Architectural Drafter Career
Architectural drafters take designs created by engineers and architects and convert them into technical drawings. These drawings then help professionals design a wide variety of products ranging from the smallest microprocessor chips to the tallest skyscraper buildings. If you choose to be a drafter, you will have to learn how to use computer-aided design (CAD) software in order to support architects and engineers in their design work.
Most drafters work for architectural firms, engineering companies, manufacturing organizations, and other related services like construction. Most spend their time in an office setting, but they may also travel to some sites in order to work more closely with engineers and architects for particular projects.
Architectural Drafter Career Snapshot
Further details on a career as an architectural drafter are listed below (statistics from the May 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics and Onet Online):
is the average yearly salary for architectural drafters.
decrease in employment between 2014 and 2024.
have a Bachelor’s degree while 15% have a Post-baccalaureate certificate.
Architectural Drafter Education
About two-thirds of all architectural drafters have a bachelor’s degree with a smaller percentage holding post-baccalaureate certificates.
Architectural Drafter Job Duties
Drafters typically take the rough sketches from engineers and architects and transfer them to CAD documents. If you choose this line of work, you may learn to design products, add details to plans, and specify dimensions and materials for products using this powerful technology. Many drafters create and save technical drawings digitally on CAD systems. They need to specify the information that will help professionals manufacture a particular product or machine by noting the dimensions and materials required. CAD schematics are then printed or transferred to building information modeling (BIM) systems, which allow teams of professionals to collaborate on digital models of physical machines or new buildings.
Architectural Drafter Salaries
New drafters can expect to earn about $33,590 with a median salary of $50,710 according to 2015 BLS.gov reports. The best performers will earn about $83,350.
Architectural Drafter Job Outlook
Although employment of drafters is projected to decline 3 percent between 2014 to 2024, the job outlook will vary by specialty. The advancement of CAD and BIM technology continues to automate many tasks formerly done by drafters. If you learn how to harness the power of this technology, you can still be a valuable professional in the architectural drafting arena.
Architectural Drafter Skills & Traits
| Architectural Drafter Skill Set: | Required Abilities: | Tools Used by Architectural Drafters: | Typical Work Activities: |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Active Listening • Critical Thinking • Making Decisions • Reading Comprehension • Speaking | • Near Vision • Visualization • Problem Sensitivity • Deductive Reasoning • Oral Comprehension | • Curves • Graphics or video accelerator cards • Architects’ scales • Scanners • Computer aided design CAD software | • Working with Computers • Drafting • Documenting Information • Getting Information • Communicating with Others |
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