Overview

Our final Spotlight On focuses on drafting, CAD management, teaching, and consulting. The first two of these topics may seem like rather odd choices; after all, haven’t you been studying them throughout the book? While it is true that you have been learning how to draft and may have even read the appendix dedicated to CAD management (Appendix E), we really have not discussed what it is like to actually have a career working as a drafter or CAD manager. While all the engineering, architecture, and design professions we profiled earlier are excellent career paths, many students using this textbook began learning AutoCAD to be a drafter, and this is what we focus on. We also look beyond doing drafting to teaching drafting, either in a classroom or in a consultant capacity.

All these topics are very personal to me. While I am working as an engineer right now, I started off my career in the mid-1990s as an AutoCAD drafter and kept at it for 10 years full time (actually double time,you could say, considering the long days I worked). It was not until later in life I returned to engineering and away from pure drafting. Although today I still use AutoCAD regularly and still teach, write, and consult, I will never forget the decade of AutoCAD work, in the trenches of New York City. Drafting, CAD management, consulting, teaching and corporate training was my life—14 hour per day, six days per week. Although one could say that the “Golden Age” of AutoCAD has somewhat passed, with enough qualified candidates finally filling the unending industry demand, it still can be a rewarding and well-paid career.

AutoCAD Training Requirements

The educational requirements for an AutoCAD drafting career are more rigorous now than at the peak of demand, when I got started. Although I had minimal experience back then, I was hired anyway, and the company trained me in-house over a grueling 6 month period; AutoCAD boot camp you could say. Now, 17 years later, this is much less common. You need to attend one of the many community college or tech school programs to get either a certificate or a full diploma in drafting. This can take anywhere from a few months (basic certificate) all the way up to two years (for an associate’s degree). Either way, you graduate “ready to go” and can be productive at a company right away.

If necessary, take both of the exams offered by Autodesk: Associate and Professional (see Appendix J). However, I consider these exams inadequate in measuring the overall knowledge of an individual. They just are not comprehensive enough. The proof of your skill remains the ability to draft quickly and efficiently, and many companies will sit you down in front of a CAD station to draft a given sample. I was on both sides of that fence, doing a few of those and later on devising tests for new hires. Being fast and efficient is still the best way to stand out from the pack. I cannot say it enough—practice your basics!

Architectural Drafting

So, what is it really like once you get hired as a draftsperson? This of course depends on where you go. You can draw a line between the world of architecture and engineering. They are different and have their own pros and cons. On your first day on the job, in either profession, you will be shown company standards and given some time to customize your CAD station. Be sure to get AutoCAD looking like you want it. Gone are the days when you shared workstations. You will be on your own computer, so be sure to customize anything that will boost your productivity (pgp file, toolbars, etc).

Be sure to take note of the printer/plotter configurations, and what is available. Be sure to also identify the lead CAD designer or the one most knowledgeable in AutoCAD. Not only are you guaranteed to get stuck on some features of the software, but also you will need to know exactly what standards are to be followed – not all of them are enforced, and there may be a reason why. You will also need to learn all the network paths and where to retrieve and save drawings.

Day-to-day work at an architecture office revolves around whichever project is assigned to you. In my experience it is more stressful with the architects and their deadlines. Engineering offices in larger companies (such as Siemens and IBM, two companies I spent significant time with) operate on larger budgets and longer timeframes, giving you a chance to develop additional skills for the job. Architects bill per hour, and you need to be on your game from day one. Expect to see Paper Space and xrefs as a matter of routine. Expect also (in some offices anyway) an emphasis on 3D. More and more architects create computer renderings for clients, often using additional software like Rhino. By and large however, regular 2D floor plans will be your bread and butter. Most architects I worked with used redline markups, basically red ink on a paper printout; and you will quickly learn the meaning of the phrase “he (or she) bled on it.” You will take those changes and execute the actual drafting, then print a new sheet for more markups or a final check.

As you gain experience, the architect may allow you to lay out the design or changes to the design, especially if they are routine, then just approve what you do. This is a great way to get to know the profession in case you do want to become an architect. Although I was never interested in an architecture career, somewhere out there exist entire floors in buildings that I designed. Expect to also be out in the field to do surveys or “as-builds.” You show up with a camera and pen and paper and take down information, measurement and pictures to bring back to the office. Sometimes you can bring AutoCAD with you on a laptop, and do the drafting right on the spot.

The money you can earn while drafting for architects is good but not great (except of course at the very top). Drafting time is submitted as part of the overall bid, but generally the allowed rate is not high by the time everything is negotiated. I left architecture after a few years to move to larger engineering companies, with a resulting boost in my pay. To that end, while I was working in architecture offices, I noticed the high rate of turnover in their drafting staff, with exceptions of course. One huge benefit of this type of drafting is the experience you get on AutoCAD. A sizeable architecture project, especially with a 3D component, uses virtually all of AutoCAD’s capability. If you have a choice in the matter, start your career in architecture, then move into engineering drafting. You will gain critical knowledge that will come in very handy if you want to be a CAD manager and for teaching or corporate training.

Engineering Drafting

Although this work is not fundamentally different from architecture—you are still using AutoCAD after all—as mentioned, many things are different. In my experience, the projects are larger, more complex, and in many ways more diverse. At Siemens, where we worked on the New York City subway’s signaling system, the work spanned the mechanical, electrical, and even structural fields. Although my use of AutoCAD was limited to mostly intermediate-level drafting and there was no 3D component, I did have to interact with varying CAD systems and other software. Most of Chapter 16 was written based on that experience. The money was also far better, as you would expect from a multimillion dollar contract. Keep in mind of course that this was a major firm and engineering work done at a small office is not going to be the same.

Engineering drafting involves the same level of detail as architecture. You may encounter a great deal of electrical schematics, cross sections, and use of attributes to hold information. A lot of our layouts of complex communication equipment were simple from a drafting perspective, same lines, circles, and rectangles over and over again, but complex in its intricacy. When you have thousands of pieces coming together, you have to approach things differently. Use of blocks, nested blocks, and symbol libraries is routine. We had to be very careful in how we presented complex information, which brings us to another major point.

Especially in the engineering world, your job is not just drafting but designing a good layout. It is the next step up from just doing redline markups. You have to constantly take a step back from your drawing and ask if this will be easy to read by someone who is seeing it for the first time. Use wipeouts to hide what need not be shown (see Chapter 15), and use darker outlines for major pieces, reserving lighter lines for the secondary items. Be creative in positioning design elements on a crowded drawing, and always ask yourself: Does this make sense? The purpose of drawings is to convey information. If it fails in that regard, you have not done your job as a draftsperson.

CAD Management

What is meant by CAD management is simply that you are the top draftsperson in the organization and it is your job to not only draft but also keep an eye on standards, resolve any AutoCAD questions and concerns, and perhaps supervise other draftspersons. No special training is needed, only experience. I spent several years as a CAD manager at Siemens, hiring and overseeing several individuals in that time, one of whom became my business partner in my company, Vertical Technologies Consulting and Design, a few years later.

The key here of course is knowing AutoCAD inside and out and being able to explain to nontechnical managers what the issues are. You also have to be able to give reasonable estimates of how long something will take and any technical hurdles on which you need support. My ability to teach AutoCAD clearly to students was partially honed in my experience explaining issues to managers. You would be amazed how complex and mysterious this software and its abilities can seem to some. As a CAD manager, you will find yourself attending far more meetings than if you were just a draftsperson. Expect to also find yourself teaching others how to do things right.

The final piece of advice for CAD managers is this: Be careful hiring. As described in Appendix E, the best person to hire is the one that is fastest and most accurate on AutoCAD, as demonstrated by having them do a simple drawing, such as the floor plan from Chapter 3. Experience has shown me that if they do not know an advanced concept, that can be taught in a few minutes. But only extensive time spent drafting can instill speed and accuracy.

Teaching AutoCAD

Not everyone enjoys or wants to teach. Teaching is a calling more than a job, though teaching a small group of adults is a far cry from a room full of 4th graders, so it is not really the same thing. It is still very rewarding and a lot of fun. You learn even more about AutoCAD through teaching, because you really have to dissect it for students. I stepped into teaching by accident when, in 1999, a coworker at Liz Claiborne (where we did store planning and design) wanted to go to Europe for the summer after a bad breakup and asked me to fill in for her class at Pratt Institute of Design. I do not think she ever came back, and my temporary teaching gig stretched into many years. I also taught at New York Institute of Technology and other, private, training centers all over the New York City area.

If you think you may want to get into teaching, the best thing to do is to get as much diverse experience as possible. An instructor who has limited experience, even if he or she knows AutoCAD well, just is not able to speak to all the ways AutoCAD is used in the industry. If, however, you have worked across a wide array of specializations and have the patience to teach, this may be for you. Needless to say, you also have to know AutoCAD backwards and forwards. You have to display confidence in your knowledge and confidence while doing public speaking. You will be in front of anywhere from 5 to 20 students at a time.

To get a job teaching AutoCAD you really have to just watch for an opening and drop off your resume at potential schools. Most schools and educational centers want experience, so getting a foot in the door is not easy. It also matters a great deal what type of program you will teach. If you are at a community college, it may offer an entire degree in drafting. Then, you have to be a true “educator,” possibly with a degree in education, as you would also be responsible for teaching math, science, and maybe technical writing. I always taught in continuing education programs. This is far easier in terms of non-AutoCAD credentials. My students were all adults, and I had to teach only AutoCAD, usually for eight weeks at a time. I preferred this approach, as I did not really wish to teach math and science. This may be the way to go for you as well if you want to get into AutoCAD instruction, by seeking out these types of programs. They may be part of a university or college, like Pratt or NYIT, or private companies like Netcom, CDM, or RoboTECH, where I taught on and off.

One additional benefit is that the pay is better in these schools than in a full-time teaching position at a college. This is because you work on “contract” and do not get benefits, resulting in a significantly higher base pay. I already had a full-time job in the daytime, with benefits, so this was perfect for me; and I taught in the evenings and often on weekends for many years.

AutoCAD Consulting

The final discussion here focuses on AutoCAD consulting. What is meant by consulting is any temporary, and usually highly paid, service that you offer a corporate client. It can be drafting, but generally you will rarely do that, as drafters can be hired cheaper through placement agencies. Most, if not all, of the consulting that I did refers to corporate training. These are short-term (two- to five-day) training seminars, also referred to as boot camps. They are held at the company’s offices and are intense eight- to nine-hour per day classes, meant to educate the engineers or architects in proper use of AutoCAD, as well as problem resolution and optimizing AutoCAD to their specific needs.

This type of consulting is the pinnacle of AutoCAD use and AutoCAD training. You fly or drive to the corporate offices and immerse yourself in an intense, high-pressure environment, teaching a very demanding group of individuals, who paid a great deal of money to have you there, while at the same time giving them ideas on how to best optimize AutoCAD to their business and resolving thorny issues with their current approach. It is not an environment for an amateur, and it took me over seven years to truly establish myself in this field, with the opening of my consulting firm in 2003. Prior to that, I was sent to these jobs through several private training centers with which I collaborated.

If you wish to get into this type of work, you need to overcome some major hurdles. You have to have absolute mastery of every aspect of AutoCAD, followed by a wide-ranging knowledge of many industries. You could be teaching structural engineers one week and electrical engineers the following week. I have once even had the interesting experience of training a squad of FBI special agents assigned to counterterrorism. What did they need with AutoCAD you ask? They were designing special nonfragmentation concrete barriers, and needed to learn AutoCAD 3D in a hurry. You also need some knowledge of computers, operating systems, and IT networks, as well as have experience on all versions of AutoCAD and LT. You just never know what you are going to get. You have to be willing to travel for a week at a time, often on short notice. The best way to get started is to first partner up with an established training center, then branch out on your own, when you get enough experience. A website advertising your services of course helps a great deal, as does reputation and performance. Most of my clients are repeat business.

Consulting work like this is very well paid. Typical fees for one day of work range from $1200 to $2200 or more. I typically charge on the lower end of that range (if I do not have to fly to the client), since I have no middleman to pay and want to be very competitive. Best of luck to you, in whatever you decide to do!