Similarity between Inventor and Solidworks?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I've been wondering how similar Inventor is to Solidworks.

I've only tinkered with SW in the past and taken a brief into 4 hour intro class by a reseller and that's about the extent of my experience with it. 

I'm aware that both are parametric modelers, both use a model tree system, both rely on sketches and features, etc.

If you've used both software, would you say that they are similar enough for someone to learn the other quickly after having a foundation of knowledge in SW or IV?

Did you feel like you caught to the other without much frustration or "hand-holding" from other users helping you to learn it if you worked in an office with other people using the same program?

I've recently been applying for new job positions which are listing Solidworks and/or ProE experience as job requirements, and I if asked about my lack of experience in those software packages I want to communicate to them that I feel that the similarities between Inventor and Solidworks and Pro-E are enough that I would adapt to learning the new software quickly.

[JDMather]

They are essentially identical (Pro/E is a bit different, but just a bit).
But there are enough differences (particularly with Pro/E, now Creo) that many get so frustrated that they simply can't make the change from one to the other.  Once you get over these little hurdles though - they are remarkably similar (particularly Inventor and SolidWorks).

Just post a question on a user forum when you hit a hurdle that you know should be easy (because it was easy for you in x-brand) and someone will show you the trick.

[jtylerbc]

When I was job hunting a couple of years ago, I interviewed at a place that used Solidworks.  Despite the fact that I'd never used the program before (not even a demo version), they wanted me to take their company Solidworks knowledge test.

I was able to complete about 75% of the work, and the majority of what I didn't finish was due to lack of familiarity with sheet metal, rather than using Solidworks instead of Inventor.  I didn't get the job, but the interviewer even told me that they occasionally hired people with Inventor experience because it was close enough.