[steelerborn]

As a tech support intern at a Solidworks re-seller I feel the need to step forward and answers some questions. The classes we offer always answer the tough questions, we have customers come in all of the time asking extremely tough questions, and the instructor will take the time to answer them. This could just be where you are taking your classes. Also the certifications are a HUGE thing! Granted the CSWA may be able to be passed with some experience and $100, but the other exams CSWP all the way to the highest level the CSWE are difficult. In fact if you look on the certification page on Solidworks.com you can see some of the hard topics discussed (Surfaces for example). So I think it is wrong to say that these don't mean much. In the end the certification exams teach a lesson that many people in the industry lack, and that is design intent, the ability to see a model and look for areas that may need to change, and designing them to be editable in a way where the model does not blow up. It is also a very elite group of Solidworks users, the CSWE only has I believe around 900 in the entire world! So if you work all the way up to that level I can't believe that this won't help you find employment.