While you’re hard at work at a CAD college, it seems that all you’re doing, while you’re taking online CAD courses, is studying and staring at a computer, doing tiny, useless tasks. You start to wonder if the jobs you’re going to get after you graduate are any different. Thankfully the world of Computer Assisted Design doesn’t have to be performing minute tasks in software while sitting in a dreary office all day. People who have specialized in CAD go on to incredibly exciting and out of the ordinary careers, and we’ve rounded up just a couple of the careers using CAD that you never thought you’d find yourself in.
Love troubleshooting? Do people often come to you for help? Do you know CAD software intricately, inside and out? Well, if you do, you might be able to score a job at a design firm as a CAD Manager, someone who oversees all of the design and software and is able to quickly and efficiently troubleshoot the problem if something goes awry. Even the smallest firms have that person that everyone comes to for help when things are going haywire. You could oversee the smooth operation of all of the workstations in the firm, and be the go-to person for tech issues.
Afraid that you’re just going to be creating someone else’s plans for a part or a building on software, never getting a chance to put in some input? Well, if you’ve got a keen eye for design and a bit of ingenuity, you could be helping your own ideas and even be your own boss.
CAD designers bridge the gap between people who just draft designs given to them, and those who come up with the grander, overarching ideas. These are people who don’t need to give all of the exact specs, they have their own conceptions and ideas and the training to implement them. This frees up the architect to focus on the overall design and not get bogged down in the specifics needed for a drafter to work off of. Now, you don’t necessarily need architecture training, but you do need an extremely proficient handle on CAD software and an amazing and innate sense of design.
Not only are there firms who seek these kinds of people – being able to put yourself into a project and produce full-scale designs without constant hands-on input is extremely valuable – but there’s also a potential for working for yourself. If you’re an excellent designer, that could set you up for being an excellent freelance CAD designer who firms will want to bring in to work on their projects with them. You could seek out projects that interest you most, and not just sit there filling in the blanks on someone else’s idea.
