Solid Works experience requred for job: transitioning or alternative?

Probably not the perfect place to post this, but seems to be the most appropriate on PM.

I've decided to look for a job for steady money. Most manufacturing engineer related jobs state "Solid Works experience" either required or desired. I don't have any Solid Works experience, only Rhino 3D. I've used Fusion 360 (which I hate for modeling) and I assume this is a fairly close analog to SW? From a potential employers or employee standpoint, can one transition to SW after using a non-parametric modeler fairly easily or can the experience be substituted in general?

I know, kind of an unusual way to ask the questions, but I couldn't think of anything better.

Jay

I have not used Rhino or Fusion, but have used several other brands of 3D modeling software (autocad, inventor, solidworks, proe). In my experience, if you can learn one, you can learn any of them pretty easily. You may not be the fastest or most efficient till you get used to the layout, but they all operate basically the same way.

I have been apart of several interviews hiring for engineers, and what we were looking for was more exposure to the concept, and less specific knowledge about the exact software.

There are lots of tutorials that will guide you through the software once you get your hands on it. I think it took me a week to learn SW after transitioning from different software.

If you are a veteran or student you can get SW student edition for $20. As best as I can tell, it’s the full version that watermarked student on any drawings. Be a easy way to learn, the tutorials are enough to get you launched.


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mneuro said:

I have not used Rhino or Fusion, but have used several other brands of 3D modeling software (autocad, inventor, solidworks, proe). In my experience, if you can learn one, you can learn any of them pretty easily. You may not be the fastest or most efficient till you get used to the layout, but they all operate basically the same way.

I have been apart of several interviews hiring for engineers, and what we were looking for was more exposure to the concept, and less specific knowledge about the exact software.

There are lots of tutorials that will guide you through the software once you get your hands on it. I think it took me a week to learn SW after transitioning from different software.

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Thank you. That tells me exactly what I needed.

ripperj said:

If you are a veteran or student you can get SW student edition for $20. As best as I can tell, it’s the full version that watermarked student on any drawings. Be a easy way to learn, the tutorials are enough to get you launched.


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I'm neither. I suppose I could see about a trial copy.

Hello.
Try the free onshape to get a feeling of what SW is like. The only issues you will encounter is the rotate, pan, mouse button confusion.

I am using both Rhino and SW. Knowing Rhino can certainly help as creating surfaces and solids is very similar. However SW has many other features that must be learned. Best is to somehow get access to the program and to get one of many instructional books. I think that after some week of training (and Rhino experience) one can do some basic design.

I went from using Unigraphics professionally to using Inventor professionally to using Solidworks professionally without any special training in between. Both with my move to Inventor and to Solidworks I did a software test as part of the interview, which went fine with some brushing up on the program beforehand.

The same principles apply to just about every solid modeling program Tue same way they do across CAM programs, or machine controllers - they all just have their own strengths and quirks.

The different programs are similar but are action>object or object>action in creating a feature. The layout and icons are all different and that will make you slow/clumsy for a while. Find a list of the icons and print them on paper to keep handy. You'll really need to find a way to obtain a free/student/trial version as there is no substitute for tube time (using it) like anything else. Your experience with other programs will help to some extent. I had formal training only in Pro-e, picked up SW, Inventor, Catia, and others with textbooks, and tutorials. Drawing programs, if you need it, will be different for each one also. It will be a learning curve but you can do it too. Good luck.

When I was first learning Solidworks, I found it useful to go through the certification courses Solidworks offers. The basic one is "associate," then the next level IIRC is "professional," with various optional specializations. With a Solidworks license you can log in to the MySolidworks site and follow the training courses then take the certification test. When I took it one cert per year was free, might depend on your reseller. This does give you an "official" certificate on successful completion, which may or may not be of interest to a prospective employer, but it was valuable to me just because of the structured nature of learning the certificate course. Good luck.

solidworks there are many books on it. solidworks bible as well as others

I basically insist on some level of parametric CAD knowledge, but transitioning between them is easy enough that it's silly to be picky about which one. If you've used Fusion and grasp the overall concepts, it shouldn't be a show stopper.

A good thing to do is watch some Solidworks tutorials on YouTube and see if they make sense to you based on your knowledge of the other one you have used. I know Solidworks is the preferred software many companies request knowledge of, but also on the same level is Inventor. They may not recognize lesser levels of software as teaching you the same skill set as Solidworks does. Just like all CAM software is not the same, neither is all 3D software the same. The deal breaker may be that they expect you to be a self starter and be ready to hit the ground running, and already know the software they are providing you to use, and may not have someone in-house that can teach you. I think I saw where Fusion 360 is free, and some of the full tilt bells and whistle versions of Solidworks with all the Flow Analysis simulations and Stress Analysis simulations are upwards of $20K, how close do you think Fusion 360 will actually relate to Solidworks. There is much more to Solidworks than just the 3D modeling aspect of it, and this prospective employer may need you to know those parts of it as well. Not trying to be negative, but you can often tell how well a certain software prepares you for the technology industry by how much it costs.