Networking with SOLIDWORKS Users

Happy Thanksgiving! I've officially been running this content show for 6 months and I just wanted to say, I am thankful for you all! If you've read one, two, or all of my blogs in the last six months, thank you. If you want to put a face to the name (and words), check out our Meet The Team page on our website, and scroll down to the bios! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families despite this year's festivities potentially looking very different. I can't wait to continue sharing all the cool stuff with you going forward!

Are you looking for SOLIDWORKS community resources? It can be easy, even tempting, to keep to yourself, but if you do that, how will you learn? Everyone has their own way of doing things, and we can all learn something from everyone. Your best bet is to ask for help. If you don't want to ask for help, your second best option is to watch others and learn silently.

The odds of another SW user having a skill or shortcut that you're unaware of are pretty high. Everyone learns differently, some users had mentors that taught them things that their professors didn't, some users are entirely self-taught and sometimes people just forget!

Besides LinkedIn, there are actually a wide variety of resources for networking in the SOLIDWORKS community. LinkedIn is great, but for when you want a more personal experience, and potentially even make lifelong friends, check out one of these resources.

You'll never regret making friends in your industry, and with more than 2.3 million users (in 2016! There's way more now!), the odds of another user having never seen or solved your problem are slim to none considering you're all using the same software. 

One of our favorite ways to find and interact with other users is through the SOLIDWORKS forums. It's a great place to ask questions, get advice, rant, and share your accomplishments and projects! Plus there are no germs on the internet, so it's definitely a safe option right now. There are tons of active users so there's rarely a post that goes unanswered. We've made some of our best connections over there! 

Another great way to connect with other users is through Reddit. It's similar to the SOLIDWORKS forums, but it's frequented by more students and those still learning the ropes. If you want to sharpen your skills, provide assistance to the future of the industry, have questions (or answers), wonder about the job market or anything else, check it out! 

One that is probably most affected by COVID, but we still love dearly, is the SWUGN (SOLIDWORKS User Group Network), and even better than that, the SLUGME (SOLIDWORKS Largest User Group Meeting Ever). Finding groups of SW users in your area to meet up with is easier than you might think. There's a website dedicated to providing initial resources, but SWUGN also uses MeetUp.com to plan meetings, and there's also info on GoEngineer's site (linked here). MeetUp is also great because aside from SWUG meetings, you can also find other PDM, CAD, and SOLIDWORKS related events. And events for other hobbies too, if you have those. 😂 

Networking is essential. In fact, it's estimated that up to 80% of jobs are filled through networking. And 70% of jobs are never posted to any type of website. That means if you don't network, you're only giving yourself access to 30% of jobs. Those odds aren't great, so get out there! If nothing else, you'll make some new friends with a huge common interest. You never know when those connections could help you, or them.

Do you have any questions, or want to make a new friend in the industry today? Now is a great time to get the support you need! Schedule a meeting with Tim to get started, initial consultations are free! He's also one of the friendliest guys in the industry, so he will be an easy friend to make. We'll help you set goals and give you a plan of how we will help you reach them. It's just one way we provide an end-to-end solution to our customers.