General Design

Construction

Put on your hard hat, flex your muscles, and build! Houses, apartments, factories, offices, schools, roads, bridges—these are only some of the products of the construction industry.

The construction industry is divided into three major segments: general building contractors, heavy construction contractors, and special trade contractors. General building contractors build residential, industrial, commercial, and other buildings. Heavy construction contractors build sewers, roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, and other projects. Special trade contractors are engaged in specialized activities such as carpentry, painting, plumbing, and electrical work.

Autodesk software you’re likely to use in construction careers include AutoCAD® Revit® MEP Suite, AutoCAD, AutoCAD® Architecture, AutoCAD® Raster Design, and Autodesk® 3ds Max®. 

Find out more about the construction industry, including job descriptions, salaries, and training requirements.

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Construction and Building Inspectors

Put on your hard hat and head to the site. You decide whether the work measures up—and if it doesn’t, you determine what needs to be done. Construction and building inspectors examine the construction, alteration, or repair of buildings, highways and streets, sewer and water systems, dams, bridges, and other structures to make sure they’re up to code—building codes, ordinances, zoning regulations, and contract specifications. Inspectors make an initial inspection during the first phase of construction, and then follow up with inspections throughout the construction project.

Building inspectors look over the structural quality and general safety of buildings. Some specialize—for example, in structural steel or reinforced concrete structures. A primary concern of building inspectors is fire safety. Inspectors consider such things as alarm systems, fire exits, and risks posed by adjoining buildings. There are many types of inspectors, including elevator inspectors, electrical inspectors, and plumbing inspectors.

Autodesk software you’re likely to use in this career includes AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Raster Design and Autodesk 3ds Max.

Find out more about construction and building inspectors, including job descriptions, salaries, and training requirements.

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Designers

Can you imagine a world without design? From the clothes we wear to the cars we drive, design touches all aspects of our lives. Designers combine practical knowledge with artistic ability to turn abstract ideas into formal designs for clothes, living and office space, and countless other things that make up our world. Designers usually specialize in a particular area of design, such as automobiles, clothing, furniture, or movie and theater sets.

The first step in developing a new design or altering an existing one is to determine the needs of the client and the ultimate function for which the design is intended. When creating a design, the designer considers such things as size, shape, color, and materials to be used. Computer-aided design (CAD) gives designers greater ease and flexibility. This in turn reduces design costs and cuts the time it takes to deliver a product to market. Industrial designers use computer-aided industrial design (CAID) to create designs and to communicate them to automated production tools.

Autodesk software you’re likely to use in this career includes Autodesk® AliasStudio™, Autodesk® ImageStudio, Autodesk® Showcase®, Autodesk® Sketchbook® Pro, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® Inventor®, AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD Raster Design.

Find out more about designers, including job descriptions, salaries, and training requirements.

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Drafters

A structure doesn’t create itself from thin air: It takes a design. And the design must be communicated in a way that everyone who needs to use it can understand. Drafters prepare technical drawings and plans used by production and construction workers to build everything from manufactured products such as spacecraft or industrial machinery to structures such as office buildings or gas pipelines. Their drawings provide visual guidelines, showing the technical details of the products and structures, specifying dimensions, materials to be used, procedures and processes.

Drafting these days is done mostly on the computer using computer-aided drawing (CAD) systems. These electronic drawing files don't fade or crumble, like old paper drawings do. At the same time, the timeless values of clarity and elegance are as important today as they were in the days of drawing boards and protractors.

Autodesk software you’re likely to use in this career includes AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and AutoCAD Raster Design.

Find out more about drafters, including job descriptions, salaries, and training requirements.

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Engineers

You can’t go anywhere or do anything without encountering the work of engineers. They provide the link between science and commercial applications. Engineers design products, machinery to build those products, factories in which those products are made, and the systems that help ensure the quality of the product and efficiency of the workforce and manufacturing.

Engineers design, plan, and supervise the construction of buildings, highways, and transit systems. They develop and implement improved ways to extract, process, and use raw materials. They harness the power of the sun, the earth, atoms, and electricity. Engineering knowledge is applied to improving things, including the quality of health care, the safety of food products, and the efficient operation of financial systems. Engineers use computers to produce and analyze designs; to simulate and test how a machine, structure, or system operates; and to generate specifications for parts.

Autodesk software you’re likely to use in this career includes Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, AutoCAD® Map 3D, AutoCAD® Civil 3D®, and AutoCAD Raster Design.

Find out more about engineers, including job descriptions, salaries, and training requirements.

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Portions of this page are adapted from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook and Career Guide to Industries.