thank you to everyone who has taken the time to answer my question.

it is an issue that has been raised in the past & will be raised

again many times in the future. i know that it must seem odd to those

of you living outside of australia but, the simple fact is that this

is unfortunately an overly politically correct culture filled with committee

driven ideals & crap like 'target indicators', what ever the hell they are.

i think it would be best if i just let this issue slide for now.

cheers & all the best for the coming year.

Glen

@chris fullmer said:

It sounds like a system set up and perpetuity by the governing bodies in charge. For example, employers can only ask for certification because it exists. And since it exists, they are inclined/required to want their employees to be certified. So therefore it is only desriable because it exists. And it only exists because it is desirable. A perfect unbreakable circle.

That is not to say its a bad thing. I'm not opposed to it, and there are plenty of certificates to be had around my parts for sure, and I rather like them. But my point is that since there is no official certificate to be gained in SketchUp at this point, no employer can require it. There is nothing to require.

If you would like to protect your status as a proficient/professionaly skilled SketchUp user, you really should contact the administering bodies and petition them to make a certificate for SketchUp. They might think its a good idea, especially since it just means one more test that people will be giving them money to take.

But until there is an official or widely recognized certificate, then no certificate can be expected by any employer. That is my take on it,

Chris

now we're getting very quantum. it's all very 'schrodingers' cat territory. i understand where you're coming from chris.

unfortunatly you're making the fundimental mistake by using . . . . LOGIC ! that only leads to great tears & nashing of teeth i'm afaid.

there's a saying in this country. 'the luckiest country on earth, governed by the most ordinary & useless people we could find'.

and that's an understatement. same goes for employers. for a product to become a useful selling point to clients it has to have a credability attached to it.

until it does, it will be considered to be just a toy that anyone can download.

we know that it's much much more than that.

cheers,
glen

hi chris, thanks for your response.

we have a government organisation / department called 'T.A.F.E.' which dispenses most trade certificates & some professional qualifications. the universities handle the rest. you also, in some business, have to get a license from another government department called the 'DEPARTMENT OF FAIR TRADING' before you can open a business. if you go around telling people that your, say an architect or a carpenter, & you don't have the qualifications, you can be charged by the government. same goes for most trades. especially anyone who deals with domestic end users (the mums & dads).

both, my trade certificates & my drafting certificates are awarded by them. it helps to establish who the professionals are in a particular trade or business.
lets face it. you don't want to spend your time studying for something only to find out that any goose with a computer can go around claiming he's proficient at it. you want your time & effort rewarded. you want your investment in yourself protected from cowboy fly-by-nighters. it also establishes the product / software as a legitimate professional tool. employers & companies are more likely to invest in a product if they know that there are qualified people who can operate it.

lastly, i'd be more than happy to set up an accreditation business for sketchup only, i'm pretty sure google would more than likely have a fit about it. they are the last people i would want to have a battle with. i would be the proverbial bug on the windshield.

cheers,
glen

@johnsenior1973 said:

@unknownuser said:

in order to make this product widely accepted within the market place, someone will have to come up with some sort of a certificate or qualification in order for the industry to take it seriously.

I don't agree. I don't think a Certificate in Sketchup Competence would make any difference in how the industry perceives SU. I think the industry would probably just look upon such a course as a useless qualification.

I think that companies that use SU won't care about the certificates someone holds. I think if they are looking to hire someone for a job they will just ask for examples of their work. A competent SU user will be able to show their competence with high quality SU models, aligned with the brief they were given.

hi juniorsenior73. nice to hear from you.
unfortunately in australia, bits of paper carry a lot of weight. i wish it weren't true but it is. a lot of people who are in charge of companies that would us SU are not always qualified in that industry. they are there for their ability to manage or they are qualified but find this new fandangled whizzbang cad stuff all a bit tricky to get the hang of. all of my clients are like this, bless they're little hearts. they only want to sit at a drawing board. then they send the work to me to take it from concept to finished drawings. in this industry in this country they think that the more certificates you have directly relates to your abilities for the work. this is a country that is swamped with certification & licensing for one thing or another.

cheers,
glen

hi peoples. i'm new to the forum. to save me wading through all the past postings & answers on this forum,

could anyone please give me A difinative answer on the subject of 'SKETCHUP QUALIFICATIONS'.

not talking about qualifications for teaching or training in sketchup, just subject competance qualifications.

ie: i have qualifications as a carpenter, as an architectural draftsman & as an architectural CAD draftsman.

none of these are for teaching or training, just doing.

theyr'e just for being passed as competant & qualified to be employed for this work.

a SKETCHUP QUALIFICATION like the ones above would be nice to add to the resume.

it wont be long before employers in this country (australia) start asking for 'qualifyed people' only for this software.

in order to make this product widely accepted within the market place, someone will have to come up with some sort of a

certificate or qualification in order for the industry to take it seriously.

would love to know what the general thinking on this matter is at the present.

thank you in advance.

glen