Structural Draftsman 6

[PJD]

It sure is hard to find good structural draftspeople. I know that the steel detailing industry is going through a semi-crises with maintaining qualified detailers and wonder if drafting as a whole is becoming scarce. Anybody have any good tips on finding qualified structural draftsmen?

 

[mjohnson]

Be careful going to your local AGUI. These people sometimes are more interested in the nuances of the program than the linework they are supposed to be creating. They can write LISP routines all day, but rarely understand how to put together structural drawings, nor due they particularly care to know. This is a generalization, I know, but this has been the experience in our office.

 

[asdf]

Ginger,<br>
<br>
Firstly, I apologize for failing to take into account the international audience the internet commands, and failing to be so exacting in reference to overcome the ignorance of American stereotypes. State employees in America sell themselves at a fairly low price in the return for job security. However, States are forced to continually train their employees to keep up with the demands of industry. Those familiar with working with these employees are often reluctant to hire them because many develop habits that are not desirable for profit motivated companies. I however have experienced a deal of success with six, as I mentioned. I was actually extending them a compliment by expressing that many of them have more field experience than their supervisors, normally engineers. Again, in America there is a misconception among State governments that only engineers are capable of making decisions and directing activities. This mind set combined with the aforementioned low pay often leaves States hiring engineers that could not land better paying jobs due to a lack of skills or experience, simply to fill positions. In many cases these engineers develop the skills and gain the experience needed to land a better paying job, causing the cycle of hiring inexperienced engineers to begin once again. I in no way intend that this characterization applies to all State employees, as I know many personally, and know that they are committed professionals.<br>
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Secondly, it is a fitting tribute to a superintendent or foreman to take their idea, usually scratched out on whatever material is handy, and put your stamp on it, albeit most are altered significantly to meet engineering standards. I am personally grateful for the ingenuity of my employees, and value their perspective, particularly when it saves me time and money. Admittedly, as one looks over the history of modern construction in the past 100 years it is easy to find examples of creative design, but in relation to the countless projects that have been completed they are very few in number. In my opinion, the true creativity begins once the plans have been completed and a contractor/engineer looks square in the face of statuesque construction methods, and takes it upon himself to develop a new method of construction. More often than not, and probably in every case, this new method of construction is what opens the way for new design.<br>
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Lastly, with regard to salesman ship, salaries, and markets, we apparently experience differing conditions. But, regardless of what market you work in, or the present conditions, a substantial amount of a contractor/engineers work is doing the typical project. And with respect to my fellow professional, I will not respond to issues of personal character and responsibility, or there stated lack thereof.<br>

 

[bb29510]

What ?

 

[PJD]

Wow, talk about a can of worms. Thanks for the info....and then some. <br>
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By the way, state structual plancheck employees in our area are overpaid and take pride in, not only boggin down job progress, but actually stopping it when they can. Not since lawyers, have so many made so much money off real engineers existance.

 

[timh]

I employ approximately 20 engineers and 8 drafstman here in my practice in Sydney. I agree it is a definite problem finding good ones. It seem to me that in Australia anyway that drafties are a real nomadic bunch and do not like to stay in the one place for long. We have found that one way of keeping drafties and training them into what you actually need is to put them through an Apprenticeship, where they undergo on the job training combined with a Tech. College Associate Diploma in Structural Engineering. That way they get to understand the basics of what the engineer is asking of them rather than simply being a tracing service. For the employer the Apprenticeship guarantees a minimum of 4 years service and based on our experiences they then usally hang around afterwards. I usally find that by their second year they have a pretty good appreciation of what you require of them and by the third year they can virtually do it all.<br>
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I should predjudice the above comments by noting that our structural drafties also are put through a Pre- Apprenticeship training course run in Sydney by the Association of Consulting Engineers. This is an intensive 6 month course run by a private consultant that gives them a very good understanding of structural drafting practices. So that when they start working and studying in our office they are already that much ahead of the people who have simply come straight from school. The cost of the course is about $9000 (AUD) per person and from an employers viewpoint it is worth every cent.<br>
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Hope that these comments from across the Pacific assist in the debate.

 

Hi its looks really good but do you do it in england and if yes where abouts.