re: School me on a Drafting and Design 2-year degree

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I taught myself. It's paying me well enough to get a bachelors in construction management. i graduate in December.

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According to the 39 page thread on parents not paying for their kid's college education what you are doing is impossible, but I say good job on your part.

If you end up doing just drafting you'll be ready to hang yourself after about 3 years.

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Enough to get a job?

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Absolutely, but it will come down to how hard of a worker you are and how good you are.

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And are said jobs in demand?

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It comes and goes, when in high demand, there is a lot of money to be made. When not in heavy demand, if you are a hard worker and know your shite then you are more likely to keep a job when things are slow.

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You’re looking for the word ‘monotonous.’

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yep...my phone must have changed it!

I don't know about hourly wages, when I hire my guys we determine an annual and payroll dept does the rest. With that degree you can get some company's to bring you in as apprentice or beginners level at 35k-50k depending on your past work experience. The big kicker you need to consider though is "what field?" What is your interest and do you have experience in any fields that hire drafters/designers? For me personally I am in construction; engineered wood and truss design to be specific. But I am not hiring anyone ...even as an apprentice with a drafting degree if they can't tell me the difference between a header or a girder or a purlin. So if you are young with limited experience your best bet is going the AutoCAD 3D/BIM/Revit certifications and you can get on with many different types of firms but don't expect any bank until you get good experience. And being a designer/drafter can be boring arse tedious work...so pick a field that you are interested in if you go that route.

I’ve been in pipe design for about 8 years so far. I will say that all you technically need is a autocad certificate to get in the door. Getting in the door is the hard part, you basically have to know someone if your just getting started. Once your in, you will eventually be trained in whatever 3D software the company is using and go from there. I work for Jacobs and will say that the big firms use India to do their designing now and we basically just make sure they don’t mess their stuff up(they mess up a lot). Decent amount of field work comes with being a piper

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KajunKouyon

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Few posters from there on here...

Yes.

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architects join a firm get paid a salary. So while they may make 60 grand starting out

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Not even close.

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From what I have heard even architects join a firm get paid a salary. So while they may make 60 grand starting out they’re not working 40 hours a week, more like 60 to 80. So hourly wage is $15-$23 an hour.

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I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, but...
(ETA: Nevermind, I get it. I think architect hours vary too significantly for me to give you an answer. I know that they typically make less than engineers despite spending more time in school, which really sucks because I'm an engineer and I don't make particularly good money. My understanding is that the principals make bank, though.)

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Drafters get paid by the hour?

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I'm at a small MEP firm and our drafter is the only employee that is hourly.

If I were to guess from my limited experience with drafters, I'd say it was a dying profession. The old timers at our firm (the two very knowledgeable owners and one borderline retarded mechanical engineer) give the drafter 95% of his work. The other engineers rarely touch pencil to paper, and do almost all of their work straight into AutoCAD/Revit. The drafter is used mostly to set up the architect's backgrounds for us to work in. I'm more like the old timer type and would prefer to hand-draw everything on a printout of the architect's plans, but I'm in the minority for the non-Baby Boomers, plus I don't feel like waiting on the drafter to get shite done.

But again, that's from my very narrow viewpoint. I know that when I occasionally peek at the wanted ads, I see that drafters still seem to be in pretty high demand.

I'd say that certifications are just as valuable as an associates degree, and should take you less time to earn. But if you want to catch on and make yourself more valuable than your fellow associates in drafting, learn how to do a little something extra. Speaking from the electrical side, a few things that could really set you apart:
-know how to use a lighting calculation program. You can lean Visual in about a day (that's what we use, but I don't think that it's that popular, really just learn any software that uses IES files). Tell your interviewer that you understand that there are lighting level requirements for certain applications, and that you can easily learn how to make adjustments to the fixtures to meet these requirements.
-understand NEC requirements for receptacle types and locations in residential, commercial, or industrial buildings. Tell your interviewer that you can use common sense in placing receptacles and data outlets at desks, water fountains, vending machines, etc...
-if you REALLY want to be valuable, learn how to survey. We occasionally use our drafter for this, but he's limited.
-attach a drawing/survey of your home to your resume (to scale, obviously). Show receptacle, panelboard, light fixture, smoke detector, return air, and supply air locations. Show plumbing fixtures and pipe routes if you can. If you really want to make the hiring manager's dick wet, do some detailed sections of your kitchen cabinets, counter, sink, etc...

He said a lab tech in a plant. I don’t think they make that much money. I’d go either pipe design or instrument tech. Buddy of mine is a tech and he makes damn good money. He travels a good bit though