PE Application in NJ -- questions about the Detailed Statement of Experience and PE supervision

[ballyhoohoo]

I currently have about 7.5 years of experience as an engineer, however for most of this time I did not have a "direct supervisor". The company I worked for previously had more of a flat hierarchy and I worked under the supervision of several different managers. Typically each job was issued by a singular manager, but there was commonly overlap between managers.

This brings me to my second question... The nature of my job means that over the past 7.5 years I've "issued" over 1000 individual projects, although the vast majority of these projects were trivial. I would say anywhere between 50-100 of them were actually substantial enough to warrant putting on the Detailed Statement of Experience form, so I will essentially be submitting the max. Is this typical? It will still easily add up to 4+ years.

Also worth noting -- although I have been doing engineering work, only one of the aforementioned supervisors is actually a licensed PE. I am aware that this seriously hurts my chances of being accepted, as it's a requirement that 4 years of your experience be under "direct supervision" of a licensed PE. How subjective is this requirement? I would assume they actually count out the exact number of years you specify in your experience form, but I'm hoping this isn't the case or otherwise my situation is pretty complicated.

Also, if you actually go to the NJ state statute governing this, there is no mention of this "direct supervision of a licensed PE" -- it only appears on the Consumer Affairs website. So I'm not sure if that requirement actually exists anymore, or if it just falls on the board to make a subjective decision.

Any words of wisdom are appreciated.

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

When preparing your experience statement, don't get caught up in the number of substantial projects you have worked on. The smaller projects will still count and you can lump them together as long as you are doing engineering for those jobs. I did that when I applied for my PE license because most of the work I do is related to single family homes where I only spend a few hours on each project.

In terms of the supervisors, the company should have a main PE. You should talk with them or whichever PE signed off on most of your work. In NJ, all of your references do not need to be a PE, so you can definitely get references from the non-PE supervisors that are most familiar with your work. Before getting back into design work, I spent almost 5 years doing construction management for a renovation company. Although I didn't work undder a PE, I used the owner as a reference so that they can attest to my skills of being able to manage a project, deal with different clients/contractors/municipal agencies, and my growth in the position from starting as just an assistant manager to being lead manager on projects.

 

[Arvinder]

So, was your experience was approved, even though it was specifically not related to designing experience & by non - PE ? How much percentage of it was accepted from 5 years ? Thanks in advance

 

[Arvinder]

When preparing your experience statement, don't get caught up in the number of substantial projects you have worked on. The smaller projects will still count and you can lump them together as long as you are doing engineering for those jobs. I did that when I applied for my PE license because most of the work I do is related to single family homes where I only spend a few hours on each project.

In terms of the supervisors, the company should have a main PE. You should talk with them or whichever PE signed off on most of your work. In NJ, all of your references do not need to be a PE, so you can definitely get references from the non-PE supervisors that are most familiar with your work. Before getting back into design work, I spent almost 5 years doing construction management for a renovation company. Although I didn't work undder a PE, I used the owner as a reference so that they can attest to my skills of being able to manage a project, deal with different clients/contractors/municipal agencies, and my growth in the position from starting as just an assistant manager to being lead manager on projects.

So, was your experience was approved, even though it was specifically not related to designing experience & by non - PE ? How much percentage of it was accepted from 5 years ? Thanks in advance

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

So, was your experience was approved, even though it was specifically not related to designing experience & by non - PE ? How much percentage of it was accepted from 5 years ? Thanks in advance

I got the required experience in engineering design, under a PE prior to applying for my PE( before the exams were decoupled). However, I still used the owner of the renovation company as 1 of my references and I included that work on my experience since project management (dealing with private clients, dealing with municipal agencies for permits, dealing with various building inspectors) is a big part of engineering design. Your experience should also show your growth in the engineering field. Your responsibilities after 5 years of experience should not be the same as day 1. It should show a progression feom entry-level where you may have been micromanaged, to mid-level where you had some design freedom, to upper level where you worked under a PE but you had control in leading the project, getting everything needed to secure project approvals, etc.