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Professional License
More and more employers are requiring their engineering employees to register
for a professional license, to become a professional engineer (PE)
as they advance in their career and take on more responsibilities.
There are several steps to becoming a PE. The first
is to take the fundamentals of engineering exam, or FE
(it used to be called the EIT, or engineering
in training exam). This exam tests your knowledge of basic
engineering theories.
After you have a passing grade on the exam, you
are required to work a minimum of 4 years in your
field, under the supervision of one or more PE's.
You then take a second exam, called the PE exam,
that tests your knowledge of engineering applications in your field.
Upon passing the PE exam, you then apply for your
license in the state you work in by submitting materials proving
that you are a reputable engineer. You must renew your
license every year and show that you stay on top of
the changes in your field by earning a number (it
varies from state to state) of professional development hours each year.
Earning your PE license increases your marketability and salary in your
field! Because it is important for students to think about
their future, more and more engineering programs are now requiring
their graduating seniors to take the FE exam as a graduation
requirement. It is to the students' advantage to take
and pass the exam while finishing their degrees, because the
information on the test is the same as that studied in
school and it is still fresh in their minds.