How to be a Freelance CAD Designer

Freelance CAD Designer

CAD is an important skill in today’s world. It has hundreds of real world applications, ranging from building cars to modelling construction sites. As a CAD designer, you must have heard about the argument that CAD makes better cars than humans do. CAD is a high-earning and lucrative option. Along with a handsome remuneration, it offers you the chance of artistic expression and possibly, even design a legacy. Of late, the number of freelance opportunities in this career has begun to increase, with the need for freelance CAD designers like you increasing every passing day. It is difficult to ascertain one single reason for you to opt for freelancing. There are many reasons and you would do well to look at the other opportunities offered by freelance work. Extra income, work from home, ability to take on multiple tasks, independence; the list continues. Whatever your preferences, you can be assured it is a good career option.

Freelance CAD Designer Jobs Dutie

There are many duties that you will have to take on as a CAD designer, sometimes more difficult than simply creating a layout of a design. CAD designers usually work from offices and they follow a set of instructions laid down by their employers. However, as a freelancer, you are your own boss; some of your job duties will generally include:

  • Design or redesign complex layouts and drawings from general written or verbal specifications.
  • Produce CAD drawings for new or improved products using industry, departmental and discipline standards.
  • Liaise with other teams to obtain reference information for drawings.
  • Liaise with project team to execute projects on time and on budget.
  • Review design layouts to find and resolve problems involving compatibility with basic design concepts.
  • Participate in engineering and manufacturing design reviews to evaluate design concepts and make recommendations.
  • Read and understand 2D and 3D drawings.
  • Make corrections to the drawings as requested by the senior staff.
  • Provide alternative design concepts to meet customer requirements.
  • Create and update database of design records for future reference purposes.
  • Liaise with team and assist them remotely in CAD drawing and designing tasks

Skills:

As a Freelance CAD designer, you need many skills to be able to carve out of a decent career opportunity. However, to generate even a lukewarm response and moderate success, you need to possess skills specific to the field, such as:

  • Being detail oriented
  • Reliability
  • Patience
  • Speed
  • Math and IT skills
  • 2D and 3D graphic design
  • Surface and Solid modeling skills
  • 3D CAD software skills
  • Autodesk skills
  • Independence
  • Demonstrated ability to work remotely with other teams

There are many websites, portals, and videos offering knowledge on CAD. All you have to do is locate the correct one and you can learn CAD from the comfort of your couch. CAD Institute, Education Portal, Cad-training-course, Mycadsite and 3d-cad cae offer both and free for variants of resources where you can learn CAD or hone your already established skills.

Being Successful As A CAD Designer:

CAD design is a fiercely technical and aesthetically pleasing field to work. As a CAD designer, it is not difficult to garner success and you may be aware that this is a highly rewarding career option. CAD designers as you can embrace success in the freelance sphere by taking certain relevant steps, which will help you determine the best way ahead. Usually, what you need to do to garner success and recognition in the field entails:

  • Understanding and being adept at CAD software
  • Being an algorithmic, analytical thinker but be able to conceive a creative design
  • Be able to work on deadlines
  • Be able to work on remote teams and independently deliver on commitments
  • Critical and analytical thinking
  • Problem solving
  • Ability to work under pressure, and to strict deadlines
  • An understanding of the industry
  • Building a responsive network, one which you can leverage to find projects and extra work
  • Creating a social media presence and advertising your services

These are but some of the steps you should take to determine success and failure in the field and it is thus important that you consider following them.

Tools For Freelancers

Freelance CAD Designer Salary :

CAD is a high paying job in the regular work environment. However, it can be a handsomely remunerated job even in the freelance scope of work. Usually freelance portals offer all three generic kinds of payment models to programmers. In the fixed-price model, the price is usually pre-determined. The hourly model is the most popular and employers usually pay a predetermined sum per hour. Finally, in the project-budget based model, you often need to auction for such projects. Usually a fixed price model may range from $20- 200 and upwards, while you have to pitch for hourly projects, and budget payments, which usually range from $5-35 an hour. The average pay scale of a CAD designer is $19 an hour.

Finding Work:

As a CAD designer, you can find work through many online portals and websites that offer freelance projects. It is a reasonably well paid job and there are thousands of opportunities for prospective work-at-home programmers like you. CAD design is a niche skill, celebrated due to the highly intricate work on offer. Some of the websites offering work to freelance CAD designers include Odesk, Peopleperhour, Elance and Guru.

Resources:

There are many websites, portals, and videos offering knowledge on CAD. All you have to do is locate the correct one and you can learn CAD from the comfort of your couch. CAD institute, Education Portal, Cad-training-course, Mycadsite and 3d-cad cae offer both and free for variants of resources where you can learn CAD or hone your already established skills. For more information on Freelance Resource please visit www.careerlancer.net

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