How To Become A Civil Draftsman: What It Is and Career Path

What is a civil draftsman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a civil draftsman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.55 an hour? That's $55,214 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -6,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCivil DraftsmanUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $55,214

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.1

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 7.02%

male 92.98%

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

4.1

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a civil draftsman

Explore civil draftsman education requirements

Most common civil draftsman degrees

Associate

55.3 %

Bachelor's

25.5 %

High School Diploma

9.9 %

Start to develop specific civil draftsman skills

Skills	Percentages
Construction Drawings	35.50%
Auto CAD	9.55%
Civil Engineering	8.66%
Design Drawings	5.96%
Civil 3D Software	4.26%

Complete relevant civil draftsman training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New civil 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 a civil draftsman based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real civil draftsman resumes.

Research civil draftsman duties and responsibilities

Manage and supervise other draftsmen.
Work closely with resident CNC operators and sheet metal fabricators to ensure reliable and satisfactory part manufacture.
Work to meet specifications according to ANSI and ASME specifications.
Work closely with resident CNC operators and sheet metal fabricators to ensure reliable and satisfactory part manufacture.

Prepare your civil draftsman resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your civil 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 a civil 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 civil draftsman resume templates

Build a professional civil draftsman resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your civil draftsman resume.