About a month ago I posted an article on Certified Solidworks Professional (CSWP). There I wrote that my ultimate goal is obviously reaching the highest level. Last Sunday I achieved the goal: I became the 3692nd Certified Solidworks Expert (CSWE) in the world. For comparison, there are approximately 100,700 CSWP and 230,000 CSWA (Associate) worldwide.
Expert level has a massive set of pre-requisites. On top of the CSWP, one needs to clear four of five advanced topics: Sheet Metals / Weldments / Drawing Tools / Surfacing / Molds. In other words one has to master nearly all key frameworks of mechanical design Solidworks has to offer. Then you are qualified to take the expert level exam.
For the expert level exam you have a 4 hours time frame without break to solve 20 problems. All of them are assigned 10 points, unlike other exams with varying points depending on difficulty. 160 points (80%) is the minimum passing grade. There were two multiple-choice questions, in contrary to the guide info saying no MPC. Half of the questions were on topics already covered by CSWP / CSWPAs but were significantly more difficult and/or demanded deeper understanding as well as mastery.
Below is the brief summary of my progress from the very beginning -
2018/11/08 : CSWA passed
2018/11/12 : CSWP segment 1 failed, 2 & 3 passed
2018/11/25 : CSWP segment 1 passed (CSWP completed)
2018/12/26 : CSWPA-SM (advanced - sheet metal) passed
2019/01/01 : CSWPA-SU (advanced - surfacing) failed
2019/01/09 : CSWPA-WD (advanced - weldments) passed
2019/01/13 : CSWPA-DT (advanced - drawing tools) passed
2019/01/16 : CSWPA-SU (advanced - surfacing) passed
2019/01/20 : CSWE passed
Until the end of 2018 I was all by myself; I took the exams with my prior experience + Solidworks official tutorial + a bit of Google search for video lectures on topics required by each exam for which I was not familiar with. At the beginning of 2019, however, I came across a extremely helpful LinkedIn lecture series by Gabriel Corbett. His videos cover virtually all sketch / parts / assembly / drawing functionalities systematically one by one. More importantly, he provides certification lectures that specifically targets each exams. (He even mentions in his video that he was involved in building and beta-testing Solidworks exams!) He pinpoints a number of tricky details that are hard to learn from official materials, and that are critical in solving those problems. He does a great job by helping people pass the exams easier and quicker, but he also shares numerous tips and know-hows that are not related to the exams. I learned so much from him. His lectures definitely helped me pass professional level exams fast.
For expert exam, I practiced with a book titled Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert Preparation Materials by Paul Tran. This book is specifically written for expert exam preparation. A bit expensive thinking of its volume, but you will find that the book is worth the money since there are little resources about the expert exam. Solidworks does not offer any test exam for the expert level to keep it the most challenging, and there are only less than four thousands of CSWE in the world. Where else can you get a real peek into the exam? Dassault Systemes (Developer company of Solidworks) should not like this book which reveals most of the heavenly secrets. From test taker's perspective, on the other hand, this book is the only and the must. The author shows you pretty much of everything you will see in the actual exam.
During the last 2~3 months of Solidworks self-study, I found a few interesting 3D modeling challenge sites, such as Solidworks model mania. Although I stepped on the top of the podium now, I am still hungry for further challenges. I want to further practice building models involving surfacing techniques. Just for fun for now.
A tip : from my experience, the exams were not much different between the first and the second time. Try taking screen shots for review if you think you can't make it at the first attempt, like what I did every time.
