New hire and getting them trained

[CADNate]

We have taken on a project with a new hire who has no experience with Auto CAD.
He is working part time and we have given him weekly mile stones. I have found some good training tutorials that he can work on and we are even allowing to take a notebook computer home to work with to give him every chance to excel.
Has anyone else taken on a similar project with a new hire?
I was wondering how long should it take for him to pick up the basics and how long until he could help with the day to day of drafting.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[Ken.Leary]

We have taken on a project with a new hire who has no experience with Auto CAD.
He is working part time and we have given him weekly mile stones. I have found some good training tutorials that he can work on and we are even allowing to take a notebook computer home to work with to give him every chance to excel.
Has anyone else taken on a similar project with a new hire?
I was wondering how long should it take for him to pick up the basics and how long until he could help with the day to day of drafting.
Any advice would be appreciated.

I typically don't even interview people without at least a two year degree. My suggestion would be to get a good AutoCAD tutorial book (AutoCAD Bible or AutoCAD for Dummies) that he can refer to. That will give him a really good source of information at his finger tips.

Of course, joining AUGI and taking some of our ATP courses are a good option too!

[Brian Myers]

I was wondering how long should it take for him to pick up the basics and how long until he could help with the day to day of drafting.

The important factor actually isn't AutoCAD. My own company does training classes that last just 2 days (approx. 13 hours) for AutoCAD that provides them the basics to draw lines, etc. This doesn't get them up to production speed or give them a better understanding of standards, but it does get them going. The real question is does the person have DRAFTING experience. Understanding the techniques of design communication is a totally different subject from AutoCAD and a much more difficult subject to master. Give me one week, I can get anyone to draw OK in AutoCAD, they'll still have questions, but they'll be moving in the right direction. Now getting them to communicate the design properly could take a lifetime longer depending on their abilities and skill set.

[CADNate]

The important factor actually isn't AutoCAD. My own company does training classes that last just 2 days (approx. 13 hours) for AutoCAD that provides them the basics to draw lines, etc. This doesn't get them up to production speed or give them a better understanding of standards, but it does get them going. The real question is does the person have DRAFTING experience. Understanding the techniques of design communication is a totally different subject from AutoCAD and a much more difficult subject to master. Give me one week, I can get anyone to draw OK in AutoCAD, they'll still have questions, but they'll be moving in the right direction. Now getting them to communicate the design properly could take a lifetime longer depending on their abilities and skill set.

Great point. This person had no DRAFTING experience and that looks like what is going to be the biggest hurdle to get over. He as all the basic drawing and modifying tools down. He can set up drawings with our standards and can do xrefs. It's the drafting part like drawing things to scale and even thinking in 3D even thought we are only drawing in 2D that is going to take some time.
I guess we will find in two more weeks at his next review to see if this experiment is going to work out.

[Noahma2]

Its worked for us quite well, although the drafter that had no Acad experience did have drafting experience. He picked up Autocad pretty quick too,

[thomas.stright]

I typically don't even interview people without at least a two year degree.

What about someone who has the work experience without the degree?

[H'Angus]

What about someone who has the work experience without the degree?

I agree, I'd take the person who I feel is best suited to the position degree or no degree, unless the position requires a chartered person of whatever industry (e.g RIBA) which would require a degree.

With regards to how long it takes to learn Autocad I don't know. I was taught how to draft using pen and paper and learnt Autocad later. I learnt Acad in my lunch hours and at home and I suppose it took around a week doing that to become useful, I then had a colleague to help me when I got stuck and progressed from there. Without the original hand drafting experience I think it would have been a lot more difficult and thats something I have to contend with when I'm training new employee's. Generally if you can find somebody with the ability and enthusiasm to learn the program then you're on the right track.

[Ken.Leary]

What about someone who has the work experience without the degree?

That's a completely different situation. The question was about hiring someone with no experience. The degree is not a prerequisite for an experienced drafter. In fact some of the best people that I've worked with had no formal training.

Much like the earlier posts, I want someone who can understand drafting. If they already have a basic knowledge of AutoCAD I can focus on the drafting skills first.

I've known quite a few people that got their A.S. Degree in CAD and just didn't get the concept of what they're drawing.

[Statler]

That's a completely different situation. The question was about hiring someone with no experience. The degree is not a prerequisite for an experienced drafter. In fact some of the best people that I've worked with had no formal training.

Much like the earlier posts, I want someone who can understand drafting. If they already have a basic knowledge of AutoCAD I can focus on the drafting skills first.

I've known quite a few people that got their A.S. Degree in CAD and just didn't get the concept of what they're drawing.

It looks to me like a gap in the market. There are places that train engineers and places that train on CAD software packages but no where seems to offer draughting training. It would be good to get a school/college leaver send them to cad school and then to draughting school to get reasonable basic skills so when they hit the office they are of some use.

Would companies pay for this type of thing which was traditionally done in house?

[MNsnowtaTy]

Look for AutoCAD books by Dan Stine, it's what I used through college to learn how to do CAD and they really walk u through step by step. I'm currently interning under him, and I swear that his books would be a big help!