Alternative Certification Research

[Qualified Engineer]

I am a new member to this site and I am highly impressed with the active participation. Over the last couple of months I have been researching alternatives to the PE or certifications which enhance the PE. Through that research I developed qualifiedengineer.com.

I have categorized numerous engineering and management certifications by discipline with the goal of creating a comprehensive online resource for engineers interested in discipline specific certifications.

It isn't meant in any way to compete with this site nor is it designed to discourage people from taking the PE, rather I see it as an opportunity for engineers to arm themselves with the resumes necessary to compete in a tough and shrinking market.

I encourage members of this board to give the site a chance and perhaps invite your peers to give it a visit. I look forward to reading your comments on engineerboards.com or on my site.

TIA.

 

[Dark Knight]

I am a new member to this site and I am highly impressed with the active participation. Over the last couple of months I have been researching alternatives to the PE or certifications which enhance the PE. Through that research I developed qualifiedengineer.com.
I have categorized numerous engineering and management certifications by discipline with the goal of creating a comprehensive online resource for engineers interested in discipline specific certifications.

It isnit meant in any way to compete with this site nor is it designed to discourage people from taking the PE, rather I see it as a opportunity for engineers arm themselves with the resumes necessary to compete in a tough and shrinking market.

I encourage members of this board to give the site a chance and perhaps invite your peers to give it a visit. I look forward to reading your comments on engineerboards.com or on my site.

TIA.

I am looking at the site later, but how are you going to sell the certification idea to the state boards? They are the ones that issue the license numbers. How good is going to be an alternative certification if your state board does not recognize it?

I am not trying to be a hard arse. Just trying to understand how this is going to fly.

 

[Qualified Engineer]

I am looking at the site later, but how are you going to sell the certification idea to the state boards? They are the ones that issue the license numbers. How good is going to be an alternative certification if your state board does not recognize it?
I am not trying to be a hard arse. Just trying to understand how this is going to fly.

I am not trying to sell certifications to the state boards. My goal is to educate prospective and current engineers about all means by which their specific skill sets can be assessed, recognized and formalized. Ultimately, a certification such as the LEED AP doesn't supersede the need for a mechanical engineer to get licensed but it does present new design considerations he or she may not have been otherwise been knowledgable about. While I am not particularly a fan of the alphabet soup I often see on consultants' business cards, I realize there is vlaue in having a designation which conveys to someone that your are well versed in a particular field.

 

[Dark Knight]

I am not trying to sell certifications to the state boards. My goal is to educate prospective and current engineers about all means by which their specific skill sets can be assessed, recognized and formalized. Ultimately, a certification such as the LEED AP doesn't supersede the need for a mechanical engineer to get licensed but it does present new design considerations he or she may not have been otherwise been knowledgable about. While I am not particularly a fan of the alphabet soup I often see on consultants' business cards, I realize there is vlaue in having a designation which conveys to someone that your are well versed in a particular field.

Questions to be answered here are:

How much are going to cost the new cretifications?

What are the benefits?

Who is, or is going, to recognize those certifications?

I have more questions but let us start with those three.

One last thing...a soup of letters at the end of a business card does not guarantee you are well versed in a particular field. It means you spend money taking a class and probably passed a test that was designed to test if you took the class.

 

[Sschell]

I looked at the site and think its a great idea. Don't know of any other resources that have that info all in one place. Maybe you can add organizations such as ASME, ASCE, NSPE, etc. I think that would add more volume and diversity to the resource.

Edit: you need links to the organizations that offer the certs. If they are there, my attention span is not long enough to find them.

 

[Supe]

You may want to add some Welding Engineering qualifications to the list. CWI, CWS, CWE, CWEng are just a handful offered domestically by the AWS alone. There are international equivalents as well.

 

[Qualified Engineer]

Questions to be answered here are:
How much are going to cost the new cretifications?

What are the benefits?

Who is, or is going, to recognize those certifications?

I have more questions but let us start with those three.

One last thing...a soup of letters at the end of a business card does not guarantee you are well versed in a particular field. It means you spend money taking a class and probably passed a test that was designed to test if you took the class.

I think you may have misinterpreted the intentions of the site and my general goals but here is my best attempt to answer your questions:

How much are going to cost the new cretifications?

The costs of an engineering certification can vary by governing association. Some associations charge as much as $500 to sit an exam. If you review the site you'lll pricing vary widely.

Who is, or is going, to recognize those certifications?

The LEED AP (for example) has over 60,000 accredited members. The certification is recognized nationwide, by the private and public sector. People with the designationa are at a minimum recognized as individuals who udnerstand the general frmaework for developing sustainable design initiatives. The preparation for the exam exposes test takers to a broad range of best of breed standards which guide designers, owners and builders.

This example holds true for many other certifcations I have researched. Of course there are a few certifications that I don't necessarily think are relevant but they may be in areas of concentration for which I have no knowledge. The site gives visitors a chance to vote on the relevance of a given certification; even though I must say, I am scared of you visiting since I suspect you'd click "USELESS" on every certification.....lol!

What are the benefits?

1. Personal satisfaction

2. Marketing Differentiation. If both of us are licensed Civil Engineers, perhaps the fact that I have the CFM (Certified Flood Manager) may give me an edge in a public sector job where there may be strong considerations for that type of expertise.

3. Better informed clients. If I am a prospective client looking for an electrical engineer with a strong background in lighting, I can seek out PEs with the LC certication.

4. Alternative recognition of skill if the PE hasn't been sought. I'm sure the PE is still the ultimate standard an engineer will seek, but if for some reason a graduate engineer takes a career path which makes it tough for them to get licensed (for example CM) then an alternative can be to use certifications to bolster their resume.

 

[Qualified Engineer]

I looked at the site and think its a great idea. Don't know of any other resources that have that info all in one place. Maybe you can add organizations such as ASME, ASCE, NSPE, etc. I think that would add more volume and diversity to the resource.

Edit: you need links to the organizations that offer the certs. If they are there, my attention span is not long enough to find them.

The links are in each certification. The style sheet used in the site doesn't underline links.

 

[Dark Knight]

I think you may have misinterpreted the intentions of the site and my general goals but here is my best attempt to answer your questions:

Yes I did. Sorry about that. Just took a look to your site. It is not the picture I had from your pots. Actually is very interesting.

This example holds true for many other certifcations I have researched. Of course there are a few certifications that I don't necessarily think are relevant but they may be in areas of concentration for which I have no knowledge. The site gives visitors a chance to vote on the relevance of a given certification; even though I must say, I am scared of you visiting since I suspect you'd click "USELESS" on every certification.....lol!

Guess I deserved that. I have not voted yet but if I do will be objective.

What are the benefits?1. Personal satisfaction

2. Marketing Differentiation. If both of us are licensed Civil Engineers, perhaps the fact that I have the CFM (Certified Flood Manager) may give me an edge in a public sector job where there may be strong considerations for that type of expertise.

3. Better informed clients. If I am a prospective client looking for an electrical engineer with a strong background in lighting, I can seek out PEs with the LC certication.

4. Alternative recognition of skill if the PE hasn't been sought. I'm sure the PE is still the ultimate standard an engineer will seek, but if for some reason a graduate engineer takes a career path which makes it tough for them to get licensed (for example CM) then an alternative can be to use certifications to bolster their resume.

It is hard for me to think that after passing the PE still have to prove myself again and obtain another certification, specially when the PE has been no good for me. In my humble opinion most of those certifications are just ways to take money away from professionals. As I said before a certification only shows you took a class and passed a test designed to be passed if you took that class.

As you mentioned in example #3 this opens the door to create more and more sub specializations and somebody to come with a way to get more money from professionals. Just my opinion. Nothing personal. After visiting your site have to say that there are things that look interesting and I would be willing to try...if my employer pays for it.

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dleg]

Not a bad start. You need to add the Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) to civil and environmental, as well as the stormwater equivalent to that Stormwater Quality Professional something) offered by the same (or sister) organization - the IECA.

DK, maybe you don't agree with the idea of additional certifications because you haven't encountered the big "new" fields that have popped up in the civil/environmental world, like the LEED green building stuff, erosion and stormwater quality control, septic systems, etc. None of that stuff is covered in school as a standard part ofthe undergrad engienering curriculum, and is also not covered on the PE. Yet many state, federal, and local permits and certificaitons can not be obtained unless you know these subjects. An extra certification is one of the most popular ways to get around the lack of sanctioned education on these subjects.

 

[Qualified Engineer]

Not a bad start. You need to add the Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) to civil and environmental, as well as the stormwater equivalent to that Stormwater Quality Professional something) offered by the same (or sister) organization - the IECA.
DK, maybe you don't agree with the idea of additional certifications because you haven't encountered the big "new" fields that have popped up in the civil/environmental world, like the LEED green building stuff, erosion and stormwater quality control, septic systems, etc. None of that stuff is covered in school as a standard part ofthe undergrad engineering curriculum, and is also not covered on the PE. Yet many state, federal, and local permits and certifications can not be obtained unless you know these subjects. An extra certification is one of the most popular ways to get around the lack of sanctioned education on these subjects.

I second that notion.

Also, I would like to get the research to a point where I am able to provide visitors with the best online resources for engineering advice. This website would one such example, perhaps eng-tips.com would be another. Also, I the coming weeks I will be adding information on the best test preparations quides and strategies. That task is a bit more ambitious so pleas be patient as I assemble the information. Feel free to email me or write a comment on the site if you have useful info to add.

thnx

 

[SSmith]

I am almost not surprised that there is no mention of Reliability Engineering...

 

[MechGuy]

I like the site, but find it has a lot of redundancy. Perhaps you could have a list of general certifications that any engineer would be interested in, such as the PMP. That way you don't have the PMP, or other similar certifications listed under every single discipline.

 

[Qualified Engineer]

I am almost not surprised that there is no mention of Reliability Engineering...

Not quite true:

http://www.qualifiedengineer.com/2008/11/r...tification-cre/

I listed it under Industrial Engineering. Do you think I should separate it into it's own discipline?

 

[Qualified Engineer]

I like the site, but find it has a lot of redundancy. Perhaps you could have a list of general certifications that any engineer would be interested in, such as the PMP. That way you don't have the PMP, or other similar certifications listed under every single discipline.

As the certification list grows, I will take that into consideration. Right now, I have about 37 certs

 

[Ritchie503]

I looked at the site, it is interesting - nice to list them all in one spot. I could not find RCDD (Registered Communications Distribution Designer) listed on the website, I think that is one that should be added (I hear this all the time within electrial/low voltage design). Also, for fire alarm design/work, I always hear NICET (National Institue for Certification in Engineering Technologies), there are various levels (from what I see on NICET's website they do more than just fire). Some fire inspectors won't talk to people onsite unless they are of at least a certain NICET level - for fire alarm work it seems to be important.

Just my :2cents: