Heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer to heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter
A heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer already meets 55% of what the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
49.3/ 100
1 How much of what a heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter is expected to do is already part of a heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role treats 10 of its required skills as things a heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- create technical plans
- domestic cooling systems
- electric heating systems
- engineering principles
- engineering processes
- heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration parts
What stands in the way is 10 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 28 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer background worth leading with.
- already held advise on fitted ventilation systems communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held components of air conditioning systems engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held assess heating and cooling systems information skills
- already held design an electric heating system communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held refrigerants engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held domestic cooling systems engineering, manufacturing and construction
All 28 carried skills, including the 10 the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn liaise with engineers required
- still to learn use manual draughting techniques required
- optional, not held create a product's virtual model optional
- optional, not held develop assembly instructions optional
- optional, not held draw blueprints optional
- optional, not held render 3D images optional
- still to learn CAD software required
- still to learn CAE software required
- still to learn use CADD software required
- still to learn use computer-aided engineering systems required
- still to learn mathematics required
- optional, not held 3D modelling optional
- still to learn manual draughting techniques required
- still to learn design drawings required
4 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 28 skills that carry over
- already held create technical plans skill
- already held domestic cooling systems knowledge
- already held electric heating systems knowledge
- already held engineering principles knowledge
- already held engineering processes knowledge
- already held heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration parts knowledge
- already held technical drawings knowledge
- already held types of heat pumps knowledge
- already held use CAD software skill
- already held use technical drawing software skill
- already held adjust engineering designs skill
- already held advise on fitted ventilation systems skill
- already held assess heating and cooling systems skill
- already held combined heat and power generation knowledge
- already held components of air conditioning systems knowledge
- already held design an electric heating system skill
- already held district heating and cooling knowledge
- already held domestic heating systems knowledge
- already held draft design specifications skill
- already held fluid mechanics knowledge
- already held geothermal energy systems knowledge
- already held industrial heating systems knowledge
- already held lead a team skill
- already held mechanics knowledge
- already held product data management knowledge
- already held refrigerants knowledge
- already held thermodynamics knowledge
- already held ventilation systems knowledge
The 4 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn read engineering drawings required
- optional, not held perform refrigerant leak checks optional
- optional, not held test tightness and pressure of refrigeration circuits optional
- optional, not held install refrigeration equipment optional
- optional, not held build a product's physical model optional
9 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held install refrigeration equipment optional
- optional, not held perform refrigerant leak checks optional
- optional, not held test tightness and pressure of refrigeration circuits optional
- optional, not held 3D modelling optional
- optional, not held build a product's physical model optional
- optional, not held create a product's virtual model optional
- optional, not held develop assembly instructions optional
- optional, not held draw blueprints optional
- optional, not held render 3D images optional
44 held skills the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise architects skill
- not needed by the target role advise on machinery malfunctions skill
- not needed by the target role analyse test data skill
- not needed by the target role approve engineering design skill
- not needed by the target role assess energy consumption of ventilation systems skill
- not needed by the target role assess financial viability skill
- not needed by the target role biogas energy knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct performance tests skill
- not needed by the target role design a combined heat and power system skill
- not needed by the target role design a solar absorption cooling system skill
- not needed by the target role design a solar heating system skill
- not needed by the target role design district heating and cooling energy systems skill
- not needed by the target role design geothermal energy systems skill
- not needed by the target role design heat pump installations skill
- not needed by the target role design heating and cooling emission systems skill
- not needed by the target role design hot water systems skill
- not needed by the target role design passive energy measures skill
- not needed by the target role design principles knowledge
- not needed by the target role design prototypes skill
- not needed by the target role design ventilation network skill
- not needed by the target role determine appropriate heating and cooling system skill
- not needed by the target role determine internal air quality parameters skill
- not needed by the target role distribution of heating cooling and hot water knowledge
- not needed by the target role electrical engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role energy conservation knowledge
- not needed by the target role execute feasibility study skill
- not needed by the target role hydraulics knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify fitted source for heat pumps skill
- not needed by the target role install heating boiler skill
- not needed by the target role install heating furnace skill
- not needed by the target role install heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration ducts skill
- not needed by the target role integrate biogas energy in buildings skill
- not needed by the target role integrated design knowledge
- not needed by the target role mechanical engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role operate climate control skill
- not needed by the target role operate solar thermal energy systems for hot water and heating skill
- not needed by the target role perform a feasibility study on district heating and cooling skill
- not needed by the target role perform a feasibility study on electric heating skill
- not needed by the target role perform a feasibility study on heat pumps skill
- not needed by the target role perform a feasibility study on solar absorption cooling skill
4 further entries not listed here
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn CAD software required
- still to learn CAE software required
- still to learn design drawings required
- still to learn manual draughting techniques required
- still to learn mathematics required
- optional, not held 3D modelling optional
Other moves recorded from heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer
- agricultural engineer 59% covered · moderate
- steam engineer 54% covered · moderate
- thermal engineer 53% covered · substantial
- robotics engineer 51% covered · moderate
Full index of moves from heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer
Common questions about this move
Can a heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer become a heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer already covers 55% of what a heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter is expected to do: 28 skills carry over, 10 of which the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter role treats as required.
What skills does a heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer need to become a heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter?
10 required skills are missing, plus 9 optional ones. They fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is CAD software.
How hard is the move from heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer to heating, ventilation, air conditioning (and refrigeration) drafter?
Its learning distance is 49.3 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.