Equivalent Degree Argentina-rest of the World 5

[tonyjony]

Hello, I'm an electrical engineer. I took a 5 years course in a Local University (The most prestigious engineering school here in Argentina). I'm trying to write my CV in english, but I found a lot of acronyms that I don't know. What am I? PE? Do i have a BD? Could you help me please?

I also took two short Post-Degree specialization courses.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tonyjony]

The "prestigious" word means "not an unknow". Please don't think that I am arrogant

 

[Bribyk]

What you can call yourself depends on where you are or are applying.

Here, you leave school with a Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc., S.B., B.S.c., Sc.B or BSc, depending on where you are) Degree in ______ Engineering. If you are registered with our professional association you may call yourself an E.I.T. (engineer-in-training).

PE or P.Eng stands for professional engineer, which in my locality means you've passed an ethics/professionalism/law exam and have at least four years of approved experience and the association has granted you the title and responsibilities that come with it. You are not a PE in Canada or the US but other places (or certain places in those countries) may allow you to use the title if they have less stringent regulations.

 

[Unotec]

PE is a local designation. The fact that you might have a "cedula profesional" in Argentina does not necessarily recognize you as a Professional Engineer (PE) in other places. In Canada and the US, locally, a PE is somewhere between what you'd call "ingeniero" and "perito".
In your CV state that you are an engineer, but if you're looking abroad, make sure to take a look into that country's particular ways for the profession.
What you have right now is a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (I used to use B.S. but can lead to confussion)

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>

 

[Ron]

In the United States, you are not considered an EIT (Engineeer in Training) or EI (Engineer Intern) until you have graduated with at least a B.Sc. from an accredited college or university and have passed the Fundamentals of Engineering licensing exam (the first of at least two technical examinations you must pass before becoming a P.E.).

When a graduate of a foreign university (as in outside the United States) wants to become licensed as an engineer (P.E.)in any of the states, the graduate must apply and have the curriculum of your study evaluated for equivalence to the accredited degree curriculum in the US. Usually, some additional coursework is required, though usually not much. Once that obstacle is overcome, then you are allowed to sit for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and upon passing, may identify yourself as an EIT or EI. After 4 years of relevant, documented experience under the direction of a licensed engineer (P.E.) you may then sit for the Principles and Practices Examination (P.E.). Upon passing you may then refer to yourself as a Licensed Professional Engineer, Registered Professional Engineer, or other approved engineering title.

Licensing in the US is done through each individual state or territory, though most states use a common national examination for each of the exams. The engineering associations and societies do not have the authority to issue licenses in the US.

In most states, unless you are dealing strictly with manufactured products or processes, electrical engineers are required to be licensed for public practice.

 

[tygerdawg]

To expand on the several previous explanations:

In the US:

There seems to be many flavors of "Bachelor of Science degree" from US colleges and universities. There exists an organization that verifies the curriculum for the school,

http://www.abet.org

. If the school is "ABET accredited" then it's engineering curriculum is recognized to meet certain standards. "Engineering degrees" from non-ABET accredited schools are...well...something else.

You would have to determine if there is any equivalency between your Argentinian university curriculum and ABET schools.

Often, but not always, new graduates will take the Fundamentals of Engineering "FE" exam. This helps prove that you actually learned something during your education period and didn't drink too much beer. If you pass the FE, then you may receive the designation of "Engineer In Training" ("EIT").

To achieve "Professional Engineer" ("PE") status, you must have EIT and have four years of work supervised by another PE. With this, you may take the Professional Engineering Exam in your desired field. Pass that test, then you can be a Licensed Professional Engineer and place the "P.E." after your name, stamp engineering drawings, and so forth. Licenses are administered by each State, and the engineer may practice as a PE in that State only. The State may have "reciprocity" rules with other States. Meaning your exam and PE designation in State A will be valid in State B, as long as you pay your license money to State B.

But the reality in the US is that only certain industries & disciplines actually enforce the law of what makes an "engineer" and who may use the title of "engineer". Generally this is Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, and certain aspects of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. A PE is needed to perform engineering work that affects the public welfare, like bridges, building, HVAC, power distribution, etc. It is rare that a PE is required by the employer for tasks such as machine design or manufacturing engineering. Unfortunately, many times I have seen non-degreed people assigned the title of "engineer".

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[frv]

I think tygerdawg has provided the best summary.

Inquire about equivalency for your degree, take the FE if you are allowed to, and work under a PE for four years. Then you will be licensed.

 

[frv]

After you pass the PE, of course.

 

[Hurricanes]

In Australia or New Zealand after 4 years of study you graduate with a Bachelor of Engineering, (BEng in Aus or BE in NZ).

If your degree was 5 years it sounds like you have a "Professional" degree rather than a "Bacharel" degree. This is seen as of a higher standard that a BSc or BE from the USA, Canada, UK, NZ, Australia, etc, so you should probably make some sort of note with regards to this in your CV.

In both countries, NZ and Aus, the equivalent of a PE is called a CPEng (Chartered Professional Engineer). However, you don't sit and exam to gain a CPEng, usually you work for about 3 years, documenting the projects you work on and submitting career episode reports to Engineers Australia or IPENZ (New Zealand). After you have met the requirements through your reports you have a interview and you are either awarded your CPEng or told what further is required of you to obtain your CPEng.

 

[tonyjony]

Wow, that was really usefull. Thanks everyone!!

 

[Ussuri]

Based on what has been said above, I would suggest you tailor your CV to suit the country in which you are applying. For instance, using acronyms such as PE and EIT outside the US may have potential recruiters scratching their heads.

 

[moltenmetal]

If you're simply building an English CV to broaden your horizons, then good for you!

If you're applying to immigrate to Canada: I'd suggest you reconsider.

See

http://www.geocities.com/martinsmoltenmetal/index.htm

for the reason: simply too many other engineers trying to do the same thing. The results are borne out in the recent Engineers Canada labour market study.

http://etlms.engineerscanada.ca/media/Interim Report.pdf

The study gives evidence of serious under-employment for engineers in Canada, regardless of where they earned their degrees. This was true even during our last census in 2006, an economic boom period.

Our so-called "human capital" model of immigration makes no linkage between immigration supply and labour force demand. What has resulted in an oversupplied labour market for many fields, not just engineering. Many foreign-trained engineers are driving taxicabs and regretting their decision to come. The effects of the recent economic meltdown and the crash in commodity prices are not going to make that situation any better.

The only circumstances under which I would recommend immigration to Canada at present is if you have a pre-arranged job WITH pre-negotiated cancellation terms.

If the intended destination is Canada, you can and indeed SHOULD begin the application process for your license to practice professional engineering prior to immigrating. Although the license itself is not mandatory for most engineers, it is used by employers as a means to distinguish those with legitimate engineering degrees and work experience from those who simply think they're engineers. It's therefore more important for immigrants than for the locally educated.

Your degree (institution and program) will be reviewed and they will determine whether you get to go on to the next step, or whether you need to write one or more technical examinations first.

There are degree equivalency evaluation services offered by various private companies and universities. These are WORTHLESS- they cost money and tell you what you want to hear, but are not accepted by the provincial licensure bodies. These bodies do their own review, and it takes time because these bodies are staffed primarily by volunteers.