Just Passed PE exam! 2

[CrazyHorse81]

Civil-Water

Wow the wait was dreadful. I had total confidence after I took the exam, but the confidence decayed over time to almost 0 when I finally receieved the results today. I won't get my license for another 12 weeks or so, but am I correct in thinking that the sky is the limit for job opportunities now? Or that I should expect a raise? I am and have taken on PE responsibilities for awhile now with no compensation - the only thing is that I couldn't seal the documents.

 

[EQguys]

Which state did u get your PE from ?? I am waiting on my results !!

"Does the man make the journey or does the journey make the man" - Mark Twain

 

[PeterKsiazek]

Congrats CrazyHorse81!

 

[oldfieldguy]

Hooray!

Congratulations!

old field guy

 

[CrazyHorse81]

Arizona - which is a ELSES direct reporting state - which means that they bypass the State Board and issue the results...in my case since I provided an email address they sent me a pdf

 

[msquared48]

Many congratulations on a long and rough achievement. Been there, done that.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

[swivel63]

congrats! florida took 8 weeks on the dot (SEI). georgia took damn near like 3.5 months (SEII).

good grief.

 

[tygerdawg]

Hearty congrats. I was a zombie after I took mine.

In answer to your question: no. The sky is not the limit. More doors will now be open to you, you decide how far you take it. But things certainly can be better, and now you have the piece of paper that says so.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[zdas04]

Congratulations.

The only guarantee is that you now have the right to assume personal responsibility for the drawings you stamp. As an employee, I refused to stamp anything in the 6 months between getting my P.E. and retiring (no insurance and the company said they were not allowed by law to stand behind me). In a CE firm it may be different, but in Oil & Gas you have to be really careful.

Many of us did not get raises to go with the P.E. Jobs didn't jump out of the woodwork because I had it. Mostly it let me call my company MuleShoe Engineering instead of MuleShoe Energy or some such. That was worth a lot to me personally.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

Remember, being ignorant isn't your fault; staying ignorant is.

 

[Ron]

Congrats! It's a big achievement and you should rightly be proud of it.

As others have said, don't expect rose petals thrown at your feet or for the engineering world to suddenly beat a path to your door. It won't happen.

If you work for a good company, they will usually recognize the accomplishment with a modest salary increase. If they do not, then that company doesn't value the contribution of a licensed Professional Engineer. Consider moving on; however, in this economy, you might only get a little public recognition and no increase...you'll have to assess the sincerity of that and whether it will make a difference in the future.

As zdas04 noted, you will now have the opportunity to accept personal liability for your actions. Make sure your company indemnifies its engineers, otherwise get supplemental professional liability insurance. Also, make sure the indemnification is for errors, omissions, and negligence.

Good luck and congrats again. Way to go.

 

[rhodie]

Congratulations. You have achieved something that only a small fraction of the world's population has ever done.

 

[rbulsara]

Congratulations! Tygerdawg, zdas04 and Ron have already reflected what I would say.

 

[sundale]

Congratulations though on becoming a P.E., which is a step roughly 9 out of every 10 degreed engineers do not take in the U.S.A.

You have now formally demonstrated "entry level competence" to legally practice our learned profession and offer your expertise to the public. In addition to the education, experience and character references, passing the P.E. test(s) only means that you were able to meet the minimum bar for a written test on a given subject content on a given day...

You are now a bona fide professional engineer, but what you do with your career subsequent to licensure is really what constitutes a true professional. There is tremendous public trust (and a modicum of respect...) that is bestowed with engineering licensure. Being worthy of this public trust and respect is unfortunately lost on more than a few P.E.'s these days I think. Being a real Professional Engineer means a bit more than passing a silly test and having some cool initials at the end of your name.

 

[Maui]

Congratulations Crazyhorse! As others have said, don't expect the world to beat a path to your door to openly recognize your achievement. But those of us who have come before know what you went through. I honestly thought that I had failed the exam when I walked out of the testing facility. But the more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed that I may have actually passed. I waited for about 3 months to get my results in the mail. Was I relieved when I discovered that I had in fact passed. Welcome aboard!

Maui

 

[CrazyHorse81]

Thank you for your wise insights and salutations everyone. I do have the mind set to be humble and open to learning everyday. I did not expect nor do I want a homecoming celebration just because I passed the exam. That isn't my style. I felt the glory within me. I do not want to excercise this priveledge with an iron fist or in vain - I see engineers do this frequently. Rather I want to use it with dignity, upright. I am growing fast and needed this to allow me to take on bigger responsibilities.

be talkin to ya soon.

 

[B16A2]

Just an observation, something about your posts doesn't scream humble. Take the stars out of your eyes, and come back to earth. It's a license that drags you into a myriad of legal issues. As such, I would step cautiously into your new responsibilities and obligations instead of proceeding like superman.

 

[monkeydog]

CrazyHorse81,

There is another benefit to passing the PE exam, you can now join the recurring argument if you are or are-not an engineer if you don't have the PE license!
No humility required. Answer with an IRON FIST!

;-)

 

[KENAT]

You've been taking the PE responsibilities for a while now with no raise, then I wouldn't count on getting one now unless there's a lot of drawings/reports to seal. See thread731-247365

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[CrazyHorse81]

KENAT: What about a simple change from hourly to salary? That wouldn't mean a raise necessarily, but it would mean more security and a different kind of compensation. Or when you say "raise" you mean all compensation? Thank you I will read the thread.

 

[ShaggyPE]

A raise from hourly to salary doesn't mean more security... and you may find that is a pay cut.

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional
Certified COSMOSWorks Designer Specialist
Certified SolidWorks Advanced Sheet Metal Specialist