<p>When is the best time to take the FE exam? How much experience do you need before you take the PE exam? Is there any point in taking the FE exam while still in grad school since one would not really be working in the field?</p>
<p>Take the FE as soon as you can, summer after UG graduation. PE requirements are mandated by the state.</p>
<p>The FE exam tests mainly knowledge that you learn in your undergrad years, so it’s recommended to take it when the knowledge is still fresh, spring of your senior undergraduate year. I’ve got several coworkers who figured they’d put it off 'til later and are kicking themselves now.</p>
<p>The <em>typical</em> amount of qualifying experience that’s required in order to take the PE exam is about four years, but again, it’s mandated by the state board of professional engineers, so it varies a little from state to state. Some states will allow you to take a year or two off the required amount of qualifying experience necessary if you get an advanced degree. In most of the states I’ve looked at, it’s one year for any advanced degree, and you can only take off a maximum of one year off the required amount of experience.</p>
<p>Corbett’s a good resource for more specific info on licensure.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! The spring FE exam was on my son’s graduation weekend (boo! who planned that?!), so he didn’t take that one. He is in grad school now, but it sounds like he should take the FE as soon as possible.</p>
<p>For a vast majority of engineers, a PE is a completely pointless. While you could “play it safe” and go for it anyways, just realize that if you don’t need it literally does nothing for you.</p>
<p>If it’s pointless for you, you won’t be able to sit for the PE exam anyway. I know in New York, you need to be working directly for a PE and need 3 references from licensed engineers.</p>
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Yes, for three possible reasons.</p>
<p>(1) As stated above, the FE largely tests on undergraduate-level fundamentals. So you want to take it while this material is still fresh in your mind.</p>
<p>(2) If you pass the FE exam while in school, you can use the “Engineer-in-Training” title (or whatever title your state confers to successful FE candidates) on your resume when applying for your first job. Of course, this is only a significant advantage if you are entering an engineering field where licensure is important. </p>
<p>(3) I believe that in some (not all) states, you don’t start accumulating PE-qualifying experience until after you’ve passed the FE exam. If you’ve already passed the FE in school, this is not an issue: you can start accumulating PE-qualifying experience as soon as you begin your first job. But if you don’t pass the FE until after you’ve started working, then there is a potential issue (depending on the state). Your work experience may not count as PE-qualifying until you pass the FE exam, which could be months or years after you begin working.</p>
<p>Same in Texas, Ken.</p>
<p>There’s only one real reason I can think of why someone who doesn’t do the sort of work that requires an engineer’s seal would want to go for their PE… that’s if they have plans to sit on the board of directors of a big engineering firm that does business in a state that requires that a certain percentage of their board of directors have PE licensure in that state. I think New York is one of those states. I don’t know the exact stipulations involved, and what types of firms are required to have this, but I know it extends beyond the realm of civil engineering in some circumstances.</p>
<p>It’s pretty rare, though.</p>
<p>I’ve heard from some professors that if you don’t have a PE, even if you’re in a field that typically doesn’t require it, and you’re acting as expert witness in a court of law your credibility will often be questioned.</p>
<p>I thought you couldn’t testify at all? Or maybe it’s just that a lawyer won’t put you up on the stand?</p>
<p>Well, there are fields for which there is no PE exam. If you have a PE in a field that’s even pretty unrelated to what you’re actually doing, it’s still a sign of state accreditation and can be seen as a positive.</p>
<p>(One of the guys I was talking with recently was a MechE for undergrad and Materials for PhD, and is now a professor of materials within a MechE department. So he could probably get the PE for MechE with all of the years he had worked prior to his PhD, but it would be fairly unrelated to the kind of work he does nowadays.)</p>
<p>In some states if you don’t have a PE from that state you cannot call yourself an engineer. You cannot advertise your services as an engineer. You cannot perform engineering work. (Network engineer? forget it!) And, like aibarr said, you cannot sit on the board of an engineering company. </p>
<p>Silly? Sure but since when are laws required to make sense? </p>
<p>Additionally, in some companies its mandatory to have a PE to advance in the firm.</p>
<p>Getting the license is a lot like getting the degree in the first place; its a certification that youve accomplished a certain level of professional experience. Think about it: when was the last time any of you engineers solved a differential equation? Me neither. But your degree assures everyone that you did. Its the same with the license.</p>
<p>It surely helps on the resume. If I see two similar resumes and one has the PE and the other doesnt, Im much more likely to hire the PE, even if the position doesnt demand it.</p>
<p>BTW: Ive been a PE for 25 years and have never stamped a drawing. But I could if necessary and thats the key point.</p>
<p>On topic: take the FE as soon as you can. I waited 4 years and it was a bear, circuits yuk… The PE was a breeze in comparison.</p>
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<p>None of those are strictly true… We’ve had a debate where pieces of the code have been quoted, and really only the engineering jobs that conventionally require licensure are jobs where you <em>cannot</em> call yourself an engineer unless you have a PE.</p>
<p>And usually it’s only a certain percentage of people who are on the board have to have PEs… The CFO or the CIO, for example, usually aren’t required to be engineers.</p>