Becoming Revit draftsman

[Ivan B]

Good morning
I always admired engineers, and always had some sort of interest for the discipline. Few weeks ago, my wife, hvac engineer complained about problem with revit mep draft, and since I never heard about it, I ve looked up on youtube. Watched few videos, then few more and got completely mesmerized by BIM. Played with the software on her work laptop and liked it.
Now I am asking myself, whether it is possible to change profession being 33, moving from marketing discipline and diving into revit (MEP) , with certification and so on.
What would be your advice on this situation?
Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to recognize a problem, and define priorities later in life. I hope I can make it, and possibly with training/tutor or even part time internship to become professional revit draftsman.

Thank you

[Wanderer]

Good morning
I always admired engineers, and always had some sort of interest for the discipline. Few weeks ago, my wife, hvac engineer complained about problem with revit mep draft, and since I never heard about it, I ve looked up on youtube. Watched few videos, then few more and got completely mesmerized by BIM. Played with the software on her work laptop and liked it.
Now I am asking myself, whether it is possible to change profession being 33, moving from marketing discipline and diving into revit (MEP) , with certification and so on.
What would be your advice on this situation?
Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to recognize a problem, and define priorities later in life. I hope I can make it, and possibly with training/tutor or even part time internship to become professional revit draftsman.

Thank you

Good luck, if you do decide to make the leap. As someone who worked in MEP for over 13 years, I can tell you that skillset is really hard to come by.
And, sure, it's possible to change professions, I actually left MEP to work as a System Administrator about the same age, as I started doing tech support and programming (with the help of these forums).

The Revit MEP certification is very new, so not too many people have one yet. I believe you take the tests for those at an Autodesk Authorized Training Center, so search Autodesk's website for one of those, they might have certification prep classes you'd be interested in.

If you want to learn on your own, I'd recommend books and videos from Paul Aubin (search "Revit MEP" on Amazon to get an idea of what textbooks are out there).
I think Lynda.comm, CADLearning and InfiniteSkills have video training courses for Revit MEP now.
Check out the Revit MEP column in AUGIWorld Magazine every month (you can find articles from past issues stored in the library https://www.augi.com/library/category/revit-mep )

Once you start making your way through tutorials, you'll find the folks in the Revit MEP forums to be helpful in answering questions and find common problems others have. http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay....it-MEP-Support

[tedg]

Congrats on your first post, Melanie has some good suggestions and links to material.
Yes you can change careers in your 30's, I did, but it wasn't easy.

Let me tell you that you going from a marking career to a building modelling (or "drafting" as you call it) career is not a direct or easy transition.
You're going to need to learn how buildings are built, you're going to have to learn how to draft, how a drawing should look, what information is needed.
And if you're going to specialize in MEP, that's a whole other level of information you're going to need to know to be productive and employable.

Not to mention the complex program that is Revit, and you may be asked to work in AutoCAD too, not everyone is on board with Revit yet.

I'm not telling you this to discourage you, but you need to know that it won't be easy to just become a "Revit Draftsmen"

In my early 30's, I had board-drafting experience, but not a full time drafting professional, more part time and the occasional set of house plans, etc.
When I decided I wanted to do that for a living, I went back to school and got an Associates Degree, it took about 3 years of evening classes, all while my wife took care of our (2) young kids.

Once I got enough marketable training under my belt, I got a job doing cad drafting and design and a pay rate I could afford, and eventually worked my way up.
That was about 18-19 years ago. I've only been using Revit for about 5 years, and not on every job.

Good Luck, hope this helps.

[Ivan B]

Thank you very much for replies.
It is challenging, indeed. Hence is the approach. I am planning the framework of the study, with:
1. Official Autodesk "mastering Revit Mep 2015" (en route), and other suggested books
2. Video courses like Lynda and other mentioned with daily "hands on" experience
3. Step 1 certification in few months (yes, I am dedicated to doing this)
4. To gradually build portfolio of own work
5. Part time apprentice or distant work
6. Seminars, accredited by CIBSE (need to look into this more)
7. There is an option to study with open uni BEng, but I need to plan carefully here.

My wife will definitely help me with feedback and practical stuff (she used to work with 2D)
As well, industry standards, drawing and other technical regulations needed, so it is a long way to go, but I am a quick learner, with the software part is not too difficult (I mean the software workflow etc, not exact HVAC modelling). It is proper feedback on the work I'll do, which is the most difficult to get since my wife is only 2d and Revit is very different to the AutoCAD

Is Aubin Academy book better than Autodesk mastering revit, official?