Evening all…

bit of background….

work for a SME, we fabricate shiny bits for the tunnel/nuclear/mechanical markets.

Ive currently work in technical sales (and IT bod) for the last 6 years, its family run and i hate the current situation/job role…. had a chat the other day and they basiically said key people retiring next year so what can we do (within reason)to help you.

we use Autocad, Solidworks and have a flat sheet steel laser using Radan..

i have just been going through the motions the last 3/4 years and if im being honest wasted my 'working' life and not really taken advantage of the situation for one reason or another. (bad management and not being run as it should)the wife said you have all this at your disposal so get your sh*t sorted…. 😉

i have a graphic design background and used to work in IT and can pretty much pick up most programs. I can curently find my way round autocad and have faffed about changing amending the odd drawing, but as our head guy in work says, using autocad is easy you have to have the engineeirng mind to know what yoru actually drawing (or words to that effect)

so im thinking, to make myself more employable in the future and get myself into something new and make the most of a bad situation..(not getting any younger)

Get work to pay for a HNC in Engineering (specialising in mechanical) 2 years, day release.

Throw myself into Autocad and slowly get to know Solidworks.

I would still have to do my current role as we havent got funds to employ new people, but if im being honest im not going to go anywhere else….

just wanted suggestions/advice from people who are doing a similar job/path….

is the HNC a good route, in otherwords does it hold much kudos on a CV?

i had a quick look on the local job websites and their seems to be loads of CAD/Engineeirng roles about.

cheers for any replies.. (sorry for the long post)

I've just moved into a technical sales/progress engineer/cad type new job. I'm not a time served engineer but have worked on various lathes/cnc's all my working life. If you're gonna do CAD for engineering then i guess having the basics of engineering is going to help alot. You have to be able to look at a drawing and visualise what it is and vice versa. Lots of places have their own style of drawing as suits their workforce and many wont have the benefit of different projections or even 3D. It would help you no end to learn the basics of engineering. Just dont go into the core drilling industry like i have, i may go insane from all the different threads they use…

cheers…

think im going to go for it, the HNC is just over a grand for the 2 years, just hope i can handle going back to college 15 years after i last went.

I did hnc day release. Have you any other formal qualifications? I got exempt from s couple of modules because i had.

ive got an MCSE (microsoft geek stuff from years ago) and a HND in Graphic design.

can i bore you and ask how the day release went in with the mix of general life?

Wasn't too bad really, as long as you do the work you'll be fine. I work on solidworks, its a piece of piss to learn. I've taught 2 guys in there 60s who have never touched a pc, to use solidworks and both are well up on it now.

Your head guy is right. Autocad and Solidworks are just tools. You need to understand what it is you are trying to achieve then use CAD to realise it. Solidworks works in a completely different way to Autocad but it is much simpler and more intuitive for much better results. I'd focus on Solidworks as there are loads of varied jobs that use it and its more enjoyable to use. I'm not familiar with Radan but I suspect you can go straight from SW into it.

Just being a CAD operator is a dead end career IMO. Yes your skills are useful but to others. Being an "engineer" (of whatever type) and being able to use CAD effectively is very useful.
I can't but then I don't need to now either. It would have been good to have had it around when I was starting out but we did everything on the drawing board.
HNC might be useful, moreso for getting you into an interview. Can you shadow people at work to get actual real life useful skills and knowledge?

Agree with comments about Solidworks; easy to learn, so is Microsoft Word, but that doesn't mean you can write best sellers.
Very easy to produce great looking bits on screen which cannot be made or would never work.