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

What is a draftsman/designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Draftsmen designers work in architecture, drafting plans for various building structures. They collaborate with architects and engineers to receive all the necessary information to include in the design drafts. They make calculations, taking into consideration the characteristics of location, size, dimensions, and materials of the structure to be carried out.

Working in this position, your job will be to elaborate production phases in detail. You will use computer-aided design software to visualize plans and the workflow. You will also use diagrams, charts, layouts to demonstrate and discuss the progress of the work with engineers and architects on your team.

A degree in architecture, engineering, or a related field is often an expectation of the right candidate for this role. You will need to have experience in the use of design software and 3D modeling tools. A keen mathematical mind, an ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, good communication skills, and a passion for what you do will all be valuable traits that will contribute to your success in this position.

ScoreDraftsman/DesignerUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,529

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 7.76%

male 92.24%

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

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a draftsman/designer

Explore draftsman/designer education requirements

Most common draftsman/designer degrees

Associate

51.2 %

Bachelor's

33.0 %

High School Diploma

7.1 %

Start to develop specific draftsman/designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Design Layouts	15.69%
Solidworks	9.80%
Shop Drawings	4.81%
R	4.31%
HVAC	3.73%

Complete relevant draftsman/designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New draftsman/designers 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 draftsman/designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real draftsman/designer resumes.

Research draftsman/designer duties and responsibilities

Manage and supervise other draftsmen.
Assist with structural steel detailing, machine design, CNC graphics and ceramics machine design projects.
Detail preliminary design drawings to create BOM's, production use shop layouts, and specific details.
Travele to various work sites to dimension and sketch details of the projects.

Prepare your draftsman/designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your draftsman/designer 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 draftsman/designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable draftsman/designer resume templates

Build a professional draftsman/designer 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 draftsman/designer resume.