Solidworks - training?

[TPMB12]

Has anyone had training in using Solidworks? Is it easy to pick up? Anyone know how much training in at least three basics to blag it cost?

There's a job I'm interested in but I don't have this knowledge  but there's a training budget so perhaps still worth going for.

Nothing to do with cycling but there's very knowledgeable and technical people on here so you never know....

[grams]

I did a module in at university and found it very straightforward to get going on, certainly compared to other 3D stuff I've played with. It helps if you're familiar with vector graphics packages (Illustrator etc) and similar things.

[Ashaman42]

The built in tutorials are pretty good. Nice little touches like if you click on an icon in the tutorial instructions it flashes up where it is on the main screen.

Especially helpful when someone has altered the toolbars and the icon you need isn't there, this reinstates it.

[WOT]

Has anyone had training in using Solidworks? Is it easy to pick up? Anyone know how much training in at least three basics to blag it cost?

There's a job I'm interested in but I don't have this knowledge  but there's a training budget so perhaps still worth going for.

Nothing to do with cycling but there's very knowledgeable and technical people on here so you never know....

Yes, I use SW most days. How well can you answer these questions:
What other CAD / 3D CAD systems have you used?
Have you manufacturing / production skills that are useful and appropriate to the job?

As the interviewer I would ask these to know if you need training in engineering or you need training in using one of the tools of the trade, in this case SW. The latter is unlikely to be a big deal IME.

My opinion is SW is the easiest to transfer into from Inventor / CREO / NX / CATIA / AutoCAD etc

Maybe you don’t have any of those skills but you have CNC programming skills that may be relevant.

I can offer some assistance here.

[TPMB12]

It's a knowledge transfer partnership between a uni and a local automotive engineering company. I've two engineering degrees (not mech eng but kind of chemical engineering and materials engineering masters) and various more management, sales, technical support and quality roles. This job needs mech eng but part of my experience is in the automotive component manufacturing sector. I feel I could offer something different to the role but I don't have SW experience. I've played around with Autocad in the past.  We had iirc r13 and r14 but that's a good few years ago now.

I'm more of a user of the drawings and have experienced drawing offices with asthma. As in they're so bad they can't even draw breath!

It's probably unlikely I'll get the job but no harm applying. It's because of this I'm asking about SW. There's a 4k training budget. If I ever got offered the job part will be on SW. Hence i really need to understand typical training costs. The uni will probably offer that and it'll be cheaper than training companies but finding out typical costs from such companies is a guide. If 4k would be taken up getting me conversant with SW then it's probably a big issue.  If training to a useful level costs £400 then it's a minor issue.

It's part of my research prior to applying. I've contacted one company because no training company I've seen give prices for standard courses. I just thought someone might have been on an industrial course for SW and know the typical price first hand.

If anyone has any advice or information on SW or applying for such an engineering KTP job it's very much appreciated. I've been in a bad rut for years and need a complete change before too late. I'm out of practise job hunting.

[Chris N]

Basic training in Solidworks would take about a week full time.  I found it reasonably easy to pick up when I did it, but I'd used other 3D CAD packages for 10 or 11 years at that point.

[gibbo]

I've got about 12 year's experience using SW plus about the same again using other 3D CAD. SW, IMO, is the easiest to use/ pick up and now when I'm a bit stuck a quick search on YouTube usually gives me the answer. I've also seen quite a few links to training on there too so you may not need to attend lessons. Personally I'd recommend you do as you get so much more out of it e.g. time saving tips and tricks.

In my experience the biggest problems occur when trying to fix other people's models and assemblies and you need experience to do that otherwise you can mess things up very quickly!