Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
(OP)
About 6 months ago I left my first engineering position that I had for about 5 years to take a contract job. I was told the contract engineering job was contract to hire, but during the contract the business
really slowed down so rather than getting hired full time, they let my contract end. I used 3D CAD software to design products at my first engineering position. This experience has gotten me an offer to do drafting work for a company. Which I believe starts out on a contract basis. Anyway, given my current circumstances, is it overall a good move to accept this drafting position? The pay is much lower, but it is enough to cover my expenses with a little left over. My main concern is that putting a drafter job down on my resume will be an issue when looking for an actual engineering position. As in, it may get me labeled as someone who cannot hack it as a real engineer.
really slowed down so rather than getting hired full time, they let my contract end. I used 3D CAD software to design products at my first engineering position. This experience has gotten me an offer to do drafting work for a company. Which I believe starts out on a contract basis. Anyway, given my current circumstances, is it overall a good move to accept this drafting position? The pay is much lower, but it is enough to cover my expenses with a little left over. My main concern is that putting a drafter job down on my resume will be an issue when looking for an actual engineering position. As in, it may get me labeled as someone who cannot hack it as a real engineer.





RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
Good luck,
Latexman
Technically, the glass is always full - 1/2 air and 1/2 water.
RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
That being said, I am of the opinion that having a job would be better than not having a job. If you are able to convince the company with whom you will be working to hire you as a full time engineer after your contract, good on you. Otherwise, you can describe how it was an opportunity for you to advance your CAD skills in a down market.
RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
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RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
If you are a designer and do not intend to seek and engineering license, that's another matter. I understand the economic situation, believe me.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
I started my position at this company as a designer/drafter on contract. Within a month or so of being here they were looking to poach me into engineering and while the official transfer took longer (and I detoured into a drawing checker role for a while) I was doing engineering work after a few weeks here. I may have been a little underpaid initially (though much better than my immediately previous gig at Rite Aid) but it gives you a useful anecdote.
As to whether it's backfired in that I'm still a bit more of an engineer/designer than what many would call a serious hardcore engineer I'm not sure. That issue may have more to my relative intelligence etc.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
One thing you can do is ask for a review at 1 year or so for the possibility to move to engineering.
Future PE Engineer
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RE: Taking a Drafter position, good idea or bad idea?
Work hard at the new place as a drafter and someone will see that you aren't supposed to be a drafter and they can better use you to do more for cheaper. I started out probably as the worst job in my industry but used everything to my advantage and here I am now. If you are good and make friends you won't be a drafter for long.
B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://bwengr.com | http://bwstructuralengineer.com | http://bwcivilengineer.com