If you're interested in pursuing or advancing a design-related career, learning how to use the AutoCAD software might be a great idea to help bolster your resume.
For many creative professionals, getting your hands dirty with seemingly more complicated software and mathematics might seem like a lot of work- but AutoCAD is so much more simple than you probably realize, and you shouldn't let it scare you. In fact, it's an extremely user-friendly program, and it will make your design life a lot easier in the long run if you take the time to learn how it is used.
Basically, AutoCAD is a just computer-aided tool that designers can use to draw and draft floor plans. The type of drawings you might already be used to sketching freehand with pencil and graph paper- AutoCAD just allows you to make more precisely on the computer.
Learn more about the AutoCAD software.
The software itself was developed by Autodesk (NYIAD's course is actually approved by Autodesk, and if you're interested in getting certified through them, the course will prepare you to do so). AutoCAD is used today by millions of people worldwide, and is a crucial part of many professional designers' workflow.
AutoCAD can totally streamline your drafting workflow for a few key reasons. First of all, computer aided drawing is actually so much faster than freehand drawing. Tons of hand-drawn floor plan elements are extremely repetitive, so the copy and pasting abilities AutoCAD offers really cuts workflow in half. This will save you tons of time that you would usually spend sketching by hand.