Expert: J. B. Borge - 5/30/2008

Question
hi i have to take and pass an exam to get hired for a junior designer at a company, i need to know the very basics of autocad, what book would you recommend that I study to learn the basics? (autocad for dummies?)

Answer
Which 3D design platform(s) did you work w/ in school? ProE, Inventor, Mechanical Desktop, Solidworks, Microstation?
AutoCAD is a beast & is nothing similar compared to the aforementioned softwares. Personally buying a book will help you, to some extent, understand some of the core concepts & principles. However, the reality is that you will be tested for speed, accuracy, attention to details, & the path (commands) you chose to complete the task (there are several ways you can finish your task of which a seasoned AutoCAD user can easily spot if you're a novice, average user, or simply a pretender).
Just about any book out there will suffice, AutoCAD for Dummies should be a great starter. A book can only show you so much...furthermore, turning theories into practice can be a very daunting task. Ever considered taking classes?
You might also capitalize on these free tutorials:

http://www.cadtutor.net/tutorials/autocad/
http://we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/index.htm

There's a plethora of cad information in the net & if you're ever stuck on a subject, don't hesitate to ask me anything. Hope this gives you some insight, good luck to your endeavor, & practice practice practice. Keep me posted!

Regards,
Jory Borge