Wow...I didn't expect to get such great responses in such a short period of time. Thank you all for that.
So as it stands I plan on learning FreeCAD on my own through youtube tutorials and tutorials I can find on this site. I have also been looking into SolidWorks classes at my local community colleges as NormandC recommended. More than likely I will take the community college route.
But lets say I didn't have the option to learn SW and took the cheaper route of using the resources on this site and youtube to learn FreeCAD. 1. Are engineering companies aware of FreeCAD and would they be willing to hire me solely on my knowledge of this software? 2. How easy would it be for me to learn other CAD softwares on the job after getting a good feel for FreeCAD?
Again, thank you all so much for your input!