Is it recommended to grow skills in different CAD programs??

I am in NX for last 10 years, i used Inventor and got some courses of ProE. if you like SW do not try proE, but you can go to solidedge or inventor. if you want to go to top, try catia or NX. good idea is to try rhino or 3Dmax as they are better for freform modeling then CAD programs.
Anyway you can either try new CAD programs, or you can try to learn CAM on same level software, so you can be able to do design and manufacture.

My advice is to try one or two more CAD programs, but not more then that, as you will not be able to go deep if you try to learn many of them. and at last, if you are master of what you already use, you will find job easy enough without need to learn more programs.

Hi Juan,
I wouldn't worry about it until the time comes to use the software, if someone wants to employ you they're going to employ you for your engineering/design knowledge and experience, If they like what they see and hear, they'll train you up, CAD is just a tool.
Become an expert on one CAD software and you'll pick up the others very easily. I've been using NX for ten years and I always see jobs saying they use SW, so it got me thinking and I have the opportunity to use SW to see what all the fuss is about and modelled the Nokia N9 in a couple of hours, these days most of the mainstream feature based CAD are very similar, the only difference is some of the terminology might be a little different, like in NX we sew the surfaces together and in SW they knit them, then it's just a matter of getting used to where the features live and you'll be almost there.
I wouldn't worry about it dude, don't clutter your brain with stuff you're not going to use in the near future unless you have a genuine interest and passion to learn it all, what I mean is, if you don't enjoy it you're not going to master it, that goes for everything not just CAD programs.

I know I am just a student JE and you have a lot more experience than I do with CAD. I am in a School that teaches you with Auto Desk software, when I told my head lecturer I wanted to learn SW also he said that is great as it will open up many more door for me when I leave School as I would know a little about the 2 main software's used in industry. My answer would be yet it would be more benefit to you to know more than one software :)

Hi JE
...NX and Solid Edge (synchronous technology) are based on almost same UGS engine under Siemens technology...now, Siemens got high tech manufacturing infrastructure for almost everything u can imagine and more in World of metal fabrication...so, communications and feedback's between software programmers and manufacturing engineers are based daily...unlike other CAD packages whose got same feedback little more later...little more incorrectly, little more expensive... This is the main reason i decided to choose SE...Decision is yours after all, but whichever other CAD you want to learn, u got our support...:)))
Regards ;)

NX and CATIA are not just CAD programs, they are complete PLM solutions.
they are the first choice for Automotive and Aerospace industries.

the rest of the CAD programs are very similar and if you know one of them you should be able to master the rest in short period of time.

Solidworks is more userfriendly than the most but not the most powerful. if you are working with 1000s+ parts product then Pro/E is more efficient and powerful than solidworks.

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Que tal J.E., como mencionan varios de ellos es una excelente idea aprender varios programas ya que te abre las puertas en un mundo laboral competitivo donde cada empresa prefiere un CAD sobre otro, ahora en mi caso, yo aprendí SolidWorks en la universidad y me gustó tanto que realmente no se utilizar ningún otro programa (literalmente), mas que nada por la facilidad de uso, y despues de 5 años lo he dominado, eso me da tiempo de dominar otras cosas como photoview, simulation, flow simulation, administración de producto, routing, etc. Asi que en resumidas cuentas mi consejo es parecido al de ALI H, domina un software y los demás se facilitarán.

Que por cierto, como comentan, trabajar con ensambles en SW es muy pesado si no se trabajan adecuadamente, pero en la versión 2012 habrá una forma llamada "large design review" que permitirá trabajarlos bastante rápido.

It can never hurt to learn a little more, who knows when it comes in handy? You say you are already familiar with SolidWorks, and are looking to get to know Inventor or NX... Now Im not sure what NX since Ihave never heard of it until now, it seems that you are mostly interested in CAD software based on solid modeling.
So, why not try 3DS-Max or Rhinoceros? As far as I know, both can handle solids, but those CAD systems are focussed on surface modelling. learning surface modeling besides solid modeling gives you a boost. Example: I now use Rhino pretty often, there are some things that SW just won't do for you, and surface modeling CAD programs will. Using Rhino besides SW makes for quite a powerful combination, although I find it tougher to model in Rhino, because it can be challenging to make a closed and not-self-intersecting polysurface.
But I would certainly say it is worth checking out other CAD software other than the CAD software you are already familiar with... ;)

Well, for the brief time that I used Inventor I found it very similar to SolidWorks, just a little harder to get used to in my opinion, it has few more features and it lacks some ... I promise it won't take you much time to figure out the software if you can handle SolidWorks well.
I hope you find this helpful.

It never hurts to expand your skillset, I know it would open more doors if you ever find yourself job hunting. The more packages you know the more potential jobs you could find...

Having worked with a number of different packages over the years, and found that most are very similar, with different terminology. In my opinion, the key is to understanding the process and logic of creating models - your work shows that for you.
Learn as much as you can about whatever package you choose. Use as many different feature you can, learn what can do, but more importantly what it can not do. Once you know that, find and learn tools to do what your software can not do on it's own.
If you are really concerned about it, do some research on the potential employers, see what they use, and be sure to have a basic understanding of that software package before you look to work there.

at the risk of being offensive i put it this way "solidworks is for boys,real men use pro/engineer or NX"

just kidding,use what suits you best.more you know more you become flexible.

@imgkg
Damn buddy...u are offensive :)))
hahha...just kidding too :))))

JE sorry I have lost your E-mail addy
can you send me it again Please
thanx
:)

Inventor will not be a problem for you! I'm starting using SW and everything goes clear and easy! It´s important to have more software skills on your grabcad profile for get more jobs :)