Should I Get My PE License?

[Defenestrator]

Long story short: I meet all the requirements to get my PE license in my state (pending passing the exam, which i feel confident i will), but i dont feel confident as an engineer. Would it be worth it to get my PE license or wait to get my stamp? The pay bump is very tempting but i feel like i will be thrown into the deep end and expected to swim.

I have four years experience in commercial electrical design. However, the most engineering ive done is lighting design (footcandles), voltage drop, space planning, arc flash studies, TCC coordination, IECC code compliance. Basic NEC stuff.

Limited experience with submittals, construction administration, client interaction,

I feel like the vast majority of my experience is in drafting and creating construction documents. EX the stamping engineer will give me red line markups and i turn it into CAD or REVIT. I feel like a drafter more than an engineer most of the time.

What are your thoughts? Should i get it after i pass the test, or wait until im confident as an engineer?

 

[sameguy]

Do it now if you feel you can pass.

 

[Buck Parrish]

You should go ahead and get it.

Those folks whom have never made a mistake. They've likely not done very much.

 

[sameguy]

You should go ahead and get it.

Those folks whom have never made a mistake. They've likely not done very much.

I used to tell my guys "If you are trying you will make a mistake; mistakes we can fix, it's the fword ups we can't!".

 

[ggunn]

Long story short: I meet all the requirements to get my PE license in my state (pending passing the exam, which i feel confident i will), but i dont feel confident as an engineer. Would it be worth it to get my PE license or wait to get my stamp? The pay bump is very tempting but i feel like i will be thrown into the deep end and expected to swim.

I have four years experience in commercial electrical design. However, the most engineering ive done is lighting design (footcandles), voltage drop, space planning, arc flash studies, TCC coordination, IECC code compliance. Basic NEC stuff.

Limited experience with submittals, construction administration, client interaction,

I feel like the vast majority of my experience is in drafting and creating construction documents. EX the stamping engineer will give me red line markups and i turn it into CAD or REVIT. I feel like a drafter more than an engineer most of the time.

What are your thoughts? Should i get it after i pass the test, or wait until im confident as an engineer?

Get it. Get it now.

You always will have the option of demurring if you are asked to stamp something that you do not feel qualified to certify; in fact, the law here in Texas demands it. I got my PE license years ago even though I thought I might never need it because I was working for a huge company with a bazillion engineers. When that company kicked me to the curb I was damn glad I had secured my license. It opened doors for me that would have otherwise been closed off.

Get it. Get it now. You will always have the option of not using it.

 

[Iron_Ben]

Long story short: I meet all the requirements to get my PE license in my state (pending passing the exam, which i feel confident i will), but i dont feel confident as an engineer. Would it be worth it to get my PE license or wait to get my stamp? The pay bump is very tempting but i feel like i will be thrown into the deep end and expected to swim.

I have four years experience in commercial electrical design. However, the most engineering ive done is lighting design (footcandles), voltage drop, space planning, arc flash studies, TCC coordination, IECC code compliance. Basic NEC stuff.

Limited experience with submittals, construction administration, client interaction,

I feel like the vast majority of my experience is in drafting and creating construction documents. EX the stamping engineer will give me red line markups and i turn it into CAD or REVIT. I feel like a drafter more than an engineer most of the time.

What are your thoughts? Should i get it after i pass the test, or wait until im confident as an engineer?

No brainer. Take the test. Assuming you pass, yep, you’re a licensed PE. Doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about electrical engineering. I knew my limits, as you seem to know yours. I was really good in a narrow area, and largely ignorant in all others. I never stamped anything I wasn’t 100% confident in and neither should you.

Being a PE is a serious and significant responsibility. On a personal note, having a license opened a lot of doors for me, and enhanced my career tremendously.

 

[retirede]

Take the test. The only things you lack are experience and confidence. Both will come with time.

 

[drcampbell]

Yes.
Douglas Campbell, P.E.


Prepare yourself for the test. Not the material, the test. I assume you already know the material.

You will need to work fast. The exam crams a week's worth of engineering work into a day.

Bring a clock with you. A little wind-up travel clock is ideal. Don't rely on your phone; it's likely to be forbidden or impounded. Don't rely on your wristwatch; you'll need something that will be in your field of view without needing to remember to look at it because you'll be doing hard problems fast and will forget to look at your watch.

Bring a basic non-programmable calculator. I know, you may have to search through the archives to find one.D

Decide well in advance what reference material you're going to bring and bookmark it.

Get comfortable. They're likely to use banquet furniture, so bring a pillow to sit on and a clipboard or other smooth surface to write on. Dress lightly and bring an extra layer. Pack a lunch and snacks.

Don't plan on doing anything that evening except dragging yourself home and unwinding. Don't schedule anything demanding for the next day.

 

[junkhound]

Yes, do it as soon as your next exam window.

100% good advise in previous posts.

Don't worry about getting 'thrown into deep end', the advise already given for that is good.

FWIW, as far as your feeling like a 'draftsman', my first 5 corporate years was sitting at a drafting table (no CAC/CAM or Catia back then) gaining experience.

Have always worked in aerospace, zero need for PE nor any financial advantage in aerospace, just a money sink for license fee every year to the state. Did take and pass exams over 50 years ago (G)

Since you said you would get a good pay increase in your job having a PE, absolutely go for it!!

Having a PE may have some side benefits. I've built some houses, and in my county having ANY type PE allows you to design SEPTIC systems. Go figure.

 

[ron]

If you can get it, get it.

I learn new stuff every day, even though I can stamp a drawing.

I regret waiting as long as I did.

 

[gadfly56]

Get it. Get it now.

You always will have the option of demurring if you are asked to stamp something that you do not feel qualified to certify; in fact, the law here in Texas demands it. I got my PE license years ago even though I thought I might never need it because I was working for a huge company with a bazillion engineers. When that company kicked me to the curb I was damn glad I had secured my license. It opened doors for me that would have otherwise been closed off.

Get it. Get it now. You will always have the option of not using it.

^^^^^This right here. As a licensed PE, I say "go for it". If you are working for one of the larger MEP firms it's an expected part of your career trajectory. If you want to work for a medium or large sized firm, it's a definite plus. If you have tons of experience and no PE, they are going to wonder about your ambition, and they can't really use your resume for potential clients. Clients always want to see "PE" after the name of someone working on their project.

 

[drcampbell]

... in my county having ANY type PE allows you to design SEPTIC systems. Go figure.

That's not as wacky as it might seem at first glance.

Any significant project will span multiple disciplines. (mechanical, electrical, civil, environmental, et al.) In order to be clear who's responsible for the entire project, it's necessary to allow one person to be responsible for multiple disciplines. At the same time, you're limited to practicing "within your area of expertise & competence".

So yes, an electrical P.E. is permitted to design a septic system and seal the plans. But that privilege comes with the responsibility of educating yourself to the point that you can design a safe & effective system.

 

[charlie b]

Point 1: Getting the PE license means that your state has confirmed that you possess the knowledge and experience, and is therefore willing to entrust you with the responsibility to execute your own designs.

Point 2: Sealing and signing a document as a PE means that you did the work yourself, or supervised the work, and are therefore taking responsibility for the design.

Point 3: You can do Point 1 without ever doing Point 2. You can never do Point 2 without first doing Point 1.

I join the others in recommending you take the next step in your career by getting your PE license.

 

[ggunn]

... in my county having ANY type PE allows you to design SEPTIC systems. Go figure.

In Texas a PE license isn't tied to an engineering discipline; it's left up to the PE him/her self to decide if the scope of a project is within his/her area of expertise.

 

[gadfly56]

In Texas a PE license isn't tied to an engineering discipline; it's left up to the PE him/her self to decide if the scope of a project is within his/her area of expertise.

The same with NJ. Vermont, IIRC understand is crazy exclusive. You can get multiple disciplines, but you have to show 5 years experience in each one, and no overlaps.

 

[victor.cherkashi]

I didn't verified words of some EIT (electrical designer). The electrical designer with 20 years of experience told me: once you have PE and you put your stamp on drawings while you are employee, you can get sued personaly for the project if company insurance can't cover all damage caused by you company for that specific project.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Jraef]

You need to take the test, if for no other reason than to find out how much you under estimated it... which will help you the next time you take it. I say this because if what you have been doing is mostly commercial drafting etc., you might be surprised at how much more they are going to expect you to know and do.

I took it twice and didn’t pass, it was a lot more HV focused than I had anticipated (at least in Washington State where I took it) and since my day to day job never involved that, I struggled mightily with it. I probably could have passed it the third time but I moved out of state before I could. I never got around to trying in California because I was too busy and had nobody here to sponsor me. Now I no longer need it as I wind down my career anyway.

Do it while you’re young...

 

[RumRunner]

Long story short: I meet all the requirements to get my PE license in my state (pending passing the exam, which i feel confident i will), but i dont feel confident as an engineer. Would it be worth it to get my PE license or wait to get my stamp? The pay bump is very tempting but i feel like i will be thrown into the deep end and expected to swim.
I have four years experience in commercial electrical design. However, the most engineering ive done is lighting design (footcandles), voltage drop, space planning, arc flash studies, TCC coordination, IECC code compliance. Basic NEC stuff.
Limited experience with submittals, construction administration, client interaction,
I feel like the vast majority of my experience is in drafting and creating construction documents. EX the stamping engineer will give me red line markups and i turn it into CAD or REVIT. I feel like a drafter more than an engineer most of the time.
What are your thoughts? Should i get it after i pass the test, or wait until im confident as an engineer?

As others had said, go get it.

Getting you PE registration is a reward you deserve and the culmination of relieving yourself of those hard work you've done during those college years. Waiting until you feel you have the confidence doesn't bode well with your goal in getting your feet into administrative work.

I don't know how your financial situation was going through college, but in my case, I had to work though it in a hard way. I did not have college loan or grants to finance my education.

Looking back into those years past. . . we didn't have calculators and AutoCad. I had to struggle taking the bus to school with my two-foot slide rule and an almost four-foot T-Square.
I always had to ride in the back of the bus so I don't hit anyone with my T-Square.

There is nothing wrong gaining experience in what you are doing right now (eg lighting, arc flash, voltage drop, NEC etc.) but those activities get to be boring eventually.
I started along those lines after graduation and I got tired of it.
The pay was good though.

You can continue working in a corporate environment that doesn't require your license.

Being a fully accredited licensed engineer is always good to fall back into.

 

[ggunn]

I didn't verified words of some EIT (electrical designer). The electrical designer with 20 years of experience told me: once you have PE and you put your stamp on drawings while you are employee, you can get sued personaly for the project if company insurance can't cover all damage caused by you company for that specific project.

I don't know that that is true, but a $1M Errors and Omissions insurance policy only costs about $100/month; it may be worth it for peace of mind if one is really worried about it and it is absolutely essential if one wants to practice engineering in the outside world.

 

[drktmplr12]

i'm late to the party. i received my license in the mail about 8 weeks ago. i have never felt more accomplished or proud of anything in my life. take the exam. :happyyes:

I have four years experience in commercial electrical design. However, the most engineering ive done is lighting design (footcandles), voltage drop, space planning, arc flash studies, TCC coordination, IECC code compliance. Basic NEC stuff.

you're more than half way there! add a handful of subjects and you are ready.

if you take the exam, here is my advice:

often times people will use online resources to study. I think this is a misplaced strategy because it does not translate to the test taking environment. online resources are fine to help understand concepts. however, i strongly believe the BEST THING you can do is drill problems in a test taking setting. As you go through your resources you will learn how to quickly navigate them, which is half of the exam. Buy lots of FIRM tabs and an ultra fine point permanent marker and mark tabs you find yourself searching for repeatedly so you can easily find information you are looking for.

I personally had all the books listed below, except #6 and #7, stuffed in a cheap milk crate. a rolling box would have been nice and not at all out of place. I drilled problems for 4 months and throughout the practicing i tabbed all my books. the process of drilling problems strengthened my weaknesses and made me very efficient at looking through the books. The only items i studied with was paper, calculator, books, pencil with attached eraser. i tabbed problem types that i consistently made mistakes on so i could easily locate examples.

bring a sweater and wear pants, but be prepared to shed the sweater.

Understand the scope of the exam based on the syllabus. Know that you will not teach yourself 100% of the syllabus. It will suffice to learn 60 or 70% of the biggest topics so you get questions in that subject right 90% of the time and then worry about getting the remainder 50% right.

You will need the following books, minimum, for the power segment:

1. Electrical Engineer's Guide to Passing the Power PE, includes 80 practice problems. this was by far my most utilized source. the author is available via email.
2. 2017 NEC, preferably the handbook
3. Complex Imaginary Practice Exams (Set of 4 practice exams, spiral bound), i did each exam 4 or 5 times.
4. Print the formula and cheat sheets, print and bind in 3 ring (i didn't have this, instead i had a study guide from review course loaned from a co-worker. it was very valuable)
5. Power Reference Manual for the Electrical and Computer PE Exam Second Edition, New Edition Second Edition, New Edition
6. Complex Imaginary Code Book Drill Problems
7. 2017 National Electrical Safety Code (NESC)
8. NEMA enclosure types, print and bind in 3 ring
9. ANSI/IEEE Standard Device Numbers , print and bind in 3 ring