There was a time that it would seem being proficient at one discipline would be good enough for a person’s career. You would master your craft and become an expert in all there is to know. But it seems that things have changed. No longer is it good enough to be experienced at a single CAD discipline such as- Transportation, Structural, Mechanical, etc … You now must know two or more of these disciplines to stay employed, or to find employment. Due to lack of funding and available projects, companies can no longer have multiple drafters who can only do one type of work. It is easier for them to let those drafters go, and give overtime to the drafters who can do multiple types of work on the projects in the company. To many of us, this seems unfair and wrong. I’m sure to some degree that board drafters felt similarly, when CAD started replacing board drafting.
As time goes on, every profession has change. It is up to the people in that profession to adjust to the changes. We as CAD drafters are no different. I’m not saying there is no value in being a good or great Transportation, Structural, etc. drafter. In fact, that is a good place to start. Learn that craft and do your best to do it quickly. When you are asked at a review where you see yourself in the future, this would be a good time to broach the subject of cross training in another discipline. Tell them you would like to continue learning and growing at your current discipline, but also that you would like to become more versed in other disciplines as well. This will show the company that you wish to increase your value to them as an employee. When opportunities arise to work on different types of work, that opportunity will more than likely be provided to you, because you showed interest.
There is no such thing as an irreplaceable person in any field. To often we work hard for a company just to be replaced by someone not as experienced or for a lower rate of pay. It is our job as professional drafters to make sure if this happens, we can quickly find another company who sees the value in our skills. By cross training into multiple disciplines, this will be an easier task to accomplish.
