Careers > Architectural and Civil Drafters

Architectural and Civil Drafters

$59.82K Median Salary 9.3K Job Openings (Annual Projection) -0.9% Job Growth

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About This Career

Prepare detailed drawings of architectural and structural features of buildings or drawings and topographical relief maps used in civil engineering projects, such as highways, bridges, and public works. Use knowledge of building materials, engineering practices, and mathematics to complete drawings.

Reported Job Titles

Architectural Designer, Architectural Drafter, Architectural Draftsman, Civil Drafter, Computer-Aided Design Designer (CAD Designer), Computer-Aided Drafting and Design Drafter (CADD Drafter), Computer-Aided Drafting Designer (CAD Designer), Drafting Technician, Draftsman, Draftsperson

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Skills You'll Need

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Abilities

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Written Comprehension

Oral Expression

Problem Sensitivity

Information Ordering

Visualization

Deductive Reasoning

Written Expression

Inductive Reasoning

Speech Clarity

Flexibility of Closure

Speech Recognition

Category Flexibility

Mathematical Reasoning

Fluency of Ideas

Number Facility

Originality

Knowledge

Design

Building and Construction

Engineering and Technology

Computers and Electronics

English Language

Mathematics

Public Safety and Security

Administration and Management

Customer and Personal Service

Skills

Active Listening

Critical Thinking

Reading Comprehension

Speaking

Writing

Complex Problem Solving

Judgment and Decision Making

Systems Analysis

Active Learning

Mathematics

Monitoring

Time Management

Technology Skills

Computer aided design CAD software

Presentation software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Map creation software

Geographic information system

Development environment software

Data base user interface and query software

Optical character reader OCR or scanning software

Document management software

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Word processing software

Project management software

Spreadsheet software

Pattern design software

Electronic mail software

Desktop publishing software

Video creation and editing software

Enterprise application integration software

Office suite software

Operating system software

Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software

Process mapping and design software

Tools

Scanners

Curves

Scales

Tablet computers

Graphics or video accelerator cards

Touch pads

Plotter printers

Pocket calculator

Computer mouse

T squares

Multimedia projectors

Triangles

Notebook computers

Compasses

Protractors

Desktop computers

Print servers

Abilities

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

Knowledge

Design: Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Building and Construction: Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Engineering and Technology: Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Technology Skills

Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD; Autodesk Revit
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Map creation software: ESRI Site Scan for ArcGIS; OpenDroneMap
Geographic information system: ESRI ArcView; Geographic information system GIS systems
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Optical character reader OCR or scanning software: Text scanning software
Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Pattern design software: Tactile graphic production kits software
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Enterprise application integration software: Electronic Data Interchange EDI systems
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software: Production scheduling software
Process mapping and design software: Microsoft Visio

Tools

Scanners: Data input scanners
Curves: French curves
Scales: Triangular scales
Tablet computers:
Graphics or video accelerator cards: Computer aided design CAD multi-unit display graphics cards
Touch pads: Trackpads
Plotter printers: Plotters
Pocket calculator: Handheld calculators
Computer mouse: Trackballs
T squares:
Multimedia projectors: Computer projectors; Multimedia projection equipment
Triangles:
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Compasses:
Protractors:
Desktop computers:
Print servers: