Should I Stay or Should I Go??

[cfj104]

I am looking for some advice in regards to moving and the PE exam. I have been working for 2 years now with my FE license and I am now considering moving to Texas (I currently live in PA).

My main concern is my license. Should I stay in PA for another 2 years and get my PE here or should I move to Texas now and take the exam there? If I do move to Texas now, how will this effect my license??

Thanks for any help!!
Chrissy

 

[ccor]

Moving shouldn't affect your licensure. I took the EI in Kentucky, half PE experience with two firms in Ohio, the rest in Colorado and had no trouble getting my CO license. The only reason to stay would be if it is somehow easier to get licensed in PA than TX, they are probably the same.

I'm always surprised at people who stick to terrible jobs or put off major life decisions until after the PE. It's usually not a big deal unless you leave on really bad terms and you lose a reference.

 

[HgTX]

What may or may not be different is that since TX until relatively recently had no exam requirement and relied only on the experience record, we have to do a pretty involved experience record, typically about 12 pages. At least some other states (Michigan for one, I'm told) don't require nearly as much writing.

But then you might have the choice either way--do you need to be living in PA to get your first license there? People carry licensure in multiple states all the time.

Hg

p.s. If I may be picky, neither FE nor EIT is a "license".

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[BelspringKen]

You should check all the requirements with the state boards of TX and PA before basing a move on the licensing issues.

I would start with reading whatever you can find online, then call the Boards. States vary in their requirements. They can also change them on you.

I sat for the PE in VA. As far as I know, the exams are pretty much uniform (under the NCEES) but the state board requirements for sitting for the exam and getting licensed can vary from state to state.

After you get licensed in PA, you may be able to get licensed in other states very easily by reciprocity. I don't know all the details, so again, check the requirements of the state boards.

 

[sms]

Texas is now up to snuff with the rest of the country, so liscensing is no problem.

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

 

[HgTX]

It's up to snuff (meaning once you have a TX license it is no longer completely useless for reciprocity elsewhere), but it still requires more writing than some other states. A friend and I were licensed about a year or two apart. We both took the national exam. She was licensed in Michigan, and the resume portion of her application was about a page. Mine was 12.

Hg

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[THEReifleman]

I just moved to TX from Washington where I am licensed. I was surprised there is limited reciprocity for Texas and Washington ain't cutting it. I don't have to retake the exam but I have to jump through every other hoop I did for preparation for exam in Washington, including the 12 pages Hg is talking about. I hear that TX is second to California in toughness for Civils.

I just can't understand why mechanicals bother with the PE. Neither of the two companies I have worked for care that I have it.

Also, Washington didn't require continuing professional training certification but I hear TX does.

If I were you, I'd "Come on down!" and get the PE here because getting it in PA probably won't gain you a benefit except for multiple licensing.

Maybe Texas will secede! They'll be the first newly developed 1st world nation nuclear power, oil & gas leader, and major electronics player. ;-)

 

[HgTX]

NY & NCEES both pretty much require all the same hoops too. All you get rid of by having a license from somewhere else is the exam requirement. Gotta redo the letters of reference & the statement of experience, get my undergraduate grades certified again, blah blah blah. I've been meaning to get around to it for months now...

Hg

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