To Certify or Not To Certify – That Is the Question By Heidi Boutwell depending on the circumstances and your situation, then I might say yes. Let me elaborate. If you search Craigslist, Monster, or Indeed, most of the job descriptions for civil drafters or civil designers will not ask for certification. But there is sometimes a job description that does ask for the certification, and if you plan on applying for that job, then, yes, certification is worth the time and effort. I would also say yes to the individual who wants to be a step ahead of their job-hunting competition. As new firms enter the marketplace, I think that certification will become more of a requirement. The other day I had a friend ask me, “is getting Autodesk Certified in the Autodesk program I use worth it? Should I spend the time and money to get certified?” These questions on certification come up all the time in the engineering industry. We all know that in engineering you can take a really long, all-day test and get your EIT/FE or PE stamp and become a Professional Engineer in a specific discipline. But with the Autodesk Certification out there today, you can now take a test that proves you not only understand the program you use, but that you also know how to use that program. Had my friend asked me this question years ago, my first and fastest response would have been, “No, it’s not worth the time or effort, let alone the money.” Now though, if you ask me this question, 22 www.cadlearning.com Now that we’ve looked at the reason why you might need certification, let’s take a look at the actual certification. Back in 2008, the certification focused on written knowledge-based questions and a few usage questions. These questions asked about the program and how it functioned. What these questions did not do was actually make you go into the program and use the features in the software to get an answer to a problem set. A knowledge test is fine; it tests your ability to understand how a program works. What a knowledge test does not do is actually test your ability to use the program and use it correctly. Fast forward to 2014. If you haven’t looked at the certification exam in a while, I think that you will notice some improvements. In today’s