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CAD
Manager Career Road Map
(first
published in AUGI World Magazine 5-2005)
We go through many career stages as we advance in our chosen
field. They can be categorized in many ways. Gene W. Dalton
and Paul H. Thompson wrote a book way back in 1986 which
outlined the basics phases of a career. The book Novations:
Strategies for Career Management was instructional to me
and I have adapted it to fit a CAD related career.
Stage
I Depending upon Others CAD Drafter
This is the first stage in your career. You are fresh and
most likely young. You are hungry for knowledge and seek out
tech tips from those around you. You absorb information quickly
and start reading books and talking to anyone you will share
with you. You searched the web for tricks and help files.
You may be hot on the hardware, smooth with the software,
quick, sharp, dedicated and eager, but you are dependant upon
others to get information. As you near the end of this stage
you are doing a lot more independent research and less asking
others around you. You begin asking fewer questions and start
to provide answers to others.
Road
Blocks that keep you from getting started with Stage I
Moving into this stage can be a struggle for some. Here are
a few things you may want to think about which may curtail
your advancement.
Indecision about your next career move. Most of us in this stage could steer
our careers in several directions. If you are not sure
where you want to end up, you may never move toward the
goal. I have seen many who where the CAD whiz kids and
stumbled in career advancement in their discipline because
they were pigeonholed into CAD production. Make up your
mind if you want to pursue a CAD Support role or focus on a
sector of the industry as a designer or engineer.
Settling into your current role.
Unlike the road block above, which is lack of movement,
this one is an active option you create by locking yourself
into your role as a CAD User. Keep your options open at
this point. Ask for more assignments that expand your
experience. Keep moving ahead.
Stage II Independent Contributor CAD Super User
You press ahead and others have determined that you are a
source for information about using the software. Now you are a
provider not a consumer of know how. You now begin to gather
others around you as you provide short demos of tools that you
have mastered. You have influence over some of the areas of CAD
Standards development and methods of CAD production in your
department or project team. You suggest new software tools and
hardware needs. You help out with training of new users.
Now more than before you have started to contribute to the
CAD environment of your firm. You may be part of a committee
that decides CAD issues and sets up training. You may have
started programming and developing tools of your own. Learning
LISP or VBA to create the small tools that you need to get the
job done. Others may desire to use your creations and they soon
become standard tools. You create menus and scripts or decide
which shareware or software to purchase.
You are now considered a "super user" or "power user" by
others and possibly officially have the title. If you are not
part of the CAD Support staff, you may be asked to make a career
shift and hire onto the team. You may get a new job actually
supporting others as part of your job description.
Road
Blocks that keep you from getting to Stage II
You could suffer from a lack of technical competence
in one area which could bring on a lack of confidence. You
could go the opposite way and actually be overconfident and
stumble in an area in which you thought you were the best.
I have seen quite a few people who have an arrogant
overblown self image and no one likes to be around those
kinds of folks. Keep a humble, appropriate perspective on
your talents. Real Super Users like to share their
knowledge, not hoard it. Give to others and they will
support your advancement.
It may seem strange but some times you may struggle
because you are a generalist, trying to know everything
about every software tool ever made. This really equates to
a lack of focus. It may be better to become an expert in
one area before you add on more tools.
Stage III Contributing thru Others CAD Manager
You now have the title of CAD Manager or CAD Coordinator or
CAD Supervisor. You may still be involved in production, but
spend more time making sure that the office CAD flow is working
effectively. This is the stage that allows you to impact the
company by overseeing such things as the CAD Standard,
purchasing software and hardware, training, vendor negotiations,
budgets, productivity and more. You spend more time programming
and developing. You interact with Project Manager to prep for
CAD work on new projects.
You soon may no longer be hands on CAD production. You may
not actually create any CAD design files at all now. You do use
CAD, but it is mostly in a support role. You create project
border files and customize content for project use. You have a
solid CAD Standard is place and spend a lot of time policing the
users for compliance.
As you progress in this position, you now have staff under
you (or not) and you have made the transition to management.
You now get things done through other people. Mostly this is
done by assigning tasks and managing the work efforts of
others. You devise plans for new software rollouts and others
complete the individual tasks. It is difficult for you to not
be so hands on, since your hands-on skills are what got you
here.
Road
Blocks that that derail your progress into Stage III
If you reach Stage III it is a great achievement. Not many
have come this far. Not many will do the job effectively.
But there are many things that prevent you from breaking
into Stage III. If you take a narrow focus on CAD work you
may be undercutting yourself. Take a broad view of where
CAD fits into the whole makeup of the firm. CAD is a vital
tool to completing your tasks, but the firms output is the
designs that are produced.
If you won't assume responsibility for your actions or
your decisions, you may never be considered for CAD
Manager or even be forced to take a step back. If you think
you have reached the top of your career you may be short
changing your opportunities.
There are still places for you to go. If you do not
focus on developing your interpersonal skills you wont
be able to move in higher circles of influence. Management
takes additional people skills along with your tech skills.
You also need to let go of some of the details. Think
bigger. Think beyond.
Stage IV Leading thru Vision CAD Leader
The final, and I think, prime place for you to be. You have
done CAD and technology for so many years you are now a leader
of others and not just a Manager of tools, timetables and
standards. Now you inspire others on to great things. You
still perform all of the duties of Manager, since that is what
your expected (and paid) to do.
But now you think differently, you are motivating others to
think globally about CAD. How it is pivotal to the operations
of the company. How it is interwoven into the fabric of your
design process. If CAD is ignored it cost money and reduces the
project bottom line. Ignoring CAD may include not setting up
for a new project, not reviewing contracts for CAD catchwords
that may require additional software tools.
You lead others by casting a vision and telling the story of
how CAD should work and what is important to the proper use of
the tool. You speak in conceptual terms and coach others to
develop the step by step plans of making things happen. You
spend more time mentoring others than you have before.
You interact with upper management when creating a CAD
budget. You are now planning for CAD expansions looking 1-3
years ahead. You have selected the next tool to buy before you
have the dollars to buy it. You are creating teams of people to
help get the job done. CAD Committees, internal user groups,
Standards teams, you are in the team building mode. Not that
you could not do it alone, but by creating teams of people, you
extend your influence by interacting with them consistently.
You may even be involved in outside user groups and teaching
events, such as Autodesk University.
This is where you want to be, a CAD Leader. It does not
really matter what your title is, how big your company is, or
even if you are directly involved with CAD Support. By becoming
a leader, you are having maximum impact on your firm and the
industry at large.
Road
Blocks that that stop your progress into Stage IV
You still maintain the title of CAD Manager, but you need to
become a CAD Leader.
Some of the things will stop you dead in your tracks to
becoming the leader you need to be include not knowing
and working with the right people. You need to work
well with the users at all levels, but you also need to work
well up the ladder with your CIO, CTO, CEO and other C
level leaders.
Another item might be a lack of using the power and
influence that you have. By being indecisive and not
pushing technology forward, you may appear wavering or
lackluster. Leaders know when to say no and when to make
a decision.
Conclusion
By keeping your eyes and career focused on moving to the
next level you can avoid stalling out and keep progressing
ahead. Rethink where you are and where you want to go. Steer
your career and dont let it careen off the road to success.
December 2007
(first
published in AUGI World Magazine 5-2005)
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