PE and state of employment 6

[Lion06]

Here is a question that I'd be very interested to get answers from persons in a position of hiring on.

In my current firm (approximately 40-50) people spread across 3 groups (about 8 in the pure structural engineering group) the PE is more for legitimacy with clients and respectability of the firm. In my 4+ years here no one other than a principal (and occasionally the Director of Engineering) has ever stamped drawings. That may be one or the reasons there isn't a big raise given for passing the PE - can't say for sure.

Does this hold true for other offices? This goes directly to my next question, which is.......

If someone is registered in state A (say Pennsylvania) and gets hired in state B (let's say Delaware), would you expect them to immediately get licensed in state B if you don't expect them to stamp drawings?

The reason for the question is that the whole engineering vs engineering technology degree thing is rearing its ugly head again. I'm taking the SE I in October after meeting the requirements in my state (which makes no distinction between engineering and engineering technology degrees for licensure). Once I pass it I'm going to be looking pretty hard for a new job that is closer to home, provides better hours, and provides better pay. I live 5 minutes from state B which has a longer waiting period to take the PE (for an engineering technology degree) than my state and I'm concerned that my likely inability to get reciprocity right away will limit my job opportunities and earning potential.

Any thoughts?

 

[STpipe]

SEIT,

Perhaps the differences between my experience and yours in relation to the structural courses offered, could be due to the differences in licensing requirement between the US and Canada. In Canada, generally there is no separate SE license, just the standard P.Eng (although that might have changed for somewhere like B.C). Secondly, we are not required to pass a technical exam if we graduated from an accredited institution, therefore most universities follow very similar curriculum. The assessment of an engineer's qualifications would come primarily from his supervisors who would have a better idea of the candidate's qualifications than the number of structural based courses that they took.

Although what is interesting from my program, is that if you're something other than a structural engineer, there are a lot of subjects that you won't even come close to using.