Certified SolidWorks Tests now Online? 3

[rjason71]

I noticed SWorks is now offering there CSWA and CSWP tests online and you can take them for free by requesting a voucher.

Has anyone received a voucher they had sent for? I am still waiting for mine (about a week).

 

[JMirisola]

Hint: Pay very close attention to the design intent that they call out for. Test your model, making sure it does what it's supposed to do. Don't assume that you did it correctly.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M

 

[rstupplebeen]

I have taken the CSWA as practice and a colleague has taken the CSWP. They are both 3 hours. I believe that the CSWA was good practice because as others have noted it is significantly different than the past. Hope this helps.
Rob Stupplebeen

 

[cculp]

Well, I got my voucher today, looks like I snuck in at the last minute. Thanks for the heads up, I will study hard before I take it. For anyone who hasn't taken it they have some PDF's of previous tests and study guides...

I probably won't do it myself until next week, so I get a chance to really catch up on everything. Good luck to everyone; I know I can't afford to mess up.

Charles Culp
Design Engineer - Solidworks User

 

[NL8]

You know, I was one or two questions away for certificatation, but I can honestly say that I don't think I could have studied my way to passing. To me it just feels like the kind of test where you either know what you're doing, or you don't. But that could just be me.

On a side note, this is the longest post I've ever participated in.

 

[JMirisola]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the CSWP (and probably the CSWA) does a disservice to those of us that are colorblind. Asking what color is _____, when it's ____ is what killed my score. Unless I've read it somewhere, or someone has told me *and* I remember what was read/said, those color things can mess you up.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M

 

[NL8]

you know, I didn't get a single question like that on the online test. There was just "model this, what is this value of this feature in the complete model. Now change dim A to this, what is the value now." so on and so forth.

 

[JMirisola]

So there was no written portion...lucky you!

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M

 

[NL8]

you know I almost wish there was a written portion, at least on multiple choice the odds of guessing the right answer increase dramatically.

 

[dogarila]

190 minutes of modeling plus "change this, what's the value of that"?

 

[NL8]

180 minutes, but they have it set up so you second guess yourself and go back and rework things and change answers and the like. Took me 146 minutes to score a 135 on it.

 

[ShaggyPE]

The free offer is still up. I just logged in through the customer portal. The offer expires Dec 15.

-Shaggy

 

[NL8]

Well If I can ever manage to get logged into the portal then we're talking.

 

[takedownca]

I got 10pts away from passing (140/180). The figures were almost impossible in some parts to decipher. It wouldn't have killed them to enlarge them a bit. That, and it's somewhat subjective what numbers to use in the CosmosExpress sections. The answer you get depends on your element size. Also, there is some ambiguity with decimal places. If your max von Mises is 1.234E3 PSI, this is the same as 1234 PSI, but the answer needs to have 2 decimal places. Does this mean 1234.00? 1.23E3? Oh well. Close, but no cigar.

And I agree with the guy that said to design for easily changeable dimensions. Liberal use of linking and design tables made it easy for me to go back and change dims A, B, C to bla bla bla...

 

[NL8]

I agree with you whole heartedly takedown. When I take it again I'm going to liberally use DT's and equations, like I should have done the first time. nothing worse than sitting in the test mid way through, kicking myself for not linking values. And the ambiguity was a bit much.

side note, anybody know how long a certification lasts, or if they need to be renewed at all?

 

[ShaggyPE]

I tend to believe liberal use of sketch relations and construction geometry is better than equations, linking and DT's, but that is just me. I will be taking the exam tomorrow morning.

-Shaggy

 

[JMirisola]

As of right now, the only people that need to be re-certified are VAR AE's. I've heard rumors that SW is going to change that policy to include all CSWPs.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M

 

[NL8]

Shaggy: Normally I would agree with you for my general modeling. But the natural of the test and how quickly they expect changes to be made pushes me to choose a different method of modeling than I might otherwise use.

 

[takedownca]

Shaggy,
Linking and DT's doesn't replace the use of good design intent in sketches. Also, one can use all the sketch symmetry in the world, but you're still going to need linking to create a parametric cube (extrusion length linked to length side length). And design tables make it simple to modify multiple named dimensions simultaneously. Otherwise you're stuck double-clicking on each feature and changing each dimension individually.

 

[NL8]

agreed takedown. That's one of the big things that held me up was having to modify each of several dimensions individually when they we all supposed to be equal.

 

[NL8]

How many here passed the cert test on their first try.