# Do I meet the 4 Year Requirement?



## goodoboy (Apr 20, 2011)

I am Control Systems Engineer who wants to take CSE PE exam in October 2011. I am not sure if I will have 4 years experience.

I started working as control systems engineer out of college on June 14, 2007

Here is my work experience timeline:

6/14/2007 - 9/04/2010 : Worked for Fluor Engineering

9/04/2010 - 9/25/2010 :LOA, Leave of Absence from Fluor due to no projects. I was still employee with Fluor, just inactive. I was given unemployment benefits during this time.

9/25/2010- 11/29/2010: Still on LOA (empoyee) with Fluor, but work contract as control systems engineer with CB&amp;I.

11/29/2010 - Present: Working at Fluor as Control Systems Engineer.

1. June will make 4 years for me and I want to submit application to take PE in October, do I meet the 4 year requirment or do I need to wait?

2. HR at Fluor have me as active employee with Fluor from 6/14/2007 to Present. Can I just use this as my 4 years experience without mentioning LOA or contract work at CB&amp;I?

3. Do I have to show my contract work at CB&amp;I? My work here was not much engineering, just database work instrumentation work.

Sorry for the confusion. I just want to be sure what to do, so I don't get rejected. Thank you alot. You can ask me any questions.


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## Exception Collection (Apr 20, 2011)

goodoboy said:


> I am Control Systems Engineer who wants to take CSE PE exam in October 2011. I am not sure if I will have 4 years experience.
> I started working as control systems engineer out of college on June 14, 2007
> 
> Here is my work experience timeline:
> ...


Note: This advice may vary from state to state. YMMV.

As of 6/4, you won't have the required experience. However, you can probably apply anyway, based on the expectation that you will complete the experience prior to sitting for the exam.

This assumes that the work you did for CB&amp;I meets the requirements of the State. It probably does, if the database work was at all connected to the Engineering (even if you were building a database system for other engineers to use).

I didn't meet my PE requirements until after the submittal deadline, and that's how they dealt with it - they sent a confirmation letter later though.

Of course, this all varies also in part based on which state you are looking at.


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## envirotex (Apr 21, 2011)

I would check with your state's board. A phone call will probably do the trick...

In Texas, you must meet the four year requirement before you file your application. From the TBPE...

"You must meet the following experience requirements prior to application with the Board:

1. With an accredited engineering degree you must have a minimum of 4 years of active practice in engineering work, of a character satisfactory to the Board, indicating that you are competent to be placed in responsible charge of such work.

2. With a non-accredited degree you must have a minimum of 8 years of the same type of work required of those candidates with an accredited engineering degree.

Types of Experience"


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## Exception Collection (Apr 21, 2011)

envirotex said:


> I would check with your state's board. A phone call will probably do the trick...
> In Texas, you must meet the four year requirement before you file your application. From the TBPE...
> 
> "You must meet the following experience requirements prior to application with the Board:
> ...


Another place to check is the individual state's laws &amp; regulations; they should say. Start there, and if you are still confused check with the board.


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## Peele1 (Apr 21, 2011)

Maybe don't ask don't tell?

The experience must be done by the date of the application, not the test.

You have 4 choices:

1. delay and take the April test.

2. don't mention the LOA or other job - but what happens if you get audited?

3. mention the other job as a job duty for Flour.

4. mention the other job as a separate job.

The First LOA is only 3 weeks. You can take a 3 week vacation...

During your LOA were you on the payroll?

It sounds to me like you worked for Flour continuously for 4 years, minus a short vacation of less than one month. Your work at CBI was a job duty at Flour.

Check state laws on experience criteria. Also, check state laws on LOA.

YMMV, IANAL.


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## Exception Collection (Apr 21, 2011)

Peele1 said:


> Maybe don't ask don't tell?
> The experience must be done by the date of the application, not the test.
> 
> You have 4 choices:
> ...


Even if the three week vacation idea flies - and it might, I hadn't considered it in the light of vacation time; check with your jurisdiction to ensure acceptability - the date of hire was 6/14/07. If the 4 year requirement is pre-application, the application must be submitted after 6/14 (assuming the vacation angle flies), 7/5 (if the CB&amp;I work qualifies but the LOA time doesn't), or 8/18 (if CB&amp;I time doesn't qualify). The application deadlines vary significantly within that time period; Oregon for example would require application 6/1, California 7/8.

All in all, the OP needs to talk to their jurisdiction and/or review the rules in any case.

Edit: Oh yeah, and let me know what the decision is. I'm going to be taking a LOA/long vacation from my company at some point "soon"; I'll be out of the country for over a month.


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## goodoboy (Apr 21, 2011)

Peele1 said:


> Maybe don't ask don't tell?
> The experience must be done by the date of the application, not the test.
> 
> You have 4 choices:
> ...


Thanks for your response.

1. I spoke with HR and during LOA I was employee with Fluor, just no active. Fluor has me on record as employee from 7/14/2007 til now. If an employer call this what they will tell the employer.

2. I really don't want to use the work at CB&amp;I as it only pertained to entering signal tpes for PLC, DCS, and SIS sytems. This data is needed for vendor to program the systems accordingly. Is this engineering experience?

3. How will the state board verify my experience?

4. Is the CSE exam only offered in October?

5. I was not paid during my LOA.

Thanks,


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## snickerd3 (Apr 21, 2011)

call the board of the state you wish to test in and ask. They are the only ones who can tell you with any certainty.


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## Exception Collection (Apr 21, 2011)

goodoboy said:


> Peele1 said:
> 
> 
> > Maybe don't ask don't tell?
> ...


1 - Sounds good. But you'd said earlier that you were employed 6/14, here you are saying 7/14. That matters. Personally, I'd err on the side of caution; it would be unfortunate if they decided you were not qualified.

2 - Again, this depends. Doubtful, from your description. For my experience, drafting and creating spreadsheets both helped, archive maintenance during downtime did not.

3 - At least for the boards I've had direct or indirect experience with (CA, OR, WA, HI, NV) you will give each employer (or supervisor) a packet to fill out / finish filling out. They will use that packet to reference your job duties, how well you perform, whether you are ethical, etc.

4 - I believe that depends on the state. In Oregon, it's fall only.

5 - That may not matter.


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## goodoboy (Apr 21, 2011)

snickerd3 said:


> call the board of the state you wish to test in and ask. They are the only ones who can tell you with any certainty.



Hello all. I called the Texas exam boards, here is what they told me.

1. I have to document all months of working.

2. The LOA I took for 3 months 9/2010 to 12/2010 will not count as actual engineering experience. This means I want have 4 years experience until 9/2011.

3. I will miss the deadline, which means I have to take CSE PE exam in Oct 2012.

4. I have to claim the contract position at CB&amp;I for the two months. But this does not count as engineering experience because it was less than 3 months.

Can I start gather references at my current job now before I find a new job?

Thanks,


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## envirotex (Apr 21, 2011)

goodoboy said:


> snickerd3 said:
> 
> 
> > call the board of the state you wish to test in and ask. They are the only ones who can tell you with any certainty.
> ...


Glad to know you contacted the board. In Texas, your references have to review your experience record (SER) and provide an opinion as to whether or not your experience counts as engineering experience, so you'll probably have to wait on that as well...but, you should just call the board again and double check. Their website is very useful, as well.

Best of luck!


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## CincinnatiControlsGuy (Apr 21, 2011)

Apologies if this has been brought up, but did you consider using co-op experience? I used it in Ohio and had no difficulties. I took and passed the October 2010 EC&amp;C PE exam with work experience starting from July 2007 fresh out of school, but with a year and a half of co-op experience at Duke Energy under a PE. It could be a game changer for you, but can screw with comity in three states: Indiana, Illinois and Connecticut.


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## willsee (Apr 22, 2011)

GroesbeckEE said:


> Apologies if this has been brought up, but did you consider using co-op experience? I used it in Ohio and had no difficulties. I took and passed the October 2010 EC&amp;C PE exam with work experience starting from July 2007 fresh out of school, but with a year and a half of co-op experience at Duke Energy under a PE. It could be a game changer for you, but can screw with comity in three states: Indiana, Illinois and Connecticut.


Illinois counts one year of co-op experience


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## HerrKaLeun (Apr 22, 2011)

goodoboy said:


> Hello all. I called the Texas exam boards, here is what they told me.
> 1. I have to document all months of working.
> 
> 2. The LOA I took for 3 months 9/2010 to 12/2010 will not count as actual engineering experience. This means I want have 4 years experience until 9/2011.
> ...


In Wisconsin you will need to get new PE references if they are more than a year old. I mean, if you get them now and apply in a year, those people need to write them again (in case meanwhile they changed their mind). this may be different in your state....

Regarding experience, it is normal that in the beginning of the career you don't do complete designs and do mundane work (like your data entry). After all, my days is mixes with all sorts of things. I would try to use that as experience if it was related to engineering. engineering is more than doing pumping calculations all day long...


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