CAD Drafting career and drafting job

There are great resources on the internet for finding a drafting job. If you are interested in getting into a drafting career there a number of routes open to you. One simple route is to sign up for a course at your local community college to learn the basics of drafting and get experience in the different kinds of software. Most community colleges will offer drafting related classes and have placement sercvices to help you get a stsrt in a CAD career.

The other way to enter the field is to find a local drafting shop who will provide you with a drafting job and train you at the same time. There are still companies around who will allow you to"earn as you learn". You need to be a little bit of a "self-salesman" to find these drafting jobs.

To be a "self-salesman" you have to do research on the companies you are trying to apply to. Learn about the software they use, read trade journals and view trade websites and get a feel for their products and services. Make yourself knowledgeable so that when you write a resume or cover letter or make a phone callto your new CAD career prospect, you sound like you know about your industry. If an employer feels like you are genuinely interested in their business, they will be more likely to offer you a CAD career.

There are a number of online job hunting services, try this link:

MCAD Tech Jobs Cafe

Cad Career Possibilities

Computer aided drafting jobs are available across a range of different industries these days, and some of these jobs pay extremely well. Its all about supply and demand, and right now theres not enough qualified people to replace all the older highly skilled drafters and designers who are retiring. The old guys know their industries inside and out, they know how to get things built, even though they dont always know how the CAD software works. Many older designers are kept working long after their planned retirement, because there just are not others available with their level of experience.

So whats the best way to get a job ?. Find out whats in demand in your area and get properly trained. When you see stories about infrastructure projects, study them closely. Find out what firms have won the contract and contact them. For years now building booms have driven the demand for architectural detailers and structural designers. Check out industry groups like the American Institute of Steel Construction and attend their local meetings. Go the library and read steel industry and construction industry trade journals. Research them on the internet. Knowledge is power.

"Do a job that no-one wants to do - and you have a job for life"

This was something I learned early on and it certainly rings true today. Once you have picked the industry you want to work in, specialize. Find a niche that no one wants to do and become an expert in it. If you are an architectural draftsman, perhaps you could specialize in sanitary sewers and stormceptors and drainage. Or concrete foundations. Or if you are a mechanical designer specialize in valves and actuators and industrial process control. A structural designer, specialize in steel buildings. If you do your homework, and talk to the old guys, theres a whole range of specialties that will keep you in demand for your whole working life if you choose to master them.

CAD Career application techniques

One of the key things to do involve making sure you talk about the job requirements in your resume and cover letter

Here are some tips I have used in the past but I found @greglangstaff on TikTok summarized them very well

Copy and paste the job roles and responsibilities into a spreadsheet, one row for each responsibility

Then create another column where you pick out the keyword or phrase that summarizes the job requirement in that row

Next make a third column with a quick not of when you have done one of these things in your work

Now start making a resume geared to that job, insert all those keywords into the top of your resume

Now make a cover letter with your five bests examples in the cover letter

The idea behind this is to make sure the skills recognition robot the employer is using picks out your resume and pushes it to the top of the pile