Given that filling construction jobs to address the nation’s housing shortage is exacerbated by employment demand fostered by last November’s passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, REVIT drafters are in exceptionally high demand. With their 3D drafting and design software skills, they are instrumental in helping architectural, engineering, design, construction, and renovation firms of all sizes with their burgeoning workloads.  

While some Revit drafters complete a certificate program or receive an associate degree in computer-aided drafting and design, most tend to learn their skills without formal education requirements. Many gain proficiencies with Revit and similar AutoCAD-style software through online courses and hours of practice.

In short, there are plenty of great Revit drafters out in the workforce, but there are also plenty of people who claim to be skilled in the craft but lack extensive experience. And, with an especially tight market for those Revit skills, how does a firm go about finding and hiring the best Revit drafters—that is, those who genuinely possess extensive, hands-on experience using Revit in a professional capacity?

Start with your job description   

The first step towards finding the most competent Revit drafters is to craft a well-structured, informative job posting that can help separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff. This means explicitly stating that you are only interested in Revit drafters with “X” number of years of professional experience and with “demonstrable” proficiency using Revit to draft “Y” and “Z” projects. You can tailor your job posting to specifically target distinct skills, competencies, professional on-the-job experience, or anything else pertinent to the open position. The goal of writing a great job post is to help Revit drafting candidates self-screen themselves so that you hopefully cut back the number of unqualified candidates.

Figure out where your job posting will have the most effective reach    

With Revit drafters in such high demand, the job boards are saturated with postings seeking to fill Revit drafting positions. With so much competition and your focus on hiring “the best,” putting out cattle calls on job boards or other direct advertising might not give you the best bang for your buck. That said, in this tight job market, you might need to do it anyway.

Before that, though, we recommend that you start at home by posting the job description on your firm’s own website and on its LinkedIn page (your firm does have a presence on LinkedIn, right?) and any other actively used social media. The benefits of starting from home are that you are most likely to capture motivated candidates who already have at least some interest in your company.

Also, make sure you put out the word about the position to all of your existing employees, especially those involved with your drafting/design department. Much like many a great romantic relationship was initiated due to an introduction from a mutual friend, employees may be able to help initiate great working relationships.

Before succumbing to cattle calls through paid advertising on job boards, consider posting your job notice in relevant publications or professional associations. You could consider dozens of graphic design publications, and the American Digital Design Association’s employment center might be an excellent place to start with professional associations.

Narrow down the best with targeted interview questions          

Once you start gaining interest from seemingly qualified candidates, you can select the top contenders with targeted interview questions. We recommend using

behavioral interview questions, which can help assess a wide range of competencies and be customized to target skill sets needed for specific positions, such as Revit drafters. You can check out Amtec’s proprietary Behavioral Interview Questions Generator here.

In this job market, you may need the services of professional recruiters like Amtec

Suppose you’ve tried our tips here yet still struggle to hire the best Revit drafters. In that case, you might want to think about turning over your search to a professional recruiting company, like Amtec. With innovative hiring tools, a vast professional network, and proven expertise, we can quickly and efficiently uncover top-level talent. To learn more, contact Amtec today.