An AutoCAD drafter is a professional specializing in creating technical drawings using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software. These designs can either be two-dimensional or three-dimensional and can be used by structural engineers, architects, and civil engineers. An AutoCAD drafter's role is liaising with architects and engineers to design blueprints and generate models.
AutoCAD drafters should be endowed with knowledge and skills such as creativity, drawing skills, engineering, writing skills, , computer skills, and exceptional accuracy. They should also be detail-oriented to add details to architectural plans from their building techniques.
An AutoCAD Drafter works full time 40 hours a week from Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. Their job involves doing site visits requiring them to work until late in the evenings and weekends occasionally.
Autocad Drafter Overview
Working as an Autocad Drafter
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an autocad drafter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.86 an hour? That's $43,393 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce -700 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Autocad Drafter Do
There are certain skills that many autocad drafters have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, detail oriented and technical skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an autocad drafter, we found that a lot of resumes listed 27.1% of autocad drafters included construction documents, while 11.9% of resumes included engineering drawings, and 6.8% of resumes included revit. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the autocad drafter job title. But what industry to start with? Most autocad drafters actually find jobs in the professional and construction industries.
How To Become an Autocad Drafter
If you're interested in becoming an autocad drafter, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 39.5% of autocad drafters have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.5% of autocad drafters have master's degrees. Even though some autocad drafters have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an autocad drafter. When we researched the most common majors for an autocad drafter, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on autocad drafter resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an autocad drafter. In fact, many autocad drafter jobs require experience in a role such as drafter. Meanwhile, many autocad drafters also have previous career experience in roles such as computer aided drafter or design drafter.
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Autocad Drafter Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an autocad drafter can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as computer aided drafter, progress to a title such as computer aided design designer and then eventually end up with the title senior mechanical designer.
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Average Salary for an Autocad Drafter
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Engineering Associates OSP Autocad Drafters W/O-Calc OSP Autocad Drafters W/O-Calc | Engineering Associates Engineering Associates | 01/22/2021 01/22/2021 | $33,39201/22/2021 $33,392 |
Parsons Corporation Autocad Drafter/Technologist Autocad Drafter/Technologist | Parsons Corporation Parsons Corporation | 01/14/2021 01/14/2021 | $38,00001/14/2021 $38,000 |
Rogue Industrial Group Autocad Drafter Autocad Drafter | Rogue Industrial Group Rogue Industrial Group | 01/14/2021 01/14/2021 | $39,65301/14/2021 $39,653 |
Barracuda Staffing Autocad Drafter-Shell and Tube Experience Required Autocad Drafter-Shell and Tube Experience Required | Barracuda Staffing Barracuda Staffing | 01/12/2021 01/12/2021 | $43,82701/12/2021 $43,827 |
Randstad Autocad Drafter Autocad Drafter | Randstad Randstad | 01/05/2021 01/05/2021 | $33,39201/05/2021 $33,392 |
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Autocad Drafter Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming an Autocad Drafter. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write an Autocad Drafter Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Autocad Drafter resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Autocad Drafters
1. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
2. Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL • Private
3. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred
Alfred, NY • Public
4. Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY • Private
5. Ferris State University
Big Rapids, MI • Public
6. South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD • Public
7. Montana State University - Bozeman
Bozeman, MT • Public
8. University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM • Public
9. Kent State University
Kent, OH • Public
10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
Top Skills For an Autocad Drafter
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 27.1% of autocad drafters listed construction documents on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and detail oriented are important as well.
- Construction Documents, 27.1%
- Engineering Drawings, 11.9%
- Revit, 6.8%
- Layout, 6.7%
- GIS, 4.8%
- Other Skills, 42.7% See All Autocad Drafter Skills
Best States For an Autocad Drafter
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an autocad drafter. The best states for people in this position are California, Alaska, Illinois, and Rhode Island. Autocad drafters make the most in California with an average salary of $49,402. Whereas in Alaska and Illinois, they would average $47,657 and $47,166, respectively. While autocad drafters would only make an average of $47,078 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. North Dakota
$45,209
Avg. Salary
2. Illinois
$47,167
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$46,012
Avg. Salary
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