Length: 5-page minimum, double-spaced, not including cover, graphics, or Works Cited.
Report Requirements:
Introduction: Provide a formal introduction that provides a context for the discussion that provokes reader interest. For example, you could describe real-life applications or scenarios relevant to the profession or provide some personal background into your interest in the profession. Make sure you include a thesis that announces the main idea of the report.
Body:
Research and organize the profession according to the 4 categories listed here. Use these as topic headings to organize paragraphs. Be sure to bold or underline topics for clarity and emphasis in the actual report:
Definition of Career Responsibilities
Educational Costs and Requirements
Opportunities for Employment and Advancement
Personal Satisfaction and Potential Earnings
Every paragraph should contain substantial research and a combination of primary and secondary sources. All borrowed ideas must include proper source identifications with citations when needed, along with corresponding entries in the Works Cited page.
Conclusion:
Present an honest summary of findings, reporting disadvantages and advantages of all issues of the profession. Present your overall attitude about the profession, including concerns or surprising information. With the information that you gathered, you should be even more decisive about your future career plans. Be sure to state what you hope to accomplish regarding the profession.
Next following pages is an essay example from another student:
Ryan Zillmer
English 101
19 June 2007
Research paper
Career Assessment Research Report
Everything you see in this world that was created by humans was designed, from the paper cup that holds your coffee, to the space shuttle that rendezvous with the International Space Station. And everything that is designed goes through a process: Conception, Realization, and Production. Conception is the idea, the initial thought that starts off the process. Realization is when the basic concept is put onto paper, and problem solving skills come into play to make sure the idea is feasible. Production is the final outcome. Drafters are important in all categories. Although it may be an engineer who comes up with the idea, and a machinist who creates the physical entity, it is the drafter who takes the ideas from the engineer and puts it on paper for the machinist to understand. Without drafters, there would be no set standard, no plans to go off of, and no frame of reference when one does not have the physical entity in hand. I believe a career in Drafting will be suitable for me because I can commit to the responsibilities that the career entails, can afford the cost of education required to become a drafter, know the market for such a career is healthy and the opportunity for advancement strong, and the potential profit and general happiness in such employment make the pursuit of the career attractive.
Definition of Career Responsibilities
Both specific and general knowledge are required to become a drafter. The most common drafting program is AutoCAD, which has two-dimensional and three-dimensional capabilities. Depending on the level of drafting that is required, one might simply need to know how to make lines and add text, all the way to creating three-dimensional objects and dimension them. AutoCAD is not the only program that companies use; however, it is simply the building block from which other programs are based. Therefore, one must be able to comprehend and use other programs in a timely matter, requiring a certain amount of intuitiveness in the user, as well as a healthy amount of common sense. For example, look at the designation of the “hotkeys” (a key on the computer keyboard -usually a letter- that performs a function in the program.) In AutoCAD, the key “L” is pressed when one wishes to draw a line, so logically, when using another program to perform the same function, you would press the same key. In some programs, to perform AutoCAD’s “L” function, you would have to think of synonyms like “D” for draw.
Spatial thinking is also a requirement for being a drafter. The very essence of drafting is shapes. One must be able to visualize all of an object’s attributes even when one cannot see them. Spatial thinking especially comes into play when you are working in three dimensions. It is easy to see how an object is oriented when it is drawn, even in wireframe, but once that wireframe object is rotated, it is difficult to tell which direction the object is facing. If one does not possess a high degree of spatial orientation, one can get hopelessly lost and make a multitude of mistakes that are time-consuming to rectify.
Educational Costs and Requirements
To become a drafter, a post-high school education is required. At bare minimum, a certificate is required, and preferably the prospective drafter has an associate’s degree.
Here at Renton Technical College, the drafting program is labeled Engineering and Design Technology, a one year class that covers both mechanical and architectural drafting in a fair amount of detail and lightly touches on civil drafting. Completion of the class earns the student a certificate. If the student takes four additional classes (English, math, psychology, and speech), the student can earn an associate’s degree (“Computer-Aided”129). Drafting classes are also available at non-technical colleges. According to WOIS, the main difference between technical college programs and that of a regular community college’s are the “programs at technical schools generally have less course work in theory and liberal arts. Also, the courses may not transfer to four-year colleges” (“Drafters”). The cost for Renton Tech’s Engineering and Design program is $3,490.20 and $725.00 in supplies (which consists of books and a toolkit) (“Computer-Aided”129). If one wishes to complete the requirements for the AAS degree, the costs of the English, psychology, and speech classes are $259 with the exception of Math, which is $300.20 (“Computer-Aided” 129). In addition, for each additional class, one should be prepared to spend additional money on books, which can cost anywhere from $40 to over $100 each.
Opportunities for Employment and Advancement
There are ample opportunities for employment and advancement. According to WOIS, in 2004 “there were 4,638 drafters employed in Washington and [i] t is projected that by 2009 there will be 5,811” (“Drafters”). In the fourth quarter of the Engineering and Design class, one has the option of doing an internship. The one that I will be applying for is with Boeing. After successfully completing the Boeing internship, drafters are likely to get a job with them. Paul Burckhard, a Tech A level drafter at Boeing, describes his division as consisting of four tiers: Tech A, Tech B, Tech C, and Tech D. When asked about how much time is required to move up, he said that he was getting promoted “soon” and had been working at Boeing for “a little over a year.” However, according to Cynthia Johnson, a manager at the Maintenance Engineering Tech. Service Department at Boeing, depending on what department a drafter is in, and how skilled one is, a drafter can be promoted as soon as two months on the job, or as late as two years. Johnson also tells us that if drafters are good enough, they can become “specialists in their fields,” meaning that they will be doing engineering level work (while earning engineering level pay) without the engineering title.
Potential Earnings, Benefits, and Personal Satisfaction
From the perspective of somebody whose highest wage ever earned was ten dollars an hour doing warehouse work, the money to be earned as a drafter is very appealing. According to Boeing’s Cynthia Johnson, the wages for an intern are $27,000 a year. Once you are hired, your wages are bumped up to $40,000 a year, and additional earnings are available, depending on previous accomplishments (certificates). This income is in keeping with the state average. WOIS reports that “[i]n King and Snohomish counties, half of all mechanical drafters earn between $20.20 and $32.15 per hour, and half of architectural and civil drafters average between $19.79 and $27.75 per hour. Half of all electrical and electronics drafters earn between $19.45 and $26.77 per hour” (“Drafters”).
In addition, Boeing offers attractive benefits. Josh Dietz, another Tech A level drafter at Boeing, explained to me that a person entering the company with an associate’s degree will be awarded fifty shares of stock, while a bachelor’s degree will get fifty more shares, and a master’s will earn 200 shares total. Another excellent benefit from working at Boeing, and perhaps the main reason I wish to work there, is that Boeing will pay for your education while you are employed there (Johnson). I see that as an excellent opportunity to get a free education, and be paid for my accomplishments.
Also, I am a fairly laid-back person, and I would appreciate the environment at Boeing. Dress codes are essentially nonexistent there, so long as you look presentable. Another incentive is that you can listen to music while you work. This is a big plus for me, as I listen to music all day, everyday, and not being able to do so would be a big loss for me.
From early childhood up through my early adulthood, my idea for “what I wanted to be when I grow up” has changed a multitude of times. Now I am confident in what I want to do after actually researching the subject. In fact, I find no downside and feel that all details of drafting are suitable to me. Drafting to me is an ideal job because it pays well, and I would enjoy doing it. These are the two deciding factors: I have to be happy at my job, and I want to live a comfortable lifestyle. Drafting provides both
*Works Cited
Burckhard, Paul E. Interview. 5 Mar. 2017.
“Computer-Aided Drafting.” Renton Technical College Catalog 2016-2017, 2017, rtc.edu/sites/default/files/RTC-College-Catalog-2016-2017-web.pdf. Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.
Dietz, Josh. Interview. 9 Mar. 2017.
“Drafters.” WOIS, 2017, www-wois-org.ezproxy.rtc.edu/use/drafters/#C. Accessed 10 Mar. 2017.
Johnson, Cynthia. Interview. 7 Mar. 2017.
*** Please use this example above to write the paper about Marketing and Advertising.
Use Scholarly resources (within 5 years) and in text citation
