Do you really have to be "certified" to use Autodesk software? - LOL!

OK, only kidding!

You do not have to be certified insane to use Autodesk software (but, just sometimes, it does help! - LOL).

However, on a serious note, you can now obtain some serious professional qualifications from Autodesk themselves. Their Certification Program is pretty cool! Download the PDF that takes you through it all too - that will help!

You can take Certification Exams in the following products (click on the links to go to the appropriate Certification page): -

• AutoCAD
• AutoCAD Architecture
• AutoCAD Civil 3D
• Autodesk Inventor
• Revit Architecture

Certification is an excellent way of proving your worth to your employer. It is also an excellent guide to companies employing CAD staff as to whether the person theya re going to employ has that Autodesk "X factor"!

There are currently two levels of Certification available for ALL of the products listed above and these are as follows: -

Associate Certification:

Requires you to take a one hour, 30 multi-choice questions exam.

Professional Certification:

Requires you to take a two hour exam answering questions whilst using the Autodesk product e.g. AutoCAD 2009

Your level of Certification is version specific, i.e AutoCAD 2009 Associate but you can "upgrade". For example, if you have taken the AutoCAD 2008 Certified User exam, you can then take the AutoCAD 2009 Associate exam to "upgrade" to the AutoCAD 2009 Professional level.

All in all, in my humble opinion, this is a fantastic move by Autodesk to assist in benchmarking levels of user competency so that the users of the products can gauge where they are, but even more importantly, employers can see how GOOD they are!

Check it out and see for yourself!

Enjoy getting "certified" - LOL

SB