PE Advantage????

[coolvinitd]

Guys...just passed my PE!!...Good luck to everyone that is still trying to find out.....I am trying to get an understanding about what to expect/negotiate in terms of salaries and bonuses!!! Can you expereinced guys out there give me some advice on what usual bonuses and raises are, directly referenced to the fact that you have a PE now....(so apart from your yearly raise and stuf....only related to u having a PE now?)..............I would really appreciate the advice!! ass

 

[tmckeon_PE]

Would help to know which state you are in.

Merry Chistmas!

 

[DVINNY]

Congrats cool,

what state? what discipline? how many years, etc? That would help us out with where you are.

How much $$ you are making now is a factor too.

 

[coolvinitd]

Guys...I am in Washington DC area....just passed my PE-Civil exam in DC........I am with a Transportation Consulting firm........my education is BS+MS.....I have abt 4 yrs work experience now and am currently making abt 62K annually......Please let me know what your thoughts are on what shoul I expect now that I m a PE.........

 

[Dark_Knight]

Just remember that the PE does not make you the center of the universe. There is nothing more aggravating in an engineering office than a spoiled new PE. That goes to all of you that passed. You are not more or less engineer that you were last Thursday morning. Behave as a pro and not like a spoiled little brat.

 

[coolvinitd]

Dark Knight.....appreciate the word of caution!! Helped me gain my feet on the ground a little bit!! .....But everybody and their %@#@ have been asking me to ask for a raise once I get my PE.....so I m just trying to get an understanding of what I should ask for.............any advice.....

 

[redrum]

4 years of experience + PE I would think you should at least be in the 70's

'.02'

 

[Art]

not much if you work for a firm owned by PE's...

they assume the liability and stamp the drawings...most places don't care, a designer will suit their needs just fine, for less pay...

a lot if you start your own firm....and assume all the risk...

your work quality or output does not magically change over night...so why would that merit more pay? most places give token raises...if you're looking for a big one, move, find a place desperate for the stamp...although you may not want to work in a place like that...

I made 90k+ in a place I did not need to be registered...now I do, took the test, and hopefully passed...but make 70k...and am much happier with my job...

just got 2 offers: 80k ffrom a consulting firm promising to review me for partnership in 1 year (2 out of the 4 retiring) and Westinghouse ~95k (150k+ if I'm willing to work in China) they got a HUGE nuke contract...at least 5-6 years of work, if not more...

so just find a job you like, do well, and it will pay off....

 

[benbo]

I just added the letters "PE" to my Monster resume and got about five times the interest. Also, in certain civil service jobs a PE puts you in a higher range. It also depends on your discipline. I think a PE is more important to a civil engineer than an electrical engineer. As a matter of fact, I worked in defense and semiconductors with a lot of $100K+ engineers (I'm in California) and most of them wouldn't have even known what a PE was.

 

[CluelessOne]

Guys...I am in Washington DC area....just passed my PE-Civil exam in DC........I am with a Transportation Consulting firm........my education is BS+MS.....I have abt 4 yrs work experience now and am currently making abt 62K annually......Please let me know what your thoughts are on what shoul I expect now that I m a PE.........

You should be making way more than that. I used to live in the DC area, and I know it's not a cheap place to live. I live in the midwest now and make more than you do, and I haven't even gotten the result from my FE exam yet!

 

[Art]

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouth...brief_EN01.html

good source on salary ranges...

salaries are like d!ck sizes, always exagerated, and only your wife knows for sure

I have a guy, BSCE Drexel, EIT, 2+ years of experience, 1/2 towards a MSCE (env) from Pitt, he makes 42k...it depends a lot where you live, and how good you are...

 

[DVINNY]

salaries are like d!ck sizes, always exagerated, and only your wife knows for sure

:rotflmao :claps: :rotfl:

 

[pokadoros]

Depends on size of firm and Clients. Assuming 500+ employees and no significant work with cheap VDOT and MDSHA you should look at around $68-$72k. With a smaller firm, County etc $65 would be nice! Don't forget most companies give raises next week. Average 4.2% this year for our firm. :wait

 

[Art]

salaries are like d!ck sizes, always exagerated, and only your wife knows for sure

:rotflmao :claps: :rotfl:

my wifes not good at math/dimensions (she's a CPA :rotfl: )

I've managed to convince her of this:

>----------------------- this = 6"-------------------------<

 

[Dark_Knight]

Did not mean to sound harsh. As a matter of fact it would be foolish if you don't try to cash on your PE. You have to do it because is fair. You have a license, or will have a license as soon as your state issues it, and did cost you money and hard work. Of course you have to ask for a raise!!!

But I would like to know how passing a standardized test makes better engineers overnight. In my opinion it says a jack about how capable or not you are. Have seen new PEs that are not able to calculate 2 + 2 without a 48G or a TI-83. Oh, but they are PEs and think the whole world will now bow under their presence. They walk the halls with this "superiority complex" because their cards now have a PE after their last name. Just like that.

Your license will not be complete if you don't have integrity, character, honesty and values; in the professional and the personal field. Without that is just another piece of paper.

VTEnviro said it better than I did. Read his post.He summarizes what I wanted to say. Excuse me if it made you feel bad. One last thing: Go for your rise. You earned it. Congrats

 

[Mike1144]

The management here seems to think I'll get a brain transplant with my stamp. :wait

Like they remove the temporary "EIT" model and replace it with full function "PE" model.

Thats how new PE's get spoiled, the managers treat them like they all of a sudden they can answer questions.

I actually feel dumber going through this exam process. I've devoted my attention from the real world to some theoretical, idealized world where the answer is always A,B,C, or D. I wish real life problems always had one of four possible outcomes.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

The thing I found about getting the PE is that you don't necessarily think of yourself any differently, but everyone else around you does. Let that go to your head and it's bad news.

Managers and clients suddenly view you as an expert and take your opinion more seriously, but also expect more accountability and responsibility out of you.

And the people that were working with you, are suddenly working for you. And a good professional support staff won't question your authority as long as you don't bask in that authority.