Software Engineer or AutoCaD?

[Ryou-kun]

Hello LTT,

 

I apologize if I posted this thread on a wrong forum, but I don't know where to put it.

 

Right now, I am almost finishing up my basic at Community College, and I need to make a decision on which major I should focus on: Software Engineer or AutoCaD? 

 

 

- What is the difference between those two (Yes, I know I could Google it, but I want to hear it from you guys)?

- Which one is more popular to get accepted in jobs?

- Is Software Engineer/AutoCad fun?

- Anything else that I need to know about?

 

Thank you very much, LTT.

 

[sissj]

Hello LTT,

 

I apologize if I posted this thread on a wrong forum, but I don't know where to put it.

 

Right now, I am almost finishing up my basic at Community College, and I need to make a decision on which major I should focus on: Software Engineer or AutoCaD? 

 

 

- What is the difference between those two (Yes, I know I could Google it, but I want to hear it from you guys)?

- Which one is more popular to get accepted in jobs?

- Is Software Engineer/AutoCad fun?

- Anything else that I need to know about?

 

Thank you very much, LTT.

Both require skill and hard work, just remember that.

 

What you find fun is solely your opinion

[Troyanac]

Hello LTT,

 

I apologize if I posted this thread on a wrong forum, but I don't know where to put it.

 

Right now, I am almost finishing up my basic at Community College, and I need to make a decision on which major I should focus on: Software Engineer or AutoCaD? 

 

 

- What is the difference between those two (Yes, I know I could Google it, but I want to hear it from you guys)?

- Which one is more popular to get accepted in jobs?

- Is Software Engineer/AutoCad fun?

- Anything else that I need to know about?

 

Thank you very much, LTT.

I worked in an AutoCAD environment for 2 years. The thing is you have to be spot-on-accurate on everything. 

 

[madknight3]

I don't know anything about AutoCAD so I could be wrong, but from a quick Google it seems pretty specific (ie: you create 2D/3D models using software). On the other hand, I feel like Software Engineering could mean a lot of things (ie: anything related to the design and development of software) and I'm not sure what your college will focus on without taking a look at the program information on your colleges website.

[burnttoastnice]

My college has the AutoCAD suite on the engineering computers. You may want to get a head start with some YouTube tutorials because you don't learn something as powerful as AutoCAD overnight. You'll most likely be using Maya but I could be wrong.

[TopDollar]

"AutoCAD" is a major? Little confused here. In Engineering industries, Drafting or modeling using any CAD packages (both 2D and 3D) are normally entry level / intern positions or are contracted out to other companies who do the work. I'm not sure I could recommend that for an entire career path.

[Ryou-kun]

"AutoCAD" is a major? Little confused here. In Engineering industries, Drafting or modeling using any CAD packages (both 2D and 3D) are normally entry level / intern positions or are contracted out to other companies who do the work. I'm not sure I could recommend that for an entire career path.

 

Idk. I thought AutoCad is a major.

[TopDollar]

Idk. I thought AutoCad is a major.

If you're interested in doing 3d modeling and similar stuff, I think some sort of digital arts may be more what you're looking for. For example, a  neighbor I had in college did architectural visualizations to show what houses would look like after they were remodeled etc. Production based engineering offices will use programs like Inventor and AutoCAD for drawings and configuration, but that can get repetitive if CAD is your only skill. 

[gastew15]

Yea... Speaking from the point of view as someone in the software development field I can tell you that Software Engineering and autocad are vastly different. For starters a Software Engineer is generally higher up on the food chain in that they manage a software project by working on it themselves, programming and other lovely junk, and corralling the lower level programmers, like myself. AutoCad is just a piece of modeling software that is generally required to be known by employees in the engineering and architecture field. Unless you get a job somewhere being the biggest master of AutoCad to ever live, or at AutoDesk, I kind of doubt that you can just have a job of being a Cad expert. If you want to work with Cad on a regular basis I would suggest looking into some field of engineering or architecture since you will probably get some mileage on it that way, or if you were looking into the software development track I would look into picking up some programming languages and some software development ideas early if you can.

[byalexandr]

You mean Drafting? I've never seen AutoCAD as a standalone major before.

[scottyseng]

-snip-

 

Software Engineering is very different from AutoCAD. You can learn AutoCAD in a month or two. I taught myself Revit in two weeks using the manual that came with a trial CD to do a blueprint for my dad in 7th grade. Software Engineering though, requires a lot of practice, coding, and management skills.

 

Software Engineering is far easier to find a job in. Just knowing drafting isn't much since the architecture students graduating from college will also be fighting for the same position (There's a shortage of architecture jobs compared to graduates). As a person who switched from architecture to computer engineering, I can tell you if you like technology, sticking to software engineering will pay off. I greatly regret losing two and a half years in architecture and feeling unhappy with my major.

 

What is fun is subjective...coding is fun to me because I get that sense of accomplishment when my program actually runs correctly. AutoCAD to me is just a drag since it's tedious, you usually aren't designing (if you're a drafter anyway), and it gets to be quite boring at times. However, if you are a Civil or Mechanical engineer, AutoCAD opens up way more to you since you can design.

 

I think you really should sit down and think what it is you like to do. Don't just do something because you have the skills for it. My dad is a general contractor, and I learned a lot about construction and building design from him. I grew up thinking I would be a architect, even after graduating high school. However, I also got addicted to technology during the 8th grade and after high school, due to college application problems, I ended up as a intern as a debugger. The senior programmers there told me I was going to end up in the IT field. At the time, I shrugged it off and said I was going to be a architect regardless. Now I look at myself after having switched to computer engineering and being amazed that they were right.

 

I love to draw, I know a lot about construction (Many years of electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and general carpentry skills), and I thought that would've meant I was the perfect architect. Sadly I did not realize how keep technology had grown on me.