Need advice on what I should learn to be marketable

[cadop.89229]

I am a secretary who has been doing simple AutoCAD (2006) work for 1 1/2 years. Work in a utility modifying simple one line drawings of substation and generation plants. Everything we do is done "eyeballing" and without layers. Totally self taught from tutorials, tips and tricks, etc. and I do understand dimensioning, layering, blocks, paperspace, etc., even though we don't use them. I probably use 1/6 of the program. Need advice on what I should learn to be marketable when I leave this God forsaken place in a few years. I should say I have no drafting experience or education. Any suggestions??

[Maverick91]

I am a secretary who has been doing simple AutoCAD (2006) work for 1 1/2 years. Work in a utility modifying simple one line drawings of substation and generation plants. Everything we do is done "eyeballing" and without layers. Totally self taught from tutorials, tips and tricks, etc. and I do understand dimensioning, layering, blocks, paperspace, etc., even though we don't use them. I probably use 1/6 of the program. Need advice on what I should learn to be marketable when I leave this God forsaken place in a few years. I should say I have no drafting experience or education. Any suggestions??go buy this book! (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780470008768&itm=1) Well worth the investment!

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/11410000/11419254.jpg

[CADKitty]

And start taking some ATP courses here on AUGI (check out my sig line) and look into courses at your local colleges.

[cadop.89229]

Thanks for the book suggestion. Do you think it REALLY means "no matter what your skill level"?


And I take all the ATP courses I can understand, and some that I can't. College is out, I live in the Fab Florida Keys and no access to campuses that would be feasible in terms of time. I'm single with kids. You know how that goes.

[Brian Myers]

You might want to expose yourself to a local community college drafting program just to get a more well-rounded experience. Your field is a rather limited one as far as jobs and it sounds as if you exposurer to drafting standards is minimal... I would say a formal learning of "the basics" would be a good place to start.

[Brian Myers]

Sorry, I walked away from my computer before submitting that last post. Still, you should perhaps explore perhaps a few distance learning classes, etc at the least just to get exposure to other fields and drafting practices.

[david_peterson]

You might want to expose yourself to a local community college drafting program just to get a more well-rounded experience. Your field is a rather limited one as far as jobs and it sounds as if you exposurer to drafting standards is minimal... I would say a formal learning of "the basics" would be a good place to start.I'm with Brian on this one. That's what I did. Spent 2 years learning and it was well worth it. Now I get people calling me from our other offices asking 'How To" questions rather than calling our IT guy. Even if it's just a night class, Take it.

[JASONM30395]

Thanks for the book suggestion. Do you think it REALLY means "no matter what your skill level"?


And I take all the ATP courses I can understand, and some that I can't. College is out, I live in the Fab Florida Keys and no access to campuses that would be feasible in terms of time. I'm single with kids. You know how that goes.
Have to agree with the book suggestion. Mr. Omura really does write as if you have no knowledge of CAD but doesn't make it sound that way.

Another source of information (and shame of you dilbert for not suggesting this(j/k/))
is try and find a LUG (local users group) and join up. It will be a wealth of info.

[Wanderer]

Thanks for the book suggestion. Do you think it REALLY means "no matter what your skill level"?


And I take all the ATP courses I can understand, and some that I can't. College is out, I live in the Fab Florida Keys and no access to campuses that would be feasible in terms of time. I'm single with kids. You know how that goes.Been there done that... one easy way to get bite-sized pieces of info is to either regulalry browse newsgroups, or get an rss reader and subscribe to some industry blogs (http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/2005/07/cadtech-blogs.html) (that's only about 2/3 of my current list... here is (http://cadecorner.blogspot.com) a newer must read). Most are easily digestible little bites that will slowly get you ramped up.

Happy learning. :)

[Wanderer]

Hi, I'm going to move this from the CAD Management General Forum to this one, as I believe it will be better served here. Thanks.
I am a secretary who has been doing simple AutoCAD (2006) work for 1 1/2 years. Work in a utility modifying simple one line drawings of substation and generation plants. Everything we do is done "eyeballing" and without layers. Totally self taught from tutorials, tips and tricks, etc. and I do understand dimensioning, layering, blocks, paperspace, etc., even though we don't use them. I probably use 1/6 of the program. Need advice on what I should learn to be marketable when I leave this God forsaken place in a few years. I should say I have no drafting experience or education. Any suggestions??

[Mike.Perry]

<SNIP>

I should say I have no drafting experience or education. Any suggestions??Hi

Take a look at the information offered in THIS post.

Have a good one, Mike

[cadop.89229]

Thanks for everyone's help. I have found you can indeed glean lots of info from Augi, and industry blogs and tutorials. Anyone have online suggestions for drafting courses?? I feel I'm gaining a pretty good grasp of the AutoCAD program (2d only), but what I do at work is so basic, I need more challenge to develop design skills. My employer willing for me to use time at work to develop my skills, but, unfortunately don't have the program at home

[Wanderer]

Thanks for everyone's help. I have found you can indeed glean lots of info from Augi, and industry blogs and tutorials. Anyone have online suggestions for drafting courses?? I feel I'm gaining a pretty good grasp of the AutoCAD program (2d only), but what I do at work is so basic, I need more challenge to develop design skills. My employer willing for me to use time at work to develop my skills, but, unfortunately don't have the program at homeThe only online drafting classes I have used would be the free ATP (http://forums.augi.com/augilogout.php?url=Education). ;) nice fall lineup.

[Kenaslan]

There are some very good ways of learning at distance. First, a company called 4D technologies makes by far the best entry level training I have eve seen. You can sample it for FREE online. They can be viewed either by online, or by disk.
Second, I would register at www.cadinstitute.com for a class. This way you can purchase a student addition of the AutoCAD of your choice for around $159.00

[Wanderer]

for a class. This way you can purchase a student edition of the AutoCAD of your choice for around $159.00Please note that price is for Acad LT not full AutoCAD, and also very important to keep in mind that any educational version is ONLY for learning and it is illegal to use for real work (to help ensure that, any single entity created with an EDU version if opened with or copied/pasted into a full commercially licensed version of AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT, will bring along a plot stamp, so every plot you make declares a drawing to be made with an educational version).

Also, most colleges that offer CAD Classes have this type of software available through their tech department or book store, as long as you're registered for a related class with them.

[Steve_Bennett]

...(to help ensure that, any single entity created with an EDU version if opened with or copied/pasted into a full commercially licensed version of AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT, will bring along a plot stamp, so every plot you make declares a drawing to be made with an educational version).....Keep in mind this stamp is NOT REMOVABLE. If you bring something from an educational version into a production file, the stamp WILL FOLLOW and infect all production drawings it touches. Be very carefull to not bring production drawings into an educational version.