Excel at Drafting
Drafters are professionals who are an essential part of any engineering or architectural design process, however many of them never get the appreciation or career advancement they deserve. Here's how you can excel at the drafting profession and gain the recognition you are looking for. Note engineering is not just about technical skills.
Steps
- Stay organized. To be efficient, your files (and the project) must be organized; your team and managers will appreciate this. A great draftsperson will keep on top of the project's organization. One test of this skill is to ask yourself where the latest project files are. There should be an orderly system already set up - if not, work must be done to resolve this. Show leadership in keeping the project files organized.
- Be a proactive problem solver. The best draftsperson will resolve many of the complicated computer and technical issues that arise on a daily basis. Many times, managers do not appreciate how much effort goes into this, but it is essential anyway.
- It will be very valuable to you (in your career) and to your management if you communicate the many successes you have had in solving these problems, and how you plan on keeping them that way.
- Learn to multi-task. This sounds cliché, but multitasking skills are essential for any draftsperson, since you're likely to have many projects and tasks active at any time. To be productive, your must be able to work on multiple projects at a time, and switch gears on a very frequent basis. Businesses these days will demand this of you, so embrace it and become very good at it.
- Participate in planning and forecasting. A great draftsperson should be able to predict how much time it should take to complete any given task, and should be able to plan his work ahead of time and tell management - well in advance - when he will be running out.
- Keep up with technical knowledge. Last but not least, you should have the very latest training on the software, techniques, and other tools you are using. Each year, as software is updated, the possible productivity gains increase astonishingly, but you must be trained to be able to use them effectively.
- Work to be known as a particularly good professional in the industry. You might be surprised how often old and inefficient processes ('profitability killers') are being used in this industry. Managers appreciate when you want to increase productivity and efficiency, and therefore the business' bottom line, and may reward you accordingly.
Related Articles
- Get Organized and Concentrate on Your Work
- Be Organized at Work
- Clean Your Work Desk
- Be a Creative Thinker and Problem Solver
- Start a Drafting Service
