Inventor Test- Job interview

[upan7451]

Hello dear members, can anybody give idea how organization are conducting Inventor test for recruitment? Thanking you in advance

[jletcher]

Give them a drawing of a part have them build it.

Review how they did it.

[jtylerbc · Accepted solution]

These days most of our hires are new graduates, so we don't do that sort of testing much anymore.  But back when we did, it involved building some new parts from a drawing (which may have even been a hand sketch, can't remember for sure), then editing an existing assembly to add the new items to it, along with a few other changes.  It wasn't set up all that well, never really got refined beyond the initial attempt, and I think I may have been the only person to take it.  We were primarily an AutoCAD-house back then, so most of our testing was geared toward that software.  I came out of the test with a list of things that were wrong with their provided test files.

If I were developing such a test now, I would probably approach it differently.  A lot depends on what level of a user you're trying to filter for.  Assuming you're just looking for someone with a basic knowledge of the Inventor software, to me, the ideal test would include some part modeling, assembly, and drawing work.  Technically, my company's old test met those requirements, but it didn't do that well with any of them.Since a lot of what my company does is weldments out of plate steel, it would be relatively easy to come up with something simple, but fairly realistic, where they could model parts, assemble them, and create the drawing(s) for it.

When reviewing their work, I would try to ignore how closely they matched any company standards (formatting, naming conventions, etc.), and pay more attention to good modeling techniques.  I would look for things like:

• Fully constrained sketches
• Reasonable sketch dimensioning schemes
• Parts modeled logically around the origin
• If holes for fasteners were included, did they use the Hole command or just extrude cuts?
• Assembly components fully constrained
• Assembly structured logically around the origin
• Drawing(s) organized neatly
• Parts fully dimensioned without a lot of excess dimensions applied
• All components called out on assembly drawing

Company-specific things can be taught after hire, so I would be looking to see how well they organize their work and how well they appear to know the relevant tools and basic practices in Inventor.  Depending on what your company does, and the time you want to allow for the test, you may have to adjust how real-world and complex the test is.  It would be pretty reasonable to ask a candidate to build and draw up a weldment with a few plates - it is much less realistic to ask them to fully model an entire bulldozer.  If what you normally do is large and complex, try to come up with something simpler that would require similar techniques, such as building a common subassembly for your larger product.

[Anonymous]

Last time I was asked to show something they first looked to find me a free laptop with the software on. Then they let me start the program. When I asked what I had to model they said "well, let's start with a block". So I looked for the XY-plane, created a rectangle and then constrained the middle of the width on the YZ-plane and the middle of the heigth on XZ. "It's OK" they said "you can do CAD".

Sorry for all you Autocad addicts who start sketching in the middle of nowhere....

Alex

[swalton]

We don't test CAD software knowledge in our interviews.  In our case, design skills are more important than finding the correct button in the software. As long as the candidate has used a 3d MCAD package before, we will be able to bring them up to our internal standards.

Instead, we have the candidates open an existing model and explain the model to us.  We are looking for the ability to analyze a design, does the candidate ask useful questions about the design, and does she notice the subtle features. 

I could see handing a candidate a set of paper redlines/hand sketches for a test assembly to evaluate how they approach revisions/updates.  The redlines/sketches should have several tasks to capture the kinds of things that @jtylerbc discusses.  I'd make sure that the redline changes have some unexpected results on the assembly so I can see if the candidate can find and correct those issues.

Think about what has been easy and difficult for your existing personal to handle.  What workflows are important for you? Frame Generator, Multi-solid modeling, Plastic features, etc? Make sure that your test challenges the candidates on those areas without requiring specific knowledge about your company's products or CAD standards. 

[mdavis22569]

I've been at 2 places in the past 5 years that give a test ...

Very basic

IPJ question

Create a sketch and IPT from a 2d drawing

Create an assembly. 

Create a view...

They just wanted to make sure you had the basics, the rest could be taught / explained.

[jtylerbc]

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@swalton wrote:

I could see handing a candidate a set of paper redlines/hand sketches for a test assembly to evaluate how they approach revisions/updates.  The redlines/sketches should have several tasks to capture the kinds of things that @jtylerbc discusses.  I'd make sure that the redline changes have some unexpected results on the assembly so I can see if the candidate can find and correct those issues.

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That's more or less what our test was, except that a lot of the "unexpected results" were consequences of poor modeling practice in the original model rather than something deliberately set up for purposes of the test.  It was a copy of a real model, and the test was to make a revision that involved adding some new parts and revising some existing ones.  I believe the revision was a reenactment of a change that was made to the real equipment as well.

While something like that could certainly be done intentionally to see how the candidate deals with it, in this case it wasn't - problems were just so prevalent in their modeling practices at the time that they couldn't find an example that didn't have a bunch of them.  Fortunately, we've come a long way since then.

[rtowne72]

Interesting enough we hired a person fresh from college, passed our test with no issue.  The thing we overlooked was standard drafting practices such as being able to place dims where needed or the ability to read a drawing.  This was more difficult to have the person learn than teaching the CAD program itself.  I would look to see where they are in relation to being able to read a drawing and recreating it (model and drawing) in future tests to put that issue to rest.  A key learning for us.

I also agree with the above statement of constraints and being consistent.   Also have some basic things set up for CAD standards in the test such as naming convention to see if they follow that.

[kelly.young]

@upan7451 I don't know if you are trying to setup a test for others or planning on how to approach it yourself, but rarely have I found that they want to show you how to draw on the spot. I've had many different interviews for design jobs, each bullet is a snippet of a few example experiences:

• Out of high school with AutoCAD training, they pointed at a regular film camera picture stapled to the wall said, "draw that" and walked away for 20 minutes, returned, said ok come back tomorrow at 9am.
• Showed my previous AutoCAD work examples, they said "You can draw, have you ever used Inventor before?" No... what's that. Ok, you can learn. Start tomorrow at 8am. Sat down at a computer and scratched my head. Opened Chapter 1...
• Talked with their CAD manager. Didn't have a test just asked how I would implement Inventor from a 2D AutoCAD setup. I explained how to create derived parts and parametric modeling, yammered on for a while. Guy looked at me says, ok, start tomorrow.
• Took a general physics test with ABCD bubbles, if the rudder on a boat turns this way, which way does the boat go? Pulleys, volume, general do you know how stuff works test. Passed, talked to the manager for 5 minutes, started the next day. 
• AutoCAD test with three other people. Draw shapes from a dimensioned image, inserted blocks, draw a 3d solid with chamfers, change title block info. Got done with the four sections in 15 minutes, raised my hand, guy came over, do you have a question? Nope, I'm done. The two other guys look over their shoulders with disdain as they started section two. Got into the second interview guy said I passed test fastest ever then asked who was the person I admired most? It caught me off guard, I said Howard Roark from The Fountainhead. He's an individualistic young architect who designs modernist buildings and refuses to compromise with an architectural establishment unwilling to accept innovation. I did not get this job.

It is more of the interpersonal skills and how you respond to the verbal interview questions.

• Your resume is what gets you in the door.
• How you sell yourself lands you the job.

If you are confident that you can use Inventor and are knowledgeable about the verbiage and functions that will reaffirm the skill listed on your resume.

Being able to convince someone that regardless of what they want you to design you can figure it out. Whether it be an iron gate or a copper connector you are going to have to learn their way of manufacturing and tolerances anyways.

The part you can't teach is detail, problem solving, and communication. Focus on these things in your interview and you will convey that you can overcome any obstacle. Then they will let you in the door and draw some crazy stuff you didn't even know about. 

If I were to make a test for designers it would be detail oriented. Easiest way, give them 3 different Lego blocks of varying difficulty and calipers. Tell them to draw the blocks and assemble them with an individual dimension drawing. This simple task will reveal who they are as a designer and where they are lacking.

• What do they focus on?
• Do they make their own title block?
• Are the Dimensions centered and aligned?
• Parts fully constrained? 
• Grounded part with logical assembly constraints?
• What features/patterns/shortcuts do they use?
• How do they respond to time, do they complete one part then drawing at a time or the assembly and drawing last?
• Do they build within the assembly adaptively?

Depending on what the focus of the manufacturing is will drive the importance and features required. Making it somewhat ambiguous will let them decide where the importance is. 

Hope that helps!

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Current employer gave a simple model, with a drawing showing what they want it to be and you had to modify the existing model to match their drawing.

Cumbersome if you've never used Inventor and the "controls" are different but I figured it out as simple 3d modeling is pretty similar between ProE and Solidworks I had used in the past. 

I will say, though, that it was unexpected.  

[jtylerbc]

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adamsredlines wrote:

Cumbersome if you've never used Inventor and the "controls" are different but I figured it out as simple 3d modeling is pretty similar between ProE and Solidworks I had used in the past. 

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I experienced this in reverse at one of the last other places I interviewed with before my current job.  I had never used SolidWorks before, but completed most of their SolidWorks test without much trouble.  The only thing that I couldn't fumble through decently was a sheet metal part, which I had no experience in working with in any CAD system at that time, so I would have struggled with it even in Inventor.

The fundamental concepts tend to transfer well from one system to another.  The interface is totally different, but basic modeling processes aren't that different in current Inventor versions than they what I used all the way back in I-DEAS.