However with tangible skills such as those using your preferred CAD software, there are ways that allow you to check off and assess the level your candidates are at.

losses to the firm. The firm should have the necessary capacity and tools to measure the skill sets and levels of efficiency of CAD users to ensure fit between the role, technology and prospective recruit.

Methods to Measure CAD Skills

The importance of quantifying CAD skills has gained a lot of attention and a number of cost-effective, industry proven methods are available for firms to determine CAD skills of prospective employees. The most widely used and standard tools are:

1. Multiple Choice Questionnaire: The simplest method to assess CAD skills that are available on the web in various types and formats depending on the nature and type of work to be done using CAD. Companies can also easily develop such questionnaires on their own.
2. In-House CAD Test: Most firms use this approach by framing their own in-house CAD test, especially during the process of recruitment of new CAD staff.
3. Live Skills Drafting: It is widely used and tested software that evaluates 10 core skills by setting tests in live CAD software. The evaluation in a computerized assessment and produces a certificate which can be compared to a benchmark of 10,000 assessments. This software not enables determining CAD skill levels, but also produces a report furnishing the training requirements for existing employees in the organization.
4. Professional Certification: If the firms are lacking the time and tools required for assessing the CAD skill levels, they use the accreditation exams conducted by professional groups as standards and benchmarks for levels of CAD skill required. This saves the firm time and money and makes recruitment a simpler process.
5. Vendor Certification: There are numerous certification programs such as Autodesk, Solidworks and Solid Edge, that combine multiple choice and task based exercises to ascertain and prove competence in the use of a particular version of CAD software. Firms also can make use of such certifications that enable them to hire the most suitable recruit for their CAD jobs.

Summary

Many firms tend to think that skill assessment is an expensive and time consuming activity. Studies have shown consistent increase and efficiency in productivity among firms that conduct skill assessment before recruiting CAD users. With such proven products available to measure CAD skills, the work of firms in achieving the right fit between skill and technology has become easier!

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Purely because designing and making things is fun. I find it extremely satisfying to take ideas from my imagination and turn them into physical products.

Which designer or company do you most admire and why?

I think Yves Behar has done some smart stuff, not least his Shoe box/bag and Y Water Bottle. I like designers that establish their own definable style.

What product couldn’t you live without?

My bike. I love the fact that bikes are such an efficient way to travel. I love the mix of form and function and the sense of freedom. They are beautiful things.

What design would you have loved to have designed and why?

There are two objects that I currently find extremely beautiful – neither of which are products. I love the new Jaguar C-X16 concept sports car. I think Ian McCallum has the Midas touch when it comes to car design. I also regularly marvel at Renzo Piano’s Shard of Glass, especially on a sunny day. I can only imagine how amazing it must feel to have designed it.

Play-Doh, Meccano or Lego?

Lego – all day long.

What are your weapons of choice?

Foam core and a scalpel. In fact, rough prototypes of any type. I reckon transforming an idea into something physical as soon as possible is the best way to move it forward. There’s no substitute for testing.

What is missing from your toolset?

My very own stereolithography rapid prototype machine.

Is there anything that would make your design and development process run smoother?

I am constantly caught out how little I know about materials, manufacturing techniques and how badly I am able to communicate through simple sketches. I regularly wish I had more knowledge and experience, or access to someone that did.

What’s the biggest challenge facing designers at the moment?

Figuring out how to influence and understand the changing face of manufacturing. Many UK designers seem to be turning to service design and are increasingly producing intangible outputs as manufacturing moves abroad. I hope there is a reversal of this, perhaps facilitated by additive manufacturing techniques.

Can you predict any future trends?

The rise of the 3D printer and localised manufacturing. Also Hover boards and the return of the soda stream.

If you were hosting a dinner party who would you invite and why?

I’d want to keep things funny and interesting. I’d ask Eddie Izzard and Brian Cox, perhaps Lauren Laverne as well as Brett and Germain from ‘Flight of the Conchords’, for the banter. I saw Ellen MacArthur talk recently and she was amazing, so would like her to come along too.

Mark Champkins is the Science Museum’s Inventor in Residence. He is also founder of Concentrate Design, a company he set up to develop innovate products to help pupils concentrate at school with funding he received from participating in Dragon’s Den.

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Q: With technical illustration do you mean the Haynes diagram type of things that we’re all familiar with and occasionally stare at blankly?

A: Yes, those are the ones. There’s a key difference between the illustrations that are used for communicating actions in installation, service and maintenance documents and those found in technical drawings for production.

Q: You mean I can’t just use those I created in my CAD application and repurpose them?

A: It depends on your audience. In many cases, detail needs to be removed and contextual annotation added. Also things like indicative arrows, trail lines for part removal and a hand holding a torque wrench in the right position, are all typically difficult to carry out in mainstream CAD.

Q: So what other options are available?

A: There’s a growing range of tools that are focussing on the creation of technical illustrations. PTC acquired Isodraw some time ago, which is perhaps the grandaddy of them all, and is integrating these tools into Creo Illustrate. Dassault Systèmes has 3DVia Composer (turn to page 43 for a review of the latest release). Autodesk has released Inventor Publisher, which has a few extra tricks up its sleeve, not in the least, pretty nifty and free iPad integration. There are also some lesser known tools such as QuadriSpace so it’s worth digging around.

Q: Wait. iPad? That’s not a grease covered Haynes manual.

A: Well, no, clearly. There’s a move to create electronic service and installation documents that are very graphically led. These can be delivered online as an app, however you want it really. It’s exciting times but some of us will miss peering at smudged instructions on how to remove a crank case.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRn1Zx84LUY

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRn1Zx84LUY

The training includes 5 hours of mentoring, a reference sheet, RAL calibrated materials and subsequent support if required.

The training is applicable to users of SolidWorks, Rhino, 3DS Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, SketchUp, Modo, Blender, AutoCAD among others.

The training takes place in the Cockcroft Building of the University of Brighton. The times of the training are flexible.

To complete the course in Maxwell Render, which is a stand-alone render engine, applicants will need experience in 3D software to make 3D/CAD models.

For more details or to book a place, please contact j.coleman3@uni.brighton.ac.uk

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We want to tell you a story about a close friend of ours. Let’s call him Steve. Steve has spent the past seven years working for the same firm as a CAD manager. Most of Steve’s days were good, some better than others. He liked most of the people he worked with and had no real problems. His boss liked his work and things seemed fine. Then one day, Steve lost his job.

Reason 1: The Unwelcome Surprise

It’s very rare that we hear of someone “expecting” to lose their job. Far more often this sort of thing comes as a terrible surprise; a shock to the system. One day things are fine and you are complaining about the work piling up. The next, you are contemplating no longer having a job. It’s all very sudden.

So sudden in fact that Steve didn’t have his resume ready for this unexpected turn of events. Why would he? Steve had a good job for seven years. He had no expectation of needing a resume any time soon. He was not even sure where the file for his resume was stored. Was it on his desktop at home? On a flash drive in his laptop bag? Lord, was it on his work PC?

Reason 2: Not So Up to Date

Actually, in Steve’s mind, it is almost unimaginable that he would need a resume ever again. It has been seven years, after all, since he has even looked at it. Seven years! That’s why it is seven years out of date.

When it comes to this sort of situation, the comment we almost never fail to hear is “I need to update my resume. It’s years out of date!” You don’t have to be lazy or absent minded to let your resume fall out of date. In fact, if this situation were to speak anything about you it wouldn’t say “this person is lazy.” It would say “this person is loyal to his current employer.” You simply do not expect to look for another job so you don’t see any point in updating your resume.

The only thing you use a resume for is getting a job. Right? Wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Reason 3: Resumes Aren’t Just for Job Hunts

A resume is not a page that says “I need a job.” No, it is summation of a person’s skill and experience. It is the repository of your professional history where you state the worth, potential and actual, of your professional history. In that sense the European term “Curriculum Vitae” (literally “the course of life”) is probably a much more appropriate term.

It’s true that the number one purpose of a resume that comes to mind is for job hunting. But there are other uses. Many corporations use resumes to determine things like promotion and project team management. Your resume can also be used to expand your current employment position or negotiate your compensation!

Your resume is also an excellent resource for biographical information for publications and presentations. Similarly a resume can be used to expand your current position through submission for public speaking event. All of these opportunities can both enhance your current industry standing and enhance your resume! As long as you keep it up to date.

So What About Steve

Steve learned that his resume is not a key to the secret doorway of employment, to be disposed of once you get the job. He realized that his resume is an important facet of his skill set, but it was one he had neglected for too long. And now, that he was in desperate need, he had to update that skill before he could find new employment. But update he did and now Steve is back on track to finding his next job.

Hopefully our little story has made you think about your own resume and realize the importance of keeping it up to date. We never like to think about the need to use our resumes, but we must be prepared should the need arise. As for Steve’s story, all we can do is hope that it will soon have a happy ending …

CADjobhunter Blog

Q: The drive I bought a few months ago has almost doubled in price. Isn’t technology supposed to get cheaper as it gets older?
A: Usually, yes, but that was before the terrible floods in Thailand last summer, which shut down many of the world’s production sites. Expect prices to come back down in the next few months.

Q: I’ve heard about this thing called RAID. What is it and do I need it?
A: RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple drives inside a workstation – either to improve performance or protect from data loss. RAID 0 ‘stripes’ data across two drives for better performance. However, if one drive fails all data is lost. RAID 1 ‘mirrors’ data across two drives, so if one drive fails you don’t lose your data.

Q: What’s all the fuss about Solid State Drives?
A: SSDs are a relatively new type of storage that has no moving parts unlike traditional magnetic disks. The major benefit is increased performance — operating system, applications and data sets should load faster. However, price per GB is still high.

Q: I heard SSDs are indestructible. Is that true?
A: SSDs are more durable than standard rotating disks, primarily because there are no moving parts, but we wouldn’t recommend driving a truck over one quite yet. They can also degrade over time so you can still lose data. Don’t forget to backup!

CADjobhunter Blog

In this edition we look at the importance of keeping your knowledge up to date and there is also a feature on the up coming DEVELOP3D Live event.

You can view it by clicking here!

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Attaining a CAD education in today’s world is no longer one size fits all, as employers are hunting not for generalists but more for CAD specialists. In order to seem marketable to employers, consider these CAD skills that will give you an advantage while interviewing for a drafting job.

It can be incredibly useful to gain a supplementary degree in a specific field that you would like to work in. Having CAD training may not be enough to land you that dream job. Obtaining certifications in such disciplines as architecture, mechanics, aviation, design, graphics, and information systems can open doors in your search for the perfect career.

While most CAD drafters will have some knowledge of the popular AutoCAD software, CAD job seekers can stand out by demonstrating their expertise in rendering. Rendering, as incorporated in CAD training, is the process of turning a model into an image with suitable geometry, texture, shading, and lighting. This skill is marketable to industries where visual effects are crucial, like the entertainment business with films and video games or in architecture. CAD drafters can get a leg up in their pursuit for a job when they demonstrate that they are skilled at NX, Autodesk Revit, or Alibre software.

CAD job applicants can similarly stand out if they have shown that they can provide CAD drafting in the most technical areas, like manufacturing or engineering. Suitable candidates would have a firm grasp on advanced engineering and physics concepts. They would also be skilled in understanding the ins and outs of materials or being an expert in kinematics and fluid dynamics. If this sounds too daunting, there’s a reason: these kinds of CAD drafters are in demand but having the chops to become one is immensely difficult.

Employers will usually seek workers that are well-schooled in their discipline. An architectural company will most likely advertise looking for an “architectural draftsman” just as automobile makers will be picky in their choice of a drafter. Therefore, whatever specialized CAD training you earn will only be a plus to employers in those fields.

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What a brilliant idea!  If done properly, employers can see the results of real world problems and at least get an idea of their skills.

It got me thinking…could this be used to test Design Professionals?  You could have multiple tests for different industries from Product Design problems to Architecture tasks?

There could be some issues around the unemployed without access to their weapons of choice; however the use of 30 day trials many of the CAD/CAM company’s provide could help with this.

What do you recon…would you take the test in order to get a job?  Would you be happy with your score being published on a leader board?  As an employer would this help with your screening?

Let me know your thoughts…

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