CAD Skills assessment (or CAD Testing) is clearly a subject where opinions are often divided – you either believe in it or dismiss it as being too blunt an instrument to have any real merit. I thought I would share with you some of the opinions from a discussion forum where the original post was asking if anyone had used CAD Tests to assess potential job candidates.

The post had attracted a lot of responses - which I found interesting considering the simple nature of the question. But there were some very strong opinions as to the usefulness, or not, of testing as part of the interview process.

Reading the threads, there were points made, supporting both sides of the debate. Those against made the point that the critical thing is to ensure that the potential candidate has the relevant industry experience, as any required CAD skills can easily be taught. Those against also mentioned that so many CAD tests were too generic, and lacking the ability to test the specific ways in which their own company used the design systems. Most of these comments were made by the CAD managers and those hiring. Anecdotal experience also came from those being hired and taking tests, where a common theme was that it was hard taking a test without their usual customisations and shortcuts being available.

Some contributors made the point that any such testing should allow the use of reference materials, etc, as this would always be available in the working environment. The point being that good users are not just good at using the CAD, but are good at quickly finding the answers when they get stuck – a pretty valid point I guess.

But there were also those very much for testing as part of an interview process, both from an employer and employee perspective. The employee side of the argument was mostly from those that landed a job having done well in a test – for them, there was some sense of them being valued for their ability to use the tools of their trade. Equally there were posts from the employers using CAD testing to help assess new staff, where it was a quick way to spot those who were clearly useless and taking a flyer on being able to bluff the interview process.

I guess that whatever the argument, the important point is to understand the difference between “Testing” and “Assessment” the point being that testing is often a black or white, pass/fail situation, whereas the assessment process takes a more balanced view, looking at many potential factors. Use Skills Testing as just one part of your overall toolkit in order to find out more about an employee (or potential employee) Use it in conjunction with interviews, reviews, whatever your staff assessment process normally is. In this way you ensure that a balanced assessment is made, and your chances of making the right choices and decisions about people should certainly be improved.