Drafter Resume Examples

Looking for a drafter position can be a nerve-racking task, especially with new software and programs making the need for these specialists less urgent. You can help ease some of your anxiety by writing a great resume that showcases your drafting abilities as well as your knack for adapting to new technologies.
Start by reviewing drafter resume samples to see how the end product is supposed to look. Keep reading this guide to gain tips on drafting each section and putting it all together. The information included here will also help you out when it comes to avoiding common mistakes.

The first logical step is to decide what information exactly should go into your resume. The purpose of this document is to prove that you are a qualified drafter and would be a great fit for the position.

You can look at countless drafter resume samples and see that there are multiple ways to fashion a resume. What you include depends heavily on the job you’re applying for, your professional experience and your particular career path.

That said, no matter what your drafting background looks like, the following sections should be included in your resume.

• Professional Summary
• Skills
• Education
• Work Experience

Once you have the most important information gathered, it is time to figure out how to organize the different sections. You have the option of choosing a chronological or functional format, or you can combine features of both to create a combination resume.

The format you choose depends on your career history and which resume sections will make you stand out as a prime candidate. Before deciding, compare drafter resume samples of different types to see which format best focuses on your strengths.

The chronological resume is recommended for professionals who have been building their career for a long time as its primary section is the work experience. The functional resume is a good choice for recent graduates or those with limited professional experience since it focuses more on skills and education.

Every resume will begin with a summary statement, which is a brief passage that introduces you as a drafter and gives a general overview of your skills and experience.

Drafter resume samples will give you ideas on how the summary statement should look and different ways to phrase the information. You should not speak in first person, and there should be no occurrences of personal pronouns.

Pick out at least three of your best professional attributes that you would like the hiring manager to know about you first. You can pull from your education, work experience and skill sets to highlight your qualifications. It is also a good idea to mix in some soft skills that are applicable to the job at hand.

A lot of professionals take the requirements listed in the job descriptions and mix them into their summary statement. Use key words that the company included in the posting, but rephrase your resume summary statement a little differently to complement your drafting skills and experience.

Here are a couple of good examples of summary statements that you can look over to get started. Remember to reference other drafter resume samples that relate to your field and specialty for help with creating this critical introductory section.

• Focused electrical drafter who demonstrates expertise in knowledge of electrical systems, codes and regulations. Specializes in vehicle and device electrical systems. Ability to manage time efficiently and work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Architectural drafter with seven years of experience working on commercial projects. Extensive experience with office, multi-family and medical buildings. Detail-oriented professional who is adept at integrating new drafting technologies and learning skills to adapt to changing environments. Great at working with teams of engineers as well as clients and sales professionals.

Your education section shows that you have the proper training and formal schooling required to be a drafter. From diplomas to degrees and certifications, you will list your academic achievements in this portion of your resume.

Get a feel for the structure of this section by reviewing a few drafter resume samples. Unless you are writing an expanded education section in a functional resume, you will simply list your items with the pertinent information.

You will want to include the name of the school or institute from which you received a degree along with the location. You also need to list the title of the degree, certification or license you earned. Most professionals do not include the graduation date unless they are still enrolled or they earned it within the last five or so years.

Depending on your career path, you may only need to include your most recent or most important academic achievement in a chronological resume. For instance, if you earned a bachelor’s degree in science and a master’s degree in architectural drafting, you only need to include the master’s degree. This achievement is more closely related to the job, and it also implies that you earned an appropriate bachelor’s degree beforehand.

For a functional resume, you might list all of your schooling with greater detail beneath each entry. If you lack sufficient work experience, you can fill in some of those gaps with skills you learned in school. Be sure to focus on courses and education that directly relate to your field and the job you’re applying for.

The way you organize your work experience section depends largely on the resume format you choose.

If you’re writing a chronological resume, you’ll use this area to list your previous jobs that relate to your career and specialty along with brief points describing your roles. Perusing a few drafter resume samples will give you an idea of how to set up this section.

Each entry should have a few key pieces of information that the hiring manager might be looking for. You can place the main information in any order that you like, but you should be sure to include your title, the company, the location and the dates of employment. After that, you can list three to five bullet points that delve into more detail about each position.

When writing the descriptions for each of your previous positions, it is okay to say what you did on a daily basis, but it’s even better if you include quantifiable achievements you were responsible for and professional goals you helped the company meet. You may also want to add specific software programs or equipment you utilized at work.

If you are writing a functional resume due to limited experience or a career change, you will use this section to merely list past jobs that you’ve held. You don’t need to go into detail about what you did at these jobs as you’ll rather describe transferable skills or abilities that are applicable to drafters in an expanded skill section. For example, planning, efficiency and working within teams are all valuable skills in your profession.

If you are unsure of how to describe your previous roles or don’t know which types of jobs to include, take a closer look at drafter resume samples written in different formats. They will give you some good examples of related jobs and ways in which to mirror different skills across similar industries.

A good rule of thumb for writing descriptions in the work experience section is to start each point with an action verb. Hiring managers respond well to action words that accurately pinpoint your role, duties and accomplishments within each position. Review drafter resume samples for verbs to use, and take a look at the list provided below.

• Prepare
• Produce
• Draft
• Calculate
• Revise
• Design
• Specify
• Execute
• Coordinate
• Maintain
• Recommend
• Adjust
• Implement
• Assist
• Review
• Support
• Oversee

The skills section is where you highlight the most important skills that will help you succeed in your desired position. It is also the place to list any traits or abilities that don’t fit under either the work experience or education sections.

In a chronological resume, this section is a simple list of skills and talents. A functional resume may feature a more descriptive skills section to further highlight a professional’s qualifications.

You may consider core drafting skills, industry-specific software or programs, soft skills and professional achievements. Review the skills sections of multiple drafter resume samples for ideas on abilities to highlight. You can also get some ideas from the examples listed here.

• Mechanical Drafting Techniques
• Familiarity of Building Information Modeling
• 2D and 3D Drawing Preparation
• Superb Mathematical Abilities

The skills section is very quick to read, so you want to choose qualifications that will stand out and that the hiring manager might be looking for. You can even pick some requirements from the job description as long as it doesn’t look like you copied it verbatim.

Some professionals have a tendency to jump ahead of themselves and start putting extraneous information on their resumes. References are important to the hiring process, but they should not generally be listed on your resume itself. Only when the potential employer asks for them should you provide references and their contact information.

However, it is okay to start thinking about who you would like to list as professional references. The best choices are previous managers or supervisors. You can also include fellow colleagues if you need additional names.

• Don’t use acronyms without defining them first. In the drafting industry, there are a lot of abbreviated concepts like AutoCAD, BIM and PDM. Knowledge of these terms may show that you are well versed in your career, but it is best to define them in your resume before using a lot of industry jargon throughout.
• Avoid using personal pronouns anywhere in your resume. Some professionals confuse the resume with the cover letter, which is a more personal introduction of yourself. Stick with professional-style writing without talking to the reader in your resume.
• Always proofread your resume multiple times. Just like you would perfect a final draft at your job, your resume should be free of errors. If you can, have someone else read over your resume because they might catch some things that you missed.
• Don’t give too much detail about why you left certain positions. Also, you want to avoid mentioning anything negative about past employers as it might decrease your integrity in the eyes of the hiring manger.

Computer-aided design and drafting programs have made quite a few industries more efficient with user-friendly software. On the other hand, this technology has decreased the demand for specialized drafters.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, electrical and electronics drafters will have the highest job opportunity growth between 2012 and 2022. These specialists can expect to see a 10 percent growth in job prospects as more and more products, such as cars and handheld devices, require intricate and intuitive electrical systems.

There will be a decline in the need for mechanical drafters, but opportunities are still available in the vehicle and medical equipment industries. Professionals in the building and construction industry will see a slight increase in opportunities over the next decade, but this demand varies with fluctuations in the economy.

Overall, drafters with software skills and knowledge of programs like building information modeling and product data management will have better chances of finding employment. These programs enhance industry efficiency but also require drafters who can oversee their large databases.