This is a re-print with the author’s permission. This article was written by by Joseph Dombrowski, PE Monroe Chapter President, based on information from the NSPE website (referenced below) and published in the The Rochester Engineer in August of 2014.
Whether a recent college grad or a seasoned engineer, the P.E. after your name is a crucial advantage that opens doors and gives you a leg up on others for the rest of your professional career. For students, choosing to start on the path to licensure is one of the most important decisions they will ever make.
The licensure process demands an extra measure of competence and dedication and is the mark of a professional. While not all engineers find it mandatory to obtain their license for a chosen career, the P.E. initials after their names can provide many advantages such as the following:
- Licensed professional engineers are regarded as being more dedicated, with enhanced leadership and management skills.
- Licensed engineers achieve an enhanced status in the eyes of the public.
- Licensure is an indicator of dedication to integrity, hard work, creativity, and competence.
- Only licensed engineers may prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans and drawings.
- Many Federal, State, and Municipal agencies require that certain governmental engineering positions be filled only by licensed professional engineers.
- For those considering a career in education, many states are starting to require those individuals teaching engineering to be licensed.
- Engineers in the military must have the credentials to stay with the service in the face of downsizing or to make the transition to the private sector.
- P.E.’s are respected by the public and are seen in the same light as licensed professionals in other fields. P.E.’s are also held in high esteem by their peers within the engineering community, who see the PE as part of an elite group.
- Employers are impressed with engineers who have their P.E. license. Licensure not only enhances your stature, it shows commitment to the profession and demonstrates heightened leadership and management skills.
- P.E.’s can be in responsible charge of a firm in private practice or serve as a fully qualified expert witness.
- Having a P.E. license opens up your career options and it may protect you during industry downsizing or outsourcing.
- Studies have shown that most P.E.’s earn higher pay throughout their business careers.
If you are asked “why should I try to obtain my P.E. license”, feel free to share some of the above points taken from the NSPE website or just refer them directly to http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/WhyGetLicensed/index.html for more information.
Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.
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