Applied to take the PE Exam.?

Question

I applied to take the Civil PE Exam for October, in the state of georgia. I got a letter yesterday stating that I had insufficient experience. I have been working for 52 months, the state of Georgia requires, like every other state, 48 months.

The letter stated that I have only 26 months of adaquite engineering experience. 22 months of my experience was in the state of Michigan. In the next few days I'm going to send a form in to request to have an informal conference. No one in my firm has seen anything like this. Has anyone else? Any suggestions so I can get this accomplished and sit for the exam in April. What are they looking for as in experience?

Answer 1

Yes, I ran into the same thing. Much of the time I worked after graduation I was the only engineer with a degree at the facilities where I worked. Most State require that you work under the direction of a Professional Engineer in order to be eligible to tax the PE exam.

The conference with the Board is a good idea that way you can get some idea how much more time you have to wait. I had to wait an extra 6 months. Don't panic. Just see if you can get them to commit to a time frame when you have your meeting.

Answer 2

You need 4 years work experience after the FE to take the PE test. See PA website link below. However, what's the rush? The PE is mostly needed for CE's that do work for the state and county. Generally little utility for EE. In a 30 year industrial career, I have never needed a PE, including testifying in state court, where they accepted my accredited degree as evidence of competence. I did get a PE somewhere along the way, and now get to pay to take courses every two years to renew it. If you get a PE in several states, you get to meet the separate renewal requirements for each state every time you renew.

Answer 3

In Georgia, being a woman looking for professional credentials is first offense. Anything after that is felony.

Seriously, it may well be that Georgia and Michigan do not trade professional experience for PE credentialing.

The conference will probably feel like a job interview. Have all of your ducks in a row. I'd take letters of recommendation, and bring witnesses, if you can.

Answer 4

In some states only experience working under a PE qualifies, if your work time in michigan was not under a PE, then they may not consider it valid. If it was then i would suggest contacting them with your michigan experience, along with information on your supervisor at that job.