Professional Engineer (PE) Test

Jan

31st

2008

Today is January 31st. That means tomorrow is February 1st. That date on my calendar is a big one, as it is the drop-dead date to start studying for the Professional Engineer’s test being administered in April.

The PE test is similar in nature to the bar exam in the legal field, the medical boards for a doctor, or the CPA exam in accounting. It’s a professional license for engineers and indicates a good general knowledge of the specific engineering discipline chosen by the individual. The major fields include electrical (that’s me), mechanical, civil, and industrial, but there are other smaller disciplines as well.

The test itself is a day-long affair filled with 80 headache-creating problems. The first half is a general test over the electrical engineering areas of interest…circuits, electronics, motors, transmission lines, etc. The afternoon session offers a choice of several different “focus areas”. I’m choosing the “electrical and computer” section mainly because I hated the subjects of the other two options back in school, and I work with computers and control systems every day.

I’ve taken the test once before, back in 1999. I was first eligible (5 years work experience) to take it back then, and really kinda blew it off and didn’t study as hard as I should have. I hadn’t planned on taking it again, but 1) it’s required for a management position in my department at work, 2) I’ve got several coworkers taking it along beside me, so there’s some peer pressure to help motivate me, and 3) it’s something I failed once, and I don’t much like quitting on anything.

So, basically, I’ve got a little over two months to study. The so-called experts recommend 200-300 hours of studying. Dividing that among the 50 or so weekdays left before the test, that leaves 4-6 hours a day of studying. Think I’ll make that…nah! But, I do expect to study more than the last attempt, and due to the fact the format is a bit different this time compared to last, I feel just a little better about it.

Wish me luck!

Comments

2 Responses to “Professional Engineer (PE) Test”

jamal taha on July 31st, 2008 10:25 am

how did you do in that test??
Dave on July 31st, 2008 1:05 pm

@Jamal: I did not take it due to a job/project conflict that required me to travel during the month of April. I have rescheduled it for Oct of 2009. I also think I am going to change over to the Control Systems PE test as it is more inline with my current skillset.

Leave a Reply