AutoCAD/Inventor Career Advice Please!!!

[Lucy3609]

Hi All,

I have just joined this forum today for some advice. I have been using AutoCAD for the past 6 years in Civil Engineering. I have been drawing new designs of highways, roundabouts, traffic islands, car parks, etc.

I would like a change and I hear Inventor could be the way to go, I can get hold of a copy of version 9 and I will look on the forum for titorials and such like, but how will I ever manage to progress onto a job? As I have been searching and can only find jobs with previous Inventor experiance.

Can anybody help me?

Many Thanks.

:D

[JD Mather]

... using AutoCAD for the past 6 years in Civil Engineering. I have been drawing new designs of highways, roundabouts, traffic islands, car parks, etc.

I would like a change and I hear Inventor could be the way to go,

Do you realize that Inventor is for Mechanical design - not Civil. You would be changing career field as well as software.

[Lucy3609]

Yes I know i would like a change in career

[Aardvark]

Get some training, take some mechanical design/drafting classes. Many companies will hire you at an entry level with little to no experience but you must show that you are competent. No one will hire you if all you have done is draw roads and tinkered with the software for a few weeks.

Send a resume to the companies that are looking for experience. The worst they can say is, NO. Chances are if they are in need of people with experience, they would be willing to hire someone that they can train and will do the scutwork as well.

[Lucy3609]

Thats great, thanks David.

[JD Mather]

Many companies are just beginning to make the switch from AutoCAD(2d) to Inventor. Some of their "experienced" designers might have difficulty making the transition. If you find that you can pick up the new techniques with little difficulty don't limit your job search to just the Autodesk Inventor listings. Chances are that any company using AutoCAD for mechanical design will be or should be making the switch to Inventor soon. They just need some talent to show them the benefits.

You will want to get access to a much later version than Inventor 9. Inventor wasn't really usable until v10 or I think it was v11. (IMO)
Students can download Inventor Professional for free from http://engineersrule.org The latest release is usually posted sometime around June.

[Lucy3609]

Thanks for the advice, I went to the autodesk website, but as I am not a student, (although I will be looking very soon into classes for inventor/mechanical engineering) I cannot register for the free downloads of the Autodesk software, also I may have to look on an english website, but thanks for getting me on the right track.

[Lazer]

I agree with the guys above, go for it and get to college to learn it, but remember you will need a mechanical background to bag yourself a job using it. I come from an engineering background, qualified welder, CNC tube-bending etc, I learned Autocad and Inventor at college then fell into a job after the course.

[midriffpj]

Hi there I am the Drawing office Pricipal with Sonsub Uk based in Aberdeen and I am reposible for hiring staff and contractors for the drawing office. the minimum qualification we require is an NC in civil/mechanical engineering that would get you in as a cad operator
to get up to a full draughtsperson you would need an HNC in the same fields. I think that is pretty standard for the oil industry anyway. I can also tell you that most places are screaming out for people and if your staff not contract they will train you to any drawing package you need. By the way we use AutoCAD and Inventor. Hope that helps.