Re: New at Piping Design Central: CAD

><<When it comes time for mechanical engineering students to look for
>their first professional jobs, how much does it count which
>computer-aided design system they learned in college? Maybe an employer
>uses a particular type of system and wants new engineers to know that
>system inside out. Do employers make their hiring decisions based on the
>CAD system the job seeker knows best?>>
I think this is absolutely ass-backwards. The first thing to know is whether the new hire knows enough engineering for the job. If the guy's an incompetent engineer, all the CAD skills in the world aren't going to do anyone any good. Once it appears the guy has enough bandwidth to do the engineering he needs to be trained in-house on some of the CAD skills he (or she, Barbara ;-> ) needs for the particular office, like ECO procedures and standard practices. There are probably some local Code issues to be thrashed out, as well. After he knows about the job is when he's sent to a seminar by the CAD vendor to fair up his software skills as necessary.

Hiring decisions based on CAD skills is like hiring a pilot based on how well he runs MicroSoft Flight Simulator. It practically guarantees you an office full of CAD monkeys instead of designers.

Christopher Wright P.E.    |"They couldn't hit an elephant at
chrisw@skypoint.com        | this distance"   (last words of Gen.
___________________________| John Sedgwick, Spotsylvania 1864)