CAD Engineer 

(Male, Age 30) from Ashburn, VA

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Male aged 30 who works as a CAD Engineer in Ashburn, VA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title CAD Engineer
Salary $47,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week 50
Company Size (not answered)
Location Ashburn, VA
Years Experience 5 months

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
I work for a Federal Contractor that specializes in engineering and integration for complex electrical, electronic and telecommunication systems. My division’s responsibility is based on design/build for command centers.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
All of my work is done in AutoCAD. I prepare installation design packages and other work based on space planning requirements. So far I have travelled to San Diego State University to work on a Navy project that utilizes Google Earth. I also provide support to 2 offices (my division) and 1 office for our sister company.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
3 weeks accrued vacation, HMO and 401k

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
well compensated

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Yes. I like it most of the time. I am the only CAD support for my division so I am required to work with multiple teams. At times I am working on up to 5 projects at a time. Sometimes the projects are very large and the time alloted to completed them are rather short. So the people can tend to get in the way. I’d prefer for my teams to let me know at the beginning what is required and then let me do my work uninterrupted.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
In most cases my supervisors and managers are my coworkers depending on what project I’m taking on. At other times I do not work with any one.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 5
Hours: 7
Co-Workers: 2
Supervisors: 6
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 4
The Actual Work: 3

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
Internet

What was the application process?
Submitted resume electronically, initial interview, 3 tests, 2nd interview, offer from company, sign-off on offer, safety and CPR training (req’d to pass)

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes. The initial interview was with the recruiter. After that I was required to take 3 tests, 2 of which were in AutoCAD/Microstation. When I passed, the 2nd interview with the supervisor, business manager and financial manager was scheduled. They approved and then I was given a salary offer.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
What was my previous work like? Are you willing to work out of different offices occasionally?

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
No, but I now know that the only way to prepare someone is to just let them learn as they go.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
There was no training in my actual field. I trained for Safety and CPR but that was a general requirement.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
No, high school didnt’ really offer anything for me then. But what I’ve learned in other positions took care of that.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
n/a

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
The best and easiest way is to go the company’s main website. They have a listing of all open positions. There is a page where you can fill out or upload a resume to be submitted. Once it is reviewed and they feel you are qualified, you will be asked to come in to take 3 tests.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
The first thing they should know is AutoCAD. That’s the foundation of the position. Along with that they will need to be able to communicate well with others. There will be times when they will have to sit in meetings with high-level Navy officers and answer questions.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Definitely. I didn’t go to college but have had almost 5 years previous training/experience which was necessary for this job.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Be prepared for anything. You may be asked to travel across the country at the drop of the hat. Sometimes deadlines are thrown at you and you have a couple days to get 2 weeks worth of work done. If you can’t work under pressure, don’t bother.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
No. I still plan on acting and writing and supporting myself that way.

What are your current career goals?
To take 3D rendering courses which will increase my responsibility and worth. ONce I become efficient in that and knowing what systems we work with I will start training to become a Project Engineer where I can work on the actual sytem designs.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
no

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 Draftsperson 4 years 45000 drafted steel items such as stairs for schools and gov’t buildings
Prior Job 2 Siding Install Supervisor 3 years 37000 managed all siding installs, crews, job quotes, homeowner relations, etc.

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