<p>As I understand it, all engineering graduates with a BS need to take the FE exam to actually be authorized to work in the USA. But, my goal is to go international, while I still kinda feel like I should take the exam, would it be pointless if I want to go work in Sweden or Turkey? I'm guessing other countries have their own "exam" and for those already professionally working, if you have experience on whether our FE exam applies to most other countries let me know...</p>
<p>You don’t need the FE to work anywhere. FE is a prerequisite to sit for the PE exam, which allows you to become a professional engineer. Most engineers are not professional engineers; usually only civil engineers or others involved in infrastructure attempt to become licensed.</p>
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You misunderstand; there is no such requirement. </p>
<p>You may be confused because many engineering programs do require students to take the FE exam in order to graduate. But this is because schools like to use the FE exam as an assessment exam, to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of graduating students. There is no legal requirement for it. </p>
<p>As stated above, it is only necessary to pass the FE exam if you want to eventually earn a state Professional Engineer’s license. But the vast majority of US engineers are unlicensed. A PE license is typically required only on projects involving site-specific infrastructure (structures, roads, utilities, etc). </p>
<p>So most civil engineering students do plan to become licensed, and do take the FE exam. But most other engineering students do not, unless their school requires them to do so.</p>
<p>The FE exam is only used for licensure in the US and associated territories. It is sometimes offered in other countries, but this is for the benefit of US military engineers stationed overseas, or for foreign engineers involved in US projects.</p>
<p>^ Ah - well that explains it, I am a Civil Engineer. Guess I should have mentioned that. So doing only the FE exam is kinda pointless? Because my lecturer said people take the PE exam “5 to 10 yrs down the road” after taking the FE one. Anyhow, thanks for the info! I think I’ll take it anyway… I just hope it’s not too difficult.</p>
<p>If you plan to work overseas as a civil engineer, then the FE exam will have no direct bearing on your ability to get licensed in other countries, since no other countries use it.</p>
<p>However, it could still be a good idea to pass the FE exam before leaving the US. If you are working overseas, then at some point you may want to apply for a foreign engineering license. However, it’s often very difficult for licensing authorities to evaluate the credentials of applicants who have been trained in other countries, because international standards can vary widely. One question that they may consider is: </p>
<p>“Given that this applicant is American, would he be eligible to apply for engineering licensure in the USA?”</p>
<p>If you have not passed the FE exam, then the answer would be have to be “no” (even if you had an ABET BS degree and sufficient work experience). Realistically, if your credentials don’t meet the standards of US licensing boards, then you can’t necessarily expect foreign licensing boards to be impressed by them either.</p>