It's now more important than ever to be able to fluently use your computer. Everyone expects you to be able to use, edit and transmit: Emails, PDFs, Word Documents, Spreadsheets and especially for Interior Designers, computer aided drafting (CAD) software. Having taught all of these programs in college classes, I've frequently been told how frustrating it can be to try and learn these programs on your own. Designers who've been in the interior design business all their lives are telling me that they're having harder times getting jobs without enough computer skills. These designers spent $800 - $900 on just one college course in AutoCAD so they could stay ahead in their field.

Many caught on quickly after just a few once-a-week classes and others struggled and needed more one-on-one assistance. Those that struggled, often had minimal computer experience to begin with. Once you are more comfortable with computers, learning any other program becomes that much easier because many actions are duplicated in most programs; even user interfaces are becoming more streamline across a wide variety of programs to make them more user-friendly. There are even similarities between AutoCAD and MS Office programs. So once you start getting the hang of one area of computers, it opens up a world of programs that will be faster and easier to learn.