Why do you take PE exams?

[Lucas H]

Hello

I have seen many people claiming that this is just a personal goal! Or some folks claim it is a requirement for the company or position!

My situation is: requirement! Every half year my company will have a review process and mananger will evaluate our performance and told anyone who is qualified or time to take PE: plz take the exam and get the license! Quite honestly I don’t like being pushed to take such a big exam but I cooled myself down and realized it is good for my career so it won’t hurt to just get it! Almost everyone in this office passed at the first attempt and they kept telling me I must pass it too, which gave me so much pressure from September to October! Those two months for me it was like a living hell! I studied until midnight after worked from 4:30pm! That is why the wait killed me in the whole November! Now I passed, which did polish my resume and has become a milestone for an engineer’s career! I am so happy I am being pushed to take this one! The next step for me is of course PTOE

No matter you failed this this round or passed, I would like to hear everyone’s story which might also inspire those who will take or retake it in the next round! 

 

[txjennah PE]

This is a personal goal more than anything. I'm in remediation so most of my work is interdisciplinary. I don't really do traditional engineering.  There are engineers in my office who never received their PE, and for a long time, I wasn't sure if I wanted one either.  But now I really want this license (you'd have to, with all the studying!) and hope that it will open the doors for some professional opportunities.  

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

Personal goal, and kindo f required to advance in my job.  Also, should I ever want to seek new employment, will be a help.

 

[utilityeng]

Required to advance in my field. If it wasn't, I'd still be taking it because you never know what kind of opportunities having those two letters behind your name will provide.

 

[caychanh]

Requirement to advance in my field/workplace.  I am not an engineering major so I'm perfectly ok with waiting and retaking the PE exam as many times as needed to pass.  Basically, the PE license will validate my work as a civil engineer-water even though I only have a BS in chemistry.  The Texas board required at least 8 years of engineering experience to take the exam due to non engineer degree and April 2017 was my first attempt (61%) and October 2017 was my second attempt (68%).  I was so close, but so far away.  Its ok to wait until April to retake the test so I can study more, but if I fail a third time I will have to wait a year until I can resubmit PE application and retake PE Civil WRE exam.  I recently got my hands on some EET breadth and depth notes that has shown me some mistakes that I made during previous examinations.  Hopefully, I will do much better in April 2018 and not feel so anxious and nervous waiting for the results.  Please wish me great luck.  Thanks

 

[Lucas H]

Requirement to advance in my field/workplace.  I am not an engineering major so I'm perfectly ok with waiting and retaking the PE exam as many times as needed to pass.  Basically, the PE license will validate my work as a civil engineer-water even though I only have a BS in chemistry.  The Texas board required at least 8 years of engineering experience to take the exam due to non engineer degree and April 2017 was my first attempt (61%) and October 2017 was my second attempt (68%).  I was so close, but so far away.  Its ok to wait until April to retake the test so I can study more, but if I fail a third time I will have to wait a year until I can resubmit PE application and retake PE Civil WRE exam.  I recently got my hands on some EET breadth and depth notes that has shown me some mistakes that I made during previous examinations.  Hopefully, I will do much better in April 2018 and not feel so anxious and nervous waiting for the results.  Please wish me great luck.  Thanks

awww, you are so close this run. It is ridiculous Texas will ask candidates to re-submit the app to retake the exam if there are 3 times failure. I heard people switch to other states to continue their "journey" instead of sitting out and waiting for a year. Your perseverance will reward you a green pass box in the upcoming exam. Plz keep up the hope and study hard as it is extremely rewarding in the end. Best luck for you! 

 

[Lucas H]

This is a personal goal more than anything. I'm in remediation so most of my work is interdisciplinary. I don't really do traditional engineering.  There are engineers in my office who never received their PE, and for a long time, I wasn't sure if I wanted one either.  But now I really want this license (you'd have to, with all the studying!) and hope that it will open the doors for some professional opportunities.  

it is funny that the the engineers in your office do not have license at work but you doing interdisciplinary stuffs will have one soon, which may motivate them to get one in the future. well, keep me updated, your dream will come true in 2018. 

 

[txjennah PE]

Requirement to advance in my field/workplace.  I am not an engineering major so I'm perfectly ok with waiting and retaking the PE exam as many times as needed to pass.  Basically, the PE license will validate my work as a civil engineer-water even though I only have a BS in chemistry.  The Texas board required at least 8 years of engineering experience to take the exam due to non engineer degree and April 2017 was my first attempt (61%) and October 2017 was my second attempt (68%).  I was so close, but so far away.  Its ok to wait until April to retake the test so I can study more, but if I fail a third time I will have to wait a year until I can resubmit PE application and retake PE Civil WRE exam.  I recently got my hands on some EET breadth and depth notes that has shown me some mistakes that I made during previous examinations.  Hopefully, I will do much better in April 2018 and not feel so anxious and nervous waiting for the results.  Please wish me great luck.  Thanks

Huge respect for getting so close to passing without even majoring in the subject.  I think you'll get it in April.

 

[engrTunis88]

Huge respect for getting so close to passing without even majoring in the subject.  I think you'll get it in April.

WORD, makes me feel dumb for actually majoring in CE and not getting as close as your (68%) second attempt even after my second attempt this past October ugh.  Hopefully third times a charm

 

[engine42]

The PE has been in the back of my mind since undergrad, and then more so since I declined to follow the PhD track.

The discipline I work in though - nearly no PEs, and folks who have no idea what a PE even means, and others who look me square in the eye and tell me it is a waste of time.  That may prove to be true.  On the other hand, you never know if you will be out looking for work.

I too work in a very interdisciplinary environment.  All engineering, and not any one aspect.  Systems, computer, mechanical, electronics, time series analysis - all of it can come into play in a given day.  So 15 years ago, just before my EIT certificate expired, the problem was not to decide to take the test, but what could I possibly prove practice?  Oh yeah, and did I know any PE's for references?  And yeah, had to take that FE all over again.

Then two things changed - they split the electrical discipline and I saw my opening: go for Electrical and electronics.  And then my state passed a law to require 3 PEs among the references, no exceptions.  Yow!  I just scraped by with 3 PEs who knew my work (one was expired).  Provided many other references from PhDs also to bolster the case.  Fortunately it is not a requirement that one be working under a PE.

And it was time for a bit of mid-career review of the fundamentals anyway, I had been doing a little too much bureaucratic paperwork for my taste, project management, etc. and I did not like to see math and other skills slipping for lack of use.  In that, the process of the FE->PE was effective.  I also felt I wasn't wasting my time hitting the books.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

 

[Lucas H]

The PE has been in the back of my mind since undergrad, and then more so since I declined to follow the PhD track.

The discipline I work in though - nearly no PEs, and folks who have no idea what a PE even means, and others who look me square in the eye and tell me it is a waste of time.  That may prove to be true.  On the other hand, you never know if you will be out looking for work.

I too work in a very interdisciplinary environment.  All engineering, and not any one aspect.  Systems, computer, mechanical, electronics, time series analysis - all of it can come into play in a given day.  So 15 years ago, just before my EIT certificate expired, the problem was not to decide to take the test, but what could I possibly prove practice?  Oh yeah, and did I know any PE's for references?  And yeah, had to take that FE all over again.

Then two things changed - they split the electrical discipline and I saw my opening: go for Electrical and electronics.  And then my state passed a law to require 3 PEs among the references, no exceptions.  Yow!  I just scraped by with 3 PEs who knew my work (one was expired).  Provided many other references from PhDs also to bolster the case.  Fortunately it is not a requirement that one be working under a PE.

And it was time for a bit of mid-career review of the fundamentals anyway, I had been doing a little too much bureaucratic paperwork for my taste, project management, etc. and I did not like to see math and other skills slipping for lack of use.  In that, the process of the FE->PE was effective.  I also felt I wasn't wasting my time hitting the books.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

cool story, I also declined to follow the PhD track, lol.  it is new for me that EIT cert can expire since mine can last forever, no expire date. guess so much has changed in the past decades.