I figure that will give me a solid foundation with certifications and knowledge then I can focus on my portfolio and highlight different industries that I would like to be involved with then get some freelance gigs off that.

I could be wrong in this because I’m still very new. This is also just my research from reading past comments and seeing what job possibilities are out there. I’ve heard people use fusion 360 design for prototypes and getting something together quickly. From what I’ve seen the industry prefers designs to be made on Solid works because it can handle more complex structures. I want to focus on manufacturing aspect of fusion 360 because it seems that fusion has a foothold on that part of the industry. Once I finish with the cert my plan is to do something similar to above and get autodesk certified associate CAM for for 2.5 axis milling and also certified associate CAM for turning. I’ve heard certs aren’t required and a portfolio is a better show of knowledge, but I figured it can’t hurt to have that certification especially since it’s all fresh and could help me stand out against the other beginners out there. $150 test I’ll take at a certiport location. Now I think I’m ready to take the test to get certified for Autodesk Certified Associate in CAD for Mechanical Design. This has some more exercises and also a test. I just finished Autodesks own CAD for Machanical Design Associate Certification Prep 6 hours. It also gives you quizzes throughout and there’s some tests you can take. This one dives into the weeds a lot and gives your real world practical exercises and challenge exercises where you just have to figure it out. Then I did Autodesks own Introduction to 3D modeling for manufacturing 12 hour course. I really liked that because he touched on almost every aspect of Fusion 360 minus manufacturing/milling. Then I did a YouTube 30 day series called learn autodesk fusion 360 in 30 days by product design online. I think I did all of his available videos for that. He had a live stream every Wednesday and he really made it simple and easy to pickup. Personally I started out on YouTube with Absolute beginners series by Lars Christenson.

Learning fusion 360 in 30 days