Augi World - July/August 2008 - (Page 8) can write LISP, standardize the office, and juggle—all at the same time! “Being a good multi-tasker makes you who you are and allows you to do well with job performance, but it can get out of hand very quickly,” continues Fletcher. “I have found that many firms will take full advantage of that to the point of abuse, resulting in burnout and a job change. You feel compelled to do your best, to do the best for the company and it can be hard to say no to your employer. Balancing that breaking point can be extremely hard!” CAD managers can experience brown outs, that dip in productivity that happens when you are strained, stressed, and pulled in multiple directions. (Read my CAD Manager column in this issue for suggestions on what to do to keep yourself from being dragged down.) Although many CAD managers consider their jobs “dirty” or extreme, most of them would not trade it for another career. Over 62 percent were “mostly” to “totally” happy being the CAD manager (based on a May 2007 survey I conducted on my website). That leaves a lot of room for improvement, but I think those results are typical among most “tough” jobs. If you include those that consider themselves “somewhat” happy the number rises to 88 percent. Although many CAD managers consider their jobs “dirty” or extreme, most of them would not trade it for another career. fect—including yourself. Design software products are finite, it is possible to learn all there is. So, in a way, once you have gained all the knowledge it is like finishing a great book. The information is now in your head and you now can use that information. Teach it, write about it, and use it.” STV’s Lick mentions, “I am rewarded when someone attempts to challenge CAD standards and the points are well covered and documented. If they had only read it! I am rewarded by our CAD support team and their efforts. This is especially true when an upgrade goes without a hitch. Rewards come when initiatives are taken by other employees and their enthusiasm drives it onward.” HMC’s Fletcher finds satisfaction in problem solving. “I find that when I am faced with a difficult problem/issue and I really have to dig to find an answer—solving that challenging problem is one of the more rewarding pieces to the job for me. I also enjoy the gratitude, from the handful of users who really appreciate something I did for them to make their lives easier. I see that happen more after developing a LISP routine than anything else.” So the rewards help balance the tough parts of the job. The rewards are unique to each person and office structure. The rewards make the “dirty job” worthwhile. Mark W. Kiker is president of the AUGI Board of Directors. Mark is a National CAD Standards Project Team Member and team member of the National BIM Standard. He is the General Editor of BLAUGI and also publishes caddmanager.com, the CADD Managers Journal, and the caddmanager.com blog. He is a returning faculty member at Autodesk University. He is currently Chief Information Officer for HMC Architects in Ontario, California. w w w. A U G I . c o m The Rewards CAD management is not the easiest career, but it can be very rewarding. The rewards are there every day if you look for them: completing a project, finishing a LISP routine, having your work 1. Unpredictable flow of work. respected, 2. Fast-paced work under tight and helping deadlines. others. The 3. Inordinate scope of responsibilities compensation that amount to more than one job. you receive is 4. Work-related events outside of not only finanregular work hours. cial. 5. Responsibility for mentoring and “Often, recruiting. what can be 6. Physical presence at workplace at most rewardleast 10 hours a day. ing will only come if you have the right mental attitude,” observes Harrington. “For starters, sharing your knowledge can be very rewarding. Helping new techs learn the ropes can be a joy as well as very frustrating. The key is understanding that no one is per- 8 http://caddmanager.com http://caddmanager.com http://www.augi.com
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