How To Become An Architectural Draftsman: What It Is and Career Path

What is an architectural draftsman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Michael Brazley Ph.D.

Draftsmen work closely with architects on building projects. Their job is to prepare drawings of building plans and designs based on the specifications of the architect. They also use software and drafting stations to render designs. Architectural draftsmen may also coordinate other designs, like electrical, structural, and even mechanical designs.

There are different kinds of drafters. While architectural drafters focus on buildings and construction projects, civil drafters prepare civil engineering projects like bridges and highways. A day in the life of an architectural draftsman includes determining the procedures to be followed on a drawing, preparing designs to match these procedures, and producing copies of the completed drawing.

You're more likely to get hired as a draftsman if you have college training. Certificates and diplomas from technical institutes are also a great idea. You'll also need an understanding of design, drawing, and CADD.

What general advice would you give to an architectural draftsman?

Michael Brazley Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Architecture, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Work experience in an architect's office is best.

ScoreArchitectural DraftsmanUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,382

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.3

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 7.02%

Black or African American 3.09%

Hispanic or Latino 11.66%

Unknown 5.20%

White 72.33%

Gender

female 9.89%

male 90.11%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

4.3

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an architectural draftsman

Explore architectural draftsman education requirements

Most common architectural draftsman degrees

Bachelor's

43.6 %

Associate

39.2 %

High School Diploma

6.0 %

Start to develop specific architectural draftsman skills

Skills	Percentages
Revit	11.57%
Shop Drawings	8.95%
Construction Drawings	8.31%
Architectural Drawings	7.35%
Sketch	4.37%

Complete relevant architectural draftsman training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New architectural draftsmen learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an architectural draftsman based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real architectural draftsman resumes.

Research architectural draftsman duties and responsibilities

Manage and supervise other draftsmen.
Use Revit to model complete 3D homes.
Used Revit 2010 and AutoCAD 2010 to create drawings
Coordinate drawings with MEP consultants, field measuring & drawing as-built plans.

Prepare your architectural draftsman resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your architectural draftsman resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an architectural draftsman resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable architectural draftsman resume templates

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