CAD as a career - Advice

Hi,

This might be a different question from the usual but I’dreally appreciate any advice you can give.

I’m a Civil Engineer by trade, having worked on site formore than 6 years. I’ve since gotfurther qualifications and I’m working as an Assistant Project Manager. The problem is, I really don’t like eitherjobs.

I’ve always enjoyed the freedom, logic and creativity thatCAD allows and I’ve got the City & Guilds Level 3 2D AutoCAD. I’m seriously considering concentrating onCAD as my future career.

This may sound weird but ... Is there a future / career inCAD? Is there any money in CAD? (I know there are millions of possiblequestion / scenarios and it isn’t as simple as my questions suggest).

I’ve also got a working knowledge of Autodesk RevitArchitecture and a keen interest in Building Information Modelling (BIM).

I’m considering undertaking a formal qualification in 3DAutoCAD (City & Guilds 3D CAD Level 3). Is this worth undertaking?

Please, I really would appreciate any advice people canoffer and I will try and answer any questions that might improve the advice.

Cheers.

Not only is there great oppurtunities in CAD, but there alway will be. Everything has to be designed. As for pay, really it just depends on where you end up. My first CAD job, I was making 13.30 per hr. However I just got a new job where I am on salary making 34 grand a year. Considering I am only 21, I am very happy with where I am at. I also know people in the feild that make a 6-figure income. But as you can see here there are many things to keep you interested.

BIM is where it's at. Revit is where it's at. The BIM/Revit market is surging straight up at the moment, and in Texas, it's almost a "name your price" situation if you're proficient in Revit, CAD, and Navisworks. Since you're a Civil Engineer, you have the degree, which can get you into any door. In Texas, if you become a BIM coordinator, you can make between $60k-$90k easily, which isn't a super-salary but you won't be eating rice and beans every night either. I know a few buddies who are doing this type work along with myself.

I agree that learning Revit will be beneficial, however location is a big factor to. Here in Louisville, nobody is using Revit. Schools are teaching it, but that is about it for now, not to say it wont catch on later. In any case, to become a valuable drafter, learn as many programs as you can. A lot of times customers have the say on what programs are used so companies look for versatility.

Here in Louisville, nobody is using Revit. Schools are teaching it, but that is about it for now, not to say it wont catch on later.

This is simply more reason for you (in your area) to learn Revit. You already know it's the wave of the future, so it'll eventually get adopted. Why not go ahead and get acquainted with it? It's a much better product anyways. The free form drafting environment is no match for the parametric environment of Revit. And if a client/vendor needs a DWG file, then simply export.

 

Just because it's not the norm is no excuse for not using it. In fact, I think quite the opposite. It's more excuse to jump ahead of the curve. Then you'll be able to jump on a job and name your salary when the time comes. Not to mention your drawings will now become flawless as there is no "cheating" in Revit, plus leveraging the power of the parametric environment creates an error-free set of plans.

 

Just food for thought.

How is Revit for creating shop fabrication drawings?

How is Revit for creating shop fabrication drawings?

What trade?

Read my discipline list. Pretty much all. Piping, Structural, Buildings, Roads, Railroads, HVAC, Machinery, Electrical, Stainless Charcoal Grills so on and so forth..

 

Would it help in any of those?

Oh I am ahead of the curve. I know Revit very well, though probably not near as much as you who have been using it, and am waiting for when it comes into play!

Read my discipline list. Pretty much all. Piping, Structural, Buildings, Roads, Railroads, HVAC, Machinery, Electrical, Stainless Charcoal Grills so on and so forth..

 

Would it help in any of those?

Out of the box, the following will require a good amount of accumulating content, both from downloading from manufacturers and creating your own: Piping, HVAC. *EDIT* Once the content is in place, shop/fab drawings become flawless. But, Revit is not advertised as fab-oriented software, but it can be done and done well.

 

Electrical.... since this trade is more schematic, and is must too vast to really pinpoint, this depends. Revit has no "1-Line" wiring or schematic tools of any sort, really. The Electrical side of things are more building plan/elevation engineering type tools. In other words, not much support in most cases.

 

Structural, HUGE support. I have seen some phenomenal things done in Revit Structure in record breaking time, once a user is proficient and content has been built up for personal needs.

 

Roads, Railroads, Machinery.... Revit isn't advertised for these trades.

 

Stainless Steel Charcoal Grills.... Most definitely can be utilized by Revit and done very quickly and very well - of course, once again, as a user becomes proficient.

 

The reason I keep iterating "user becoming proficient" is because Revit takes awhile to get used to, especially if coming off an AutoCAD background. Revit becomes a rock solid application once the mind becomes in tune with the intuitive mental process it takes to create things in Revit. Getting into the parametric environment takes longer to grasp, in my opinion.

 

Hope this clears it up a bit?

 

*EDIT #2*: The building industry is what Revit was intended. I can't even express how much better Revit is for architecturally related building design than AutoCAD could ever be. Most people using Revit as an architectural design tool won't even allow AutoCAD's name to be spoken inside the doors of their office.

Oh I am ahead of the curve. I know Revit very well, though probably not near as much as you who have been using it, and am waiting for when it comes into play!

Awesome, good to hear!

Out of the box, the following will require a good amount of accumulating content, both from downloading from manufacturers and creating your own: Piping, HVAC. *EDIT* Once the content is in place, shop/fab drawings become flawless. But, Revit is not advertised as fab-oriented software, but it can be done and done well.

 

I like Revit for Architectural. My personal favorite is a little known software called SoftPlan. However it is only made to be able to handle residential sized projects. This BIM was made about 4 or 5 years before Revit, and I have not used it since to be honest. But Revit will blow the top off most any BIM, including SoftPlan. Its just that good!

Yeah I think ArchiCAD was one of the original "BIM" application in the building industry.

 

Just checked out SoftPlan. Looks like a great package for residential.