Sole drafter for 12 years, no degree... Any chance at another job? 6

[ElectroMatt]

I took a job working in production right out of high school for a small mfg. company where I was transitioned into their Drafter position due to my computer skills (at the time). Since then I have standardized their mechanical and electrical documentation, converted 99% of their electro-mechanical assemblies to Solidworks using sheet-metal design and routing plugins, etc... I know AutoCad (v11,13,2000,2002,2004), Solidworks (2001+,2003,2005,2006,PhotoWorks,Routing).

Basically I've been all this company has needed for 12 years. I feel very competent because of that experience and from doing several contract jobs varying from weldment documentation to ammonia-refrigerant plant layouts.

I'm being forced out of my job (by September) due to their unwillingness to allow me more flexible hours while I finish my degree in Graphic Design (which I also provide to them under the umbrella of Drafting). I made every attempt to assure them that they would get their 40 hours no matter what, and still no-go.

What I'm wondering is... Do I have any real chance of getting hired at a competitive wage vs. some schmoe with a 2-year tech degree? Many ads say that this minimal amount of training is "required", but I find it hard to believe that after well over a decade of real-world experience I'm not qualified.

Matt
Electro Industries, Inc.

 

[ctopher]

If your degree in Graphics Design is a BS degree, then yes you will have a much better chance than someone with a 2 year degree ... especially with 12 years experience.
Good luck to you!

Chris
SolidWorks 07 3.0/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 04-08-07)

 

[ElectroMatt]

Thanks for the reply!

I guess I should have been clearer. I'm looking to get another job as a drafter/designer for the time-being while I consider my options. My employer has decided that I have been disloyal by wanting to pursue (long term) another career path and has sentenced me to unemployment whether or not I go to school.

Matt
Electro Industries, Inc.

 

[l3city]

He is not a nice employer, get out of there ASAP!! Good employers look for their employees to progress and apply their knowledge/experience/skills to their bussiness or for the future of the employee somewhere else.
I was full time for a long time, currently I'm running another business, told my boss I was leaving, he didn't let me go, instead he put me part-time or as many hours I can put in during the week.
Regards

 

[cksh]

You can definitely get another drafting job without your degree. Most of the guys I worked with at my last company did not have any degree (they still work there too). They use Autodesk inventor and Autocad products. My current company requires a degree but they did hire someone without one on condition that he go back to school imediately for his bsme.

Now you may be limited and the pay not that good but there are still jobs out there.

On the positive side:

1. you are loyal as you have been with the same place 12 years. (Although this is difficult to proove because your employer doesn't like your future career path and is laying you off because of it)

2. Again, 12 years experience in electromechanical. not bad at all. Let someone fresh out of tech school try competing with that.

Negative:

1. You are going for a graphic design degree. I hate to say it but I don't know that I would mention it on interviews. They will think that you would quit after graduation (And they would be right!). It might be best to tell them you are going for a degree but just tell them you haven't decided on a major. Or try your best to relate it to the company you are interviewing with. But thats my dishonest side talking!

My honest side talking: Just try to start somewhere in graphic design doing anything you can to get a foot in the door while you finish school. Pay would be lower, but from my experience they might not look at your last 12 years when consideringou for a graphic design job. Better to get yoru experience befor eyou graduate. But graphic design is definitely not my area of study! SO take everythign I say with a grain of salt.

 

[aardvarkdw]

Being a drafter myself, I would look at 12 yrs of experience with only one company without a degree as a bit of a red flag.

I would expect you to prove to me that you know what you are doing. For example, you are probably very good at making the software do what you want but do you understand the drafting standards/practices and can you produce a clear, correct drawing that conforms to those standards? Also 12 years with only one company, can you be taught to do things MY way (my way may not be correct but I will be writing your pay check)? On the other hand are you willing to tell me where my way is incorrect and can you show me proof from the common standards?

All of that aside, 12 yrs of experience is a major plus. Most drafters right out of school have bad habits as well, but they also don't have a good reason for them. Like cksh said, it shows loyalty. Also you have been working in the real world, not just a classroom, that is invaluable.

Bottom line, I think you can find a job as a drafter just fine, but you will probably find many companies that wont want to take the chance on you. You may also need to prove yourself. I would highly recommend, if you haven't already, put together a portfolio of your work so that you can show someone that may be reluctant to take a chance on a person without a degree just what you are capable of.

Best of Luck.

David

 

[ajack1]

12 years of experience in one field is a lot and I would have thought that would be very interesting to certain companies that work in your field, do you have any contacts with the “opposition”?

 

[cedent]

aardvarkdw: I have never heard of a draftsman bringing a portfolio of work with them to an interview... but we (engineers) would love the opportunity to have portfolios when it comes time to hire. It would be a very valuable tool for a potential employer to look at. It would be most helpful if it came with an electronic disk.

 

[ctopher]

Be careful what you put in the portfolio. If it's full of drawings you created at your last employers, the new employer may think that if you have other company's drawings, you may take theirs also (if hired).

Chris
SolidWorks 07 3.0/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 04-08-07)

 

[aardvarkdw]

Good point Chris, make sure you have permission from your current employer to include their drawings. Most employers wont mind if you use some of your work as examples as long as they are not projects currently under development or that have unpatented technology described. Just be upfront with them and see if you can get written permission.

David

 

[swertel]

And you also deal with the issue of proprietary information leaving the company. VERY BAD! I would not expect to bring any type of portfolio with you for CAD drawings. If the interviewer requests them, state that they are proprietary to the company and therefore you are not able to obtain a copies to example your work. On the other hand, if you create your own title block and a make-believe part representative of what you do, then use that as your portfolio.

I'm also going to have to agree with David. 12 years at one place drafting to their standards. As an interviewer, I'd would inundate you with questions to determine your actual skill level. There is a saying. 12 years of experience, or 1 year of experience 12 times? Expect the interviewer to try to determine which.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[Heckler]

I've found instead of using drawings I use pictures of the finished product or e-drawings. I usually create a power point presentation for the specific job I'm going after then bring a hard copy and e-copy to the interview.

You are very employable with your experience. Especially, since you have standardized their mechanical and electrical documentation. Best of luck

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 3.0 & Pro/E 2001
XP Pro SP2.0 P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
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_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right." -- George Best

 

[zcp]

ElectroMatt, what area of the country are you in? Experienced drafters are not easy to find in our area....I know several companies looking.

Several others posters were correct, you will need to let them know whether your 12 years in one spot is a plus or a minus.

What do you want to do with your degree?

ZCP

http://www.phoenix-engineer.com

 

[KENAT]

Chance of another job - definitely. I've saw plenty of positions when looking a couple of years back that just needed high school level education plus experience.

Chance of another job which pays well, has benefits, relative security, gives you the flexibility of hours you seem to need/desire... Not so good.

I'm not saying no chance but I don't think flexibility in hours/schedule is easy to get, especially as a condition going in.

 

[zuccus]

I would be a lot more interested in a guy with 12 years experience in one place than a guy with 1 year's experience at 12 different places.

Shows quite a bit of loyalty to the company, and honestly how bad could you have been for them to not run you off in 12 years.

I get so many resumes from people that in their whole career haven't lasted more than a few months at one place.

Zuccus

 

[swertel]

Perhaps I should elaborate on what I meant by 1 year experience 12 times, and let me use a product demo I recently attended as an example.

Myself and coworkers went to participate in an FEA demo. We're looking at supplimenting our in-house software with something a little easier to use for quick what-if scenarios and non-specialist use. The organization giving the demo had the usual presenter quit a week before, so the brought in a guy with over 10 years experience running the software to give the canned demo.

First of all, I applaud the guy for taking the challenge, but his over 10 years experience did not show through. What did show through was that he learned the software in 1 year, and then just regurgitated those actions for the next 11. This guy couldn't answer some very basic finite element theory based questions. He couldn't even find the answer in the help file - because he is such an expert that he "never needed it." All well and good, unless you can't tell me the answer. I'm not faulting him for not knowing the answer, but a person with over 10 years experience should either know the answer or find it in help. What we got for answers is something that a person with 1 year of experience could provide.

To summarize, he had the knowledge of a person with 1 year of experience, and then just repeated it for 11 years. in this case, 12 years of experience didn't mean squat. I'd be better off paying the commodity price for an entry level analyst and training him myself. If this guy were interviewing for a job and stated he had 12 years of experience - all in one position, I'd make him prove that he hasn't performed 1 years worth of experience 11 times.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

 

[GregLocock]

I used to interview a lot of CAD guys, for contract positions. The cluey ones brought portfolios, and would discuss the design.

Just get a short term contracting job, if you are intending to go into graphics after you graduate.

12 years experience is great, far preferable to a degree, for CAD.

Your current firm will need to hire you back for system maintenance etc. Charge them $125 per hour.



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[KENAT]

Not sure on the portfolio issue.

My first job was defence so I couldn't exactly share examples for both security & IPR reasons. The one time it came up I did explain in general terms and took some images from the companies website to illustrate but didn't have actual drawings for them to see.

My current position is in a high tech field where IPR is a major issue, I doubt I'd be able to use anything from here either.

Maybe I'm at a disadvantage because of this, Greg usually seems to know what he's on about so I wouldn't doubt his input too much but at the same time a 'portfolio' can be difficult to compile with security & IPR issues.

 

[GregLocock]

Fair enough. Most of the people I interviewed had been working on short term contracts, so had at least some non-secret work - and the older ones had drawings they had done off their own bat, which is a plus as well. After all if you aren't interested enough to apply your work skills outside of work, then maybe that tells me something (I'll make an exception for bouncers and hangmen).



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[KENAT]

That was one thought I had, you could just create a drawing of something (or a few things) to demonstrate your abilities. Obviously it would be better if it was something you actually designed rather than just taking an item and reverse engineering it but I'd guess either would work.