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Mechanical Drafters

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Prepare detailed working diagrams of machinery and mechanical devices, including dimensions, fastening methods, and other engineering information.

Related: Architectural & Civil Drafters Commercial & Industrial Designers Electrical & Electronics Drafters Mechanical Engineering Technologists & Technicians Model Makers, Metal & Plastic

Industries: Manufacturing Professional, Science, & Technical Construction

Summary
Details

Lay out and draw schematic, orthographic, or angle views to depict functional relationships of components, assemblies, systems, and machines.
Position instructions and comments onto drawings.
Develop detailed design drawings and specifications for mechanical equipment, dies, tools, and controls, using computer-assisted drafting (CAD) equipment.
Coordinate with and consult other workers to design, lay out, or detail components and systems and to resolve design or other problems.
Modify and revise designs to correct operating deficiencies or to reduce production problems.
Confer with customer representatives to review schematics and answer questions pertaining to installation of systems.
Design scale or full-size blueprints of specialty items, such as furniture and automobile body or chassis components.
Shade or color drawings to clarify and emphasize details and dimensions or eliminate background, using ink, crayon, airbrush, and overlays.
Lay out, draw, and reproduce illustrations for reference manuals and technical publications to describe operation and maintenance of mechanical systems.
Draw freehand sketches of designs, trace finished drawings onto designated paper for the reproduction of blueprints, and reproduce working drawings on copy machines.
Compute mathematical formulas to develop and design detailed specifications for components or machinery, using computer-assisted equipment.
Produce three-dimensional models, using computer-aided design (CAD) software.
Review and analyze specifications, sketches, drawings, ideas, and related data to assess factors affecting component designs and the procedures and instructions to be followed.
Supervise and train other drafters, technologists, and technicians.
Check dimensions of materials to be used and assign numbers to the materials.

Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.

Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

Education

Associate's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

75190/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

36.15/hr

Currently Employed

1,790

Yearly Projected Openings

160

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Cautiousness
Achievement Orientation

Compasses
Computer mouse
Curves
Desktop computers
Graphics or video accelerator cards
Notebook computers
Plotter printers
Pocket calculator
Print servers
Protractors
Scales
Scanners
T squares
Tablet computers
Touch pads
Triangles

Computer aided design CAD software
Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
Data base user interface and query software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise application integration software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Geographic information system
Graphics or photo imaging software
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
Office suite software
Optical character reader OCR or scanning software
Presentation software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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