As I help my 3 kids fill out applications for High school and junior high, it made me think; "wow has it really been 24 years since I was sitting at my parents kitchen table filling out my application for college?" Funny how when you do something so simple you never think of how it will truly affect your life and your future path.
Then you really start to think, what was it that got me to the place I am right now? At first it was the excitement of starting my, at what I thought at the time, was a life long career as a draftsperson. Fresh out of school, excited to show the world what I knew and what I could do. Boy oh boy was I in for a surprise.
I could draw, and I knew what they had taught me in my Structural Drafting classes, but that was it. I spent the next 7 years at my first job, just learning. Learning how to really draft with AutoCAD R14 on real word projects in the fast paced world of Structural Consulting. Well at the same time diving in even more with site inspections, shop drawing review etc. Oh the list goes on and on, doing a little bit of everything, a lot of the time.
Then I decided it was time for a change, and moved on to a larger National Consulting firm. Still banging away with AutoCAD, but working on Damns, bridges, culverts, and the odd parkade, hospital and school here and there. Had my first taste of 3D drafting, and a spell using an all together different drafting software. But always coming back to AutoCAD. Working my way up to Senior Drafter, and thinking there has to be more then bridges and culverts.
So when the National Company was swallowed up, by an international company, I moved back down to a local consulting firm, that was looking for a hotshot senior drafter. After a few years, and me being one of the actual senior people, the move to CAD manager was put in front of me. Finally the time to put all my "if I was in charge" ideas into play. And if become CAD Manager was not enough to deal with the Company decided to start using this new thing "REVIT". Oh how I had mixed feelings about Revit at the time. Some times not as welcoming to it as I should have been.
Welcome 2017, and one of the new young guns (which I guess I am not anymore) in the office tells me about this Autodesk University thing. So I google it, and I am like yeep need to go. I was able to get the boss on board and off I go. WOW...that is really all I can say to describe it. It totally opened my eyes to how I view my career, how I go about getting help, how I go about leading, everything...totally put my career in perspective and made me see what I needed to change, and what I needed to just keep doing the way I was doing it.
This lead me to review my management style, as well as the attitude I had towards AutoCAD vs Revit. Learning that I was still a new manager and still had more questions then answers. But also learning that I was not switching to Revit but adding it to the tools I use. Learning that I needed to reach out to others and use the great tools available to me through the local and international AEC community
After a year of working on myself personally and professionally, it was time to take it to the next step again not just for myself, but for a company and for the AEC community. I sought out the position of BIM Manager and was going to make the effort to give back to a community that had given me so much the last few years.. I was fortunate enough to find a place with my current employer, where our ideas to the future of BIM and what that involves were the same. There goals where close to my goals, and vice versa. At the same time jumping into helping more, Presenting at the Local BIM group, becoming an Auditor with TAC Canada, writing articles, sharing tips and tricks. All at the same time still learning and growing.
So now after almost 3 years in my new position, working on projects of all sizes, training a great staff on new software (during a pandemic at that), having the software tool chest grow with the AEC collection and knowing when to use what, I get to look back and go.....really I have gone from drafting by hand, to taking pictures of the small scale model of an artists sculpture, and turning it into a model and detailing the foundation and connections. At the same time jumping into helping more by, Presenting at the Local BIM group, becoming an Auditor with TAC Canada, writing articles, sharing tips and tricks on line. All at the same time still learning and growing and reaching out for help.
Never ever could I have imagined my career would be like it is today, when I sat at my parents kitchen table 24 years ago.
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