Construction Application-Work Experience Section

Hi Friends,

I am completing the Civil-Construction application for April and as part of that, it is needed to write about the experiences in the field of construction (And as you know as a CE/OE we don't do designing structures and it is more construction management responsibilities) How should I write the work experience? Would please give me your thoughts on how I should write the work experience to get accepted by the board? Any comments that should be considered?

I greatly appreciate your comments in advance.

You should review the requirements for your state and make sure your description describes what you have done while satisfying the boards requirements. Did you do any internship work that you can count? I don't know ow where you are from, but in NJ you need at least 2 years of design experience in order to qualify for the exam. 

Civileng2019 said:

Hi Friends,

I am completing the Civil-Construction application for April and as part of that, it is needed to write about the experiences in the field of construction (And as you know as a CE/OE we don't do designing structures and it is more construction management responsibilities) How should I write the work experience? Would please give me your thoughts on how I should write the work experience to get accepted by the board? Any comments that should be considered?

I greatly appreciate your comments in advance.

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This topic is discussed is quite frequently since a lot of those applying for the construction exam have little or no actual design experience.  Please review the Construction Exam section and the Anything about the PE Exam section as this topic has been discussed in detail.  There are some fallacies about applying to site for exam that seem to permeate in a lot of circles:

1.  While actual design experience is important, it is not a requirement to sit for the exam.  Please review the Progressive Experience Requirements as it details what the actual requirements are to sit for the exam.

2.  Working "directly" under a Professional Engineer is a rather loose term and not necessarily a prerequisite.  I recently asked someone who sites on the Architectural and Engineers Examiners Board in Tennessee this exact question.  He stated that he helped a recent applicant find a PE with the State Highway Department  sign off on his experience.  He stated the key is that the PE signing off on their work is familiar with the applicant and their skills and has a relationship with the applicant (Direct Supervisor, Project Team member, Consultants, Supplier, client, Contractor, Regulator, etc.).  The example he brought up was someone worked for a highway contractor had no PE"s in their company but wanted to get licensed.  A PE from the State Highway Department signed off on their experience (He was a regulator or "client",was familiar with their work, and had a relationship with them).

Searching around this website on some of subforum listed above should help.

Good Luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

This happened to me as well. Here's a few pieces of advice in addition to above:

- I didn't know it at the time but scheduling and cost estimating will be a part of the Construction PE Exam. Check out the Construction Exam requirements that NCEES provides and write toward that.

- I actually gave up on my current state and applied elsewhere after the first return of my application. I had no issues with the second state. It doesn't matter where I am licensed for my job, but I am currently moving to my current state via comity (with a few extra years of experience now). Check the application requirements and standards of neighboring states, turned out the application was easier and I would have spent less hours on my application plus a 12 hour round trip drive if I had just gone to the second state first. I think it was cheaper too, but not much.

- It's a pain in the ass but worth it.

No pun intended, I kind of engineered my way through the application process. Seems fitting.