TECHNICAL DRAWING CAREERS Topic A: Careers

Drafting With this technical drawing career, you provide drawings and plans. Although you use computer- aided design and drafting (CADD) software that allows you to directly program, view, store and print computer-generated drawings, you also may provide rough sketches and hand-drawn designs to your clients. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), you still must know how to draw and embody traditional drawing techniques and skills.

Drafting If you're interested in drafting, there are different fields of study within drafting you should pick from. You can work as a civil drafter, mechanical drafter, architectural drafter or electrical drafter. These jobs require specific knowledge. You will also need to possess interpersonal skills, visual aptitude and mechanical ability to be a successful drafter in any aspect of the field. Employers, according to the BLS, prefer completion of training from a community college, technical institute or university.

Designing If you want to communicate your clients' message to the world, then you may be interested in a technical drawing career called digital technician. Digital technicians, also referred to as graphic designers, use hand-drawn sketches or software to create visual messages such as advertisement that speak to your clients' audience. As a digital technician, you're responsible for developing an overall design that will be used in promotional materials like brochures or websites.

Illustrating Technical illustrating careers are another aspect of technical drawing. With this career, you also plan and create visual solutions, according to the ADDA. The technical illustrating field, like with drafting, offers different career choices. For instance, you can become a medical and scientific illustrator. With this career, you'll use your drawing skills and science knowledge to create illustrations. These illustrations can be pictures of animals, molecular structures, the human anatomy or surgical procedures, according to the ADDA

Illustrating Or you can work as a sketch artist and provide depictions of courtroom scenes used by media outlets when no cameras are allowed in the courtroom. As a technical illustrator, you may also draw the instructions that individuals use to assemble furniture, bicycles or dollhouses

Carpenters For many smaller residential and commercial building projects, a carpenter may design the project without the use of another professional. For example, few homeowners will hire an architect to design a one-room addition for a home. The carpenter will create the technical drawing of the project for the homeowner's approval and as a way to estimate the needed materials for the project.

Architects Architects design homes, buildings and related structures. An architect often focuses on the aesthetics and usability of a project while engineers focus more on the structural soundness of a project; however, there is a lot of overlap between these two professions.

Architects Architects create technical drawings to plan where objects will go in a structure to show the client and to direct those responsible for the project's construction. Architects may also create technical drawings of landscaping and related structures involved with a building project.

Engineering Engineers work in a number of specialized fields. For example, civil engineers may design buildings and bridges while mechanical engineers design tools, machines and related items. Engineers create technical drawings for a number of purposes. Advanced computer programs use these technical drawings to test the strength of a project's design. Engineers may also create technical drawings when making application for patents of newly created products