I got a Solidworks job this fall after taking one class in the spring. I'm curious as to what advantages you've seen in your career from becoming a certified SolidWorks professional. Or, on the contrary, how your career has been just fine without becoming one. I'm trying to determine whether this is a path worth pursuing.
As an employer, I would look at a CSWP note on a resume' as an indication that the persons software experience in SolidWorks isn't BS based on a few weeks of training or a single project. I would look twice at a blind resume delivered to me if it had CSWP, but would look much more closely at a prospect if he/she came with a recomendation from someone I knew and respected. CSWP just takes away one question in my mind - is their SolidWorks experience real or BS. Many other critical questions are left unresolved.
As a CSWP, I know that all it certifies is general competency - that someone can get a basic amount of work done in a basic amount of time. It is not a 'best of the best' certification - it is a 'can actually do a days work in a days time' certification.
Knowing someone failed to pass the CSWP would be much more valuable at the time of hiring than to know they have a CSWP - the person that failed better have a lot of good design experience (and excellent problem solving chops) for me to forgive it. I think the CSWP (or similar test) would be better if licensed to employers to use for testing prospects. Employers make folks piss in a cup before hiring them - why not test something that shows they actually can do what they are being hired to do (we usually do a week test run on a person to see, um, what their 'piss' is like. Bad analogy, but you get my drift
- can they do the work, can they collaborate, do we like them personally enough to work side-by-side with them?)
As someone that has to train my employees, I would look at the CSWP as a nice potential carrot to get them up to speed. Get the CSWP, get a specified bump in salary. We do something similar with hires out of college when they get through the SWx training - finish the training on your time (or on company time when you have lulls in the schedule, which can't be counted on) get *this* much money added to your salary. It puts the motivation for learning the software into terms anyone can appreciate, and encourages them to work on their skills after hours at their own pace. Of course, just paying for the exam might be motivation enough because they will see it makes them potentially more competitive.
As a business, CSWP population at your enterprise moves you up the list in the SWx manufacturers network (along with number of seats and other stuff I can't remember). Many consultancies claim SWx skills or seats to get jobs, and it can (often) be a load of garbage - just last week I had a conversation with someone who was put on an onsite job by one of our competitors, regardless that he had NO SWx experience (just SDRC) and he had to wing it/bluyff his way through the program. I can't remember if everyone in our office is a CSWP, but all of them (except the guy who does a lot of welding and fabrication for us) can pass it with no problem. And we come up first in the list, which is not bad advertisement.
I don't know what applies to you, but that is my experience with the CSWP. It has its uses, but it isn't magic. (And, since someone else will want to mention it, design skills trump everything else) Ed
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