Colorado Technical University

How do I move on in my career?

I went to school for Interior Design and have my Associates in that. I went right after to a career training class to better enhance my drafting skills and got a certificate in AutoCAD Advanced. I do work with AutoCAD now but I work in packaging. I am not saying I'm not happy in this position, but I don't have any knowledge in this field. I learned on the job 3ds Max which has been fun, but even in my down time I find myself drawing floor plans or creating models of houses or furniture. I'd like to get back into my field but how??? I still live at home and financially constraint there for now. I'm living paycheck to paycheck and most if not all of the jobs are at least 35mins-an hour away. What could I do to get back in the interior design field??...espcially with the way the economy is with jobs. I'm a contractor at my current position and can't afford to lose it. Most people are telling me just to stick it out here and continue what I'm doing. As I continue to pay my enormous student loans I feel I should be using what I am still paying for. What's your opinion on what I should do?

Public Comments

1. This is a hard career in the best of times. Your best bet is to try & get a job with one of the big architectural firms. They would at least pay salary & benefits. This would probably involve moving however. Sometimes that can not be helped to further careers. Do you have a portfolio? Start making one now. Then start a list of large firms (HOK, Gensler, etc) and start applying. ANother option is to work for one of the manufacturing houses/fabricators/textiles such as hermann miller. Contractors also need CAD, but aren't building much right now. A third option is going to work for a showroom that has on-site decorators & designers (the furniture places like Ethan Allen, kitchen remodel showrooms etc)You should also contact your school & see if they have suggestions. You may have to put your plans on hold until the economy rebounds somewhat as well, particularly if you can't move. You should start a tight budget & try & save money so you can move as well, as many of these places are in large cities.