designing is the knowledge of why you put it together a certain way, why you use certain materials over others, when to question an engineering decision based on years of why you don't put things together in that way. Designers understand the rules, the do's and don'ts, where to find the information, what information is pertinent and what is superfluous. Engineers can be designers, but most are linear thinkers. They plan and imagine point A leads to B which leads to C to get outcome D. We take that information and create it into a reality that can actually be built, that is functional, looks good, and is useable by the workers and maintenance people that have to live and work that design long after we have moved on to another project.

 

I know I could attempt to get an AutoCAD and Revit professional or user certification. I would also imagine that copying a set of blueprints and then modeling it in 3D is another project I could attempt. Would this be enough to get my foot in the door with certain companies? Is there anything else I should try and do? Can I get help coming up with a list of things to do that I could then display in a portfolio or put on a resume? Is there a way I can prove to myself and whoever views my portfolio that I will be able to work well with an architect and his engineer or a millwork company?

 

Are there employers that would appreciate my efforts in this direction? Or does this kind of skill and knowledge mean nothing without a diploma or degree backing it up? 

 

I am hoping I can have a CAD job so I can start working on a self-paced online university degree.

There are plenty of library books and magazines with architectural plans in them, if that is the direction you are going. There are a lot of older books out there that would test your knowledge and imagination attempting to create top, front, right views of a 3d object turned isometrically so you cannot see all of the object, this is where you learn how to project lines in the different views to verify you have all the information in your sections/views. There are employers who are looking for you right now, they are looking for someone who is self-motivated, has a strong sense of purpose and drive, a meticulous eye for detail. Someone that has taken the time to dig deeper and really understand the software, and drafting practices. They can teach you the rest (how they do it, what their standards are, etc.)

 

Drafting and Design will still have a long life yet. Like my dad always told me... Drafting/Design will always pay the bills. Then he went on to explain different industries and disciplines and how they are paid on different levels. It may have changed or balanced out somewhat but it was always told like this

Pay increases as you go to the right (See below) 
Architectural drafters make less than < Civil drafters make less than < Structural drafters make less than < Electrical drafters make less than <Pipe Drafters

It is the same for 2d designers and 3d designers, most of the time in my career I made more than the engineers as a Senior 3d Piping Designer, and it always burns management because they are usually engineers. Just some food for thought, in case your heart isn't settled on Architecture. Either way good luck on your endeavors.