I heard that after getting a bachelor’s in civil the person would have to work 5 years as a engineer in training before being able to be recognized as a true engineer.
My questions are:
Just to clarify, I hope to become a PE in Florida.
I think it’s true at least in the US. you would work for 5 years at an EIT (engineer in training) after which you would qualify to take the test and be certified as a PE (professional engineer) The 5 years must be under the supervision of a PE from what i understand.
I am going to suggest that you learn to use Google NOW. You will have to do that a lot as an engineer. You are so fortunate to have the internet to find information! It was much harder when I was a new engineer. I Googled “Florida PE requirements” and found this page in about three seconds:
http://www.fbpe.org/licensure/application-process
"The PE applicant must demonstrate four (4) years of verified engineering experience and a passing grade on the FE to be eligible to apply for the PE exam. Full time work while in school can be counted at a discounted rate of 25% or 50%, depending on the year of studies the applicant worked during.
The applicant can earn up to a maximum 12 months of experience prior to graduation. Advanced degrees obtained as a full time student can count for 12 months equivalent experience. This is further explained in Rule 61G15-20.002(1)(b)2, F.A.C. Foreign experience can be counted and verified in the same manner as provided in the application for experience."
You should take the FE exam as a college senior.
You need four years of experience after you get an accredited degree. A Master’s degree would count as one of the years. You apply to take the PE exam at that point. Once you pass the PE exam, you will be registered as a professional engineer. You will have to continue to attend in-person or online seminars after that to earn continuing education credits each year.
In my case, I passed the FE exam as a college senior, in 1984. I got my MS in 1986. I worked under the supervision of a PE for three years and then passed the PE exam. Four days after I was notified that I was a professional engineer, I was laid off because the company decided to go into a different direction and didn’t need many design engineers. That’s life!
OP, you state that you will not be a “true engineer” until you have your PE. I’m not sure you totally grasp what it means to have your PE! A PE is signing off on designs as meeting all requirements and is liable (can mean big $$ consequences for you, or your insurance company) if they do not.
College prepares one to be an engineer, but there is so much more that you will learn on the job no matter what field of engineering you are in. You will be doing true engineering work immediately after college but it will be simple problems in a very controlled environment. As you gain experience, you will be given more challenging and complex assignments. To learn everything you need to insure the adequacy of a design, it may take more than 4 years depending on how complex the designs you are working on. To succeed in the CE world, you will ultimately need to get your PE license, but it does carry a great deal of responsibility.
It’s not just civil that does this, but it is more common in civil. Civil tends to work on public projects so being a PE is a must. There are plenty of opportunities as an EIT which you will be eligible for with a bachelors.
I believe if you go for a Masters it takes 1 year off the requirement and a PhD takes off 2 years. You do get some credit for advance degrees, whether its worth it to you is another story,
Passing the FE exam is not problem if you go to an ABET accredited school. My schools pass rate I believe was upwards of 90%. The PE isn’t impossible either, I think the hardest part is just getting experience.