topic Re: CADD Tech in AutoCAD Forum

CADD Tech

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 19:34:30 GMT

Hi,

Sorry that my topic is not related to the technical or the AutoCAD program.

I am just curious why it is very difficult to find a CAD technician nowadays? We (located in Seattle, WA) have posted our ad to several webpages like Linkin, monkey, Craiglist, and others but could not find any candidates that have experiences in AutoCAD and Civil 3D? We are looking for a Design/Drafter that has a minimum of 3 yrs of experience, produce construction plan sets utilizing AutoCAD or C3D.

Any suggestions where to post the ad besides the website above?

Thank you!

Dennis.

Re: CADD Tech

pendean — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 23:40:11 GMT

Your salary/benefits package are probably too low to attract attention, or you have a local reputation that is not ideal: it an employee market out there, they have more choices, you don't, you need to figure out how to stand out from the crowd.

Re: CADD Tech

Bob_Zurunkle — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 15:36:06 GMT

Sadly you're right (or perhaps happily depending on your point of view). During the Great Recession a lot of drafters were put out of work. Myself I had to use a temp agency and was underemployed for about a year. Even so, the A/E firms that did retain drafters forced them to work with less pay and less benefits. Of those out of work, many retired or retrained for new professions, resulting in a partial "brain drain".

Once the economy started coming back, those who abandoned the drafters found that the pool for experienced talent was now limited, and they had to offer better employment packages to attract anyone of a decent level of talent and experience.

What seems to be left are very few persons of that caliber using temp agencies, meaning the few persons who do use them are generally not up to the minimum standards employers demand. I am probably wrong but that seems to be the trend over the past 8 years in my area.

Seattle should have bunches of drafters but probably a fair amount of newly-minted ones. The OP should investigate salary and benefit ranges for the area depending on experience, and offer something better than the bottom as well as dangling that carrot of opportunity for growth as the company grows - that sort of thing.

Re: CADD Tech

s.borello — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 22:01:25 GMT

Pay more money... someone will answer your add.

Re: CADD Tech

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 18:30:52 GMT

Thank you very much for your explanation. It is great, because the economy is now growing fast, and looking for an experience person is not easy.

To answer the other replies about the salary, I don't think 87k - 90k a year is a low. Especially with a great benefits when working for the government agency, stable job, no stress, high salary and a potential to move up. I just think that my company didn't do a good job in advertisement.

Thanks.

Re: CADD Tech

pendean — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 20:16:33 GMT

... or perhaps advertising in the wrong spot: we have great luck posting positions on LinkedIn, and with Universities/Alumnis plus professional associations, vs generic sites like Indeed where you get droves of ill-suited applicants filling daily application quotas.

HTH

Re: CADD Tech

TheCADnoob — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:42:56 GMT

id follow up with your application process. Make sure there arent any unnecessary hurdles. I've been filtered out of jobs i was uniquely qualified for before due to resume formatting issues. Also ive resisted applying to companies that have those fully automated systems that want you to enter you resume information several times over cause they usually arent worth the hours of work (and for me shows a general lack of interest in the prospects).

Id reach out to your resellers and local trade schools as well.