Drafter

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Environment and Society
Secondary Topic: Places and Regions

Overview: A Drafter’s main duty is to convert designs created by architects and engineers into digital technical drawings by using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software. Typically, the digitized drawings they create include important details such as dimensions and what materials are needed for the projects in question. For drafters working with architects to design the structures of buildings, or civil engineers who design infrastructure such as bridges, an understanding of urban and regional planning, physical geography, cartography, and even transportation networks would enhance their work greatly. For example: understanding how the topography of a location may impact the design of a highway being designed by civil engineers, having awareness over the planning and zoning regulations in the city where a new office building is being constructed to ensure that all requirements set by the city are being met, and implementing standard cartographic principles in their final designs.

Geographers at work: Urban and Regional Planners, Cartographers,

Recommended College Courses: Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, Urban Geography, Maps and Mapmaking, Cities and Urban Design, Planning Practicum, Urban Infrastructure Management

Skills: Urban Geography, Transportation, Cartography and Design, City Planning, GIS

Occupation Group: Architecture and Engineering

Learn more about Drafters from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/drafters.htm