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.

[Augi Doggie]

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.

[Augi Doggie]

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.

[Richard McDonald]

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!

[amy.stuart]

We have done this with about 1 person a year or everyother year. It really depends on their attitude towards wanting to learn. The better the attitude the faster they catch on. Some of the things we did is use the AutoCAD Bible by Ellen Finkelstein. It speaks in layman terms and comes with a CD to do the exercises, along with allowing them to take CAD home for them to practice with on their own. We do a 2 day intense training and then periodically i would pop over and spend a few hours every other day with them to give them feedback while they are in their work environment so they aren't just trying to sit for days absorbing in a training room. I would say we see a good turn around in 2-3 months that they are comfortable drafting and doing the basics with confidence. Where they are not asking questions constantly. a good 3-4 weeks where they are being productive but with minimal questions. good luck.

[Capt. Computer Crasher]

It's the drafting part like drawing things to scale and even thinking in 3D even thought we are only drawing in 2D

This is a skill that I believe is no longer be taught (this coming from someone with hand drafting experience) so I don't see it in degreed people much anymore. It's a shamed because that one skill I believe is the embodiment of drafting, computer or by hand.

[GreenMan415]

Being a person that does not have an Architectural degree but rather an IT degree this is a challenge that I am currently taking on right now being I have always had an interest in drafting and architecture. I am currently studying to take my ADDA Certified Drafters exam and reading and learning everything I can from hand drafting to CAD with help of some great resources and people in the field. As previously said if you can not understand the drafting concepts and you are really trying to work it is very hard to get good work out of someone without a lot of questions. An intro drafting course should be required for anyone in this field IMHO.

Bill

[Misteracad]

Being a person that does not have an Architectural degree but rather an IT degree this is a challenge that I am currently taking on right now being I have always had an interest in drafting and architecture. I am currently studying to take my ADDA Certified Drafters exam and reading and learning everything I can from hand drafting to CAD with help of some great resources and people in the field. As previously said if you can not understand the drafting concepts and you are really trying to work it is very hard to get good work out of someone without a lot of questions. An intro drafting course should be required for anyone in this field IMHO.

Bill
This might be a bit of a tangent, but how many people out there actually have drafter certification? I'm specifically talking about the Certified Drafter program offered by ADDA http://www.adda.org/ and have always wondered if there was any real benefit to this. I originally heard about the ADDA 10 years ago and considered taking the test for the heck of it, but in my 20+ years of board drafting and CAD, I have never talked to anyone who has heard of them or would even have a clue what the CD designation at the end of my name meant! That is, if I chose to use it of course LOL. Honestly though, I think it is a great idea---right up there w/ the AutoCAD Certification that Autodesk used to offer and then dropped---but the cost, time, and buy-in from the industry is totally amiss in my opinion. If I am going to spend the time and $$ doing this, I better get some sort of recognition for it from my current and future employers. Instead, I fear I would spend more time explaining what the heck it is :? Nevertheless, maybe I'm wrong and it is actually becoming more common in the workplace than i realize. Should I reconsider my position?

[rick.riggs]

I strongly agree with you on this one, I believe you've hit the nail on the head. I am constantly seeing the lack of basic drafting knowledge in our newbie grads that get hired on. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these guys are dumb, I just find myself having to cover things most would assume these engineers would be receiving from their CAD training. I've learned how to draft before I was ever able to touch a CAD system, I'm fully convinced that kind of start was essential for understanding efficient drafting techniques that could be carried out into any CAD system. So far what I have seen is engineers obviously having a strong math knowledge, but lack the drafting experience to allow their drawing to take care of most modelling math they would need to establish part/product entities. This makes me constantly ask whether or not we should keep engineers and draftsmen, completely separate in their duties.


This is a skill that I believe is no longer be taught (this coming from someone with hand drafting experience) so I don't see it in degreed people much anymore. It's a shamed because that one skill I believe is the embodiment of drafting, computer or by hand.

[dellis]

Try and find video tutorials. Most people can follow along and learn more using videos instead of books....especially those just starting out and don;t have much/any experience.