Tina: you pretty much answered your own question. In a larger company with a lot of PE's then there really is no need to add another one. The individual gets thier PE as a personal career move. Of course the credential is worth something and the bonus/salary increase would likely come from a promotion within the company as opposed to the ability to seal drawings. My experience is that the company won't let you stamp drawings, only management can because of the potential exposure for liability. When/if you're asked or directed to stamp work and therefore be the "engineer of record" you'll have attained a level (and salary) comensurate with that level of responsibilty.If we go thru all the effort to get our stamp and the company benefits from it, they should give us a pay raise, especially if the company is doing very well financially. The company I work for has quite a few PEs working for them and they wouldn't need another one. So I don't know if they would give me a raise or not. But I wouldn't stamp anything without a raise.They'd probably care less. But you know, I want to be a PE to get a better pay at some point in time. After all, I didn't get up at 4 in the morning every day and study just for fun. It has to pay off some day.
I understand that the picture looks very different if you work for a small company and they're dependent on you.
The "pay off" has to do with advancement within the firm and assuming greater responsibility.