CADsmart joins Bentley's Be Employable initiative

So, the recession continues to dominate the headlines, and the world's leaders descend on London for 5 courses of Jamie Oliver's finest cuisine and a chat about the best way out of this mess. These are unprecedented times, and our industry is at the heart of the storm. Many firms have no option but to cut costs, and with it comes the very real challenge of layoffs. In a BBC article this week, it was reported that 'the number of architects claiming benefits has risen by 760% in a year'!

And yet, despite the economic chaos, it is refreshing to see that businesses can still display a human side, giving something back to an industry that has served them well in better times. One such example is Bentley's 'Be Employable' initiative. In a nutshell, Be Employable provides free software and training to designers, architects, engineers, and any other infrastructure professional who find themselves temporarily out of work. The reason? To help them improve their technical skills so that they can increase their competitive edge in a highly competitive job market.

As of this week, we're pleased to announce that CADsmart has joined the Be Employable initiative, providing free use of its skills assessment software.

CADsmart enables Bentley Community members to:
- Benchmark MicroStation skills against a recognised industry standard
- Highlight skills gaps for targeted training
- Focus learning using the Bentley Systems suite of training tools
- Measure improvements in personal CAD performance post-training

Each Bentley Community member gets:
- 2 free CAD (MicroStation) skills assessments
- A certificate with breakdown of test scores
- A personal training plan for use with Bentley Learn tools & resources

To register for the scheme, go to: www.bentley.com/beemployable.

This recession will end, albeit maybe not for another year or two. And when it does, I hope that some of the tough lessons we are learning this year can be retained. Perhaps in this way, and by supporting each other in times of difficulty, we can avoid a repeat of the mistakes which created this bubble-bursting maelstrom in the first place.

Rory