17 Steps to Become an Engineer —
From High School to Professional Engineer (PE)
February 15, 2020
By: Lisandro Vazquez, PE
Interested in becoming an Engineer? Engineer Q&A brings you 17 steps on how to become an Engineer from high school all the way to professional licensure. Here you’ll learn about exams, timelines, college, your first engineering job, helpful tips & lessons learned and more. The following steps outline the basic journey to become an engineer and are divided into five rough timeframes to better assist you in mapping out your own personalized plan.
- High School
- College
- Your First Full-Time Engineering Job
- Engineering Intern (EI)
- Professional Engineer (PE)
Let’s Get Started!
High School:
STEP 1: Take advanced Math & Science courses in High School.
Challenge yourself with the most advanced math and science classes offered at your high school (AP, IB, Honors, whatever acronym/name your school offers that signifies the most challenging courses). Relax… you don’t have to “ace” them… you just need to do reasonably well and learn. Taking advanced Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Physics, and Geometry courses will help you develop the skills you’ll need to succeed in college.
To maximize your knowledge growth, be sure to actually read the front matter of each section in your math books—yes… the “boring” explanations, derivations, and example problems at the beginning of the chapters. Though you can surely get through your homework without reading this front matter by working a couple of example problems, you will be missing out on the crucial mathematical language development that reading & understanding the derivations/explanations provides.
You’ll reap the benefits of your improved fluency in the language of mathematics in your higher level college math courses as you’ll be able to read the derivations and work through problems on your own without having to constantly ask for help (big time saver and confidence boost!).
Better, if you can read the equations and be able to “see” the surface contours or rates of change they describe in your mind, it’ll make the equations “real” to you rather than abstract things to be consigned to rote memorization. This makes it so much easier to excel in your classes and do well on exam problems that don’t perfectly match the practice problems.
Take at least one class in chemistry (two if offered), and at least one full year of advanced physics during high school. (A bit off topic… but if your school offers a class in personal finance, I’d recommend you take that class as well. It probably won’t help much in your engineering degree, but you’ll be glad you took it.)
STEP 2: Sign up for dual-enrollment classes with a local college and/or test out of freshmen level courses (AP Exams, CLEP, etc.).
If your high school has a relationship with local colleges in which certain courses can count as both high school and college credits, this can be a huge boost. These classes, typically called dual enrollment classes, should target college freshman level subjects such as World History/Literature or English Composition.
If your interest is in engineering, I would NOT recommend using dual enrollment Calculus I or Calculus II as a replacement for these same courses which will be offered at your engineering university unless you are an absolute whiz at math. Because these classes are so fundamental to higher level engineering topics such as Differential Equations, Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics etc., it is absolutely essential that you master calculus concepts.
I took AP Calculus in High school and got an “A,” but I chose not to attempt to test out of this course on purpose. When I later took Calculus I in college, I found that my high school “A” had not necessarily meant that I had understood the material. When I saw this same material again in college it suddenly “clicked.” This is not a waste of your time if you see it as a necessary investment to building a strong foundation.
Key distinction to point out here: you should still take the most advanced math courses offered at your high school, including Calculus I and Calculus II, but think carefully before skipping these at your university.
I recommend leveraging the dual enrollment opportunity for classes which are not part of your degree’s “technical” core. If you take English Composition or World History, transferring these credits to your engineering school will help lighten your homework and reading load enabling you to spend more time on computer science, calculus concepts, and just figuring out the whole “being on your own” thing.
Lastly, if you don’t have access to these dual enrollment courses, cannot afford them, or you just don’t want to commute to a community college, you can always “test out of classes” with AP exams or CLEP or whatever other exams are available which may be accepted by your desired universities (Be sure to ask your target universities in advance which exams they will accept as credits). Again, the more classes you can reasonably take off your plate the more time you will have to focus on your technical classes.
Click here to browse CollegeBoard’s offering of CLEP Exams
STEP 3: Prepare for college entrance exams (SAT/ACT) well in advance and retake exams if needed.
Treat the SAT & ACT as if they are important… because they are. Sure, scoring high on these will help your odds of getting accepted to your dream schools, but the lesser advertised fact here is that it helps to train you to study for college. Of course, the “type” of studying for college entrance exams is different than the way you would study for a college course (focusing on understanding and critical thinking), but this helps you to build stamina and discipline.
Make a study plan and a schedule. Go to your local library and check out the SAT/ACT study guides and practice exams for free. Pay (yes I said it… pay) for tutoring if you desperately need it and can afford it. Most importantly though, devote several hours each week as the exam date approaches, starting months in advance, in order to work through practice problems; and always check your work. Review the questions you missed and make sure you understand why you got them wrong before you take your next practice and/or official exam.
Keep in mind, these exams are standardized. They are NOT tricky and are NOT meant to trick you. If you practice enough you can master this material. Trust me on this. I tutored students for the SAT and ACT for years and can personally vouch for the results.
STEP 4: Research what Engineers actually do.
Seems obvious, but if you’re doing all this homework to get to your goal of being a Mechanical Engineer or Electrical Engineer, or Chemical, Nuclear, whatever… shouldn’t you dedicate a portion of that effort towards seeing what it’s all about rather than assuming what it’s about? (Check out my article on what Mechanical Engineers actually do… some of which may surprise you.)
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. If you want to be a Mechanical Engineer, ask an actual Mechanical Engineer what he/she does and ask for advice (ask, even if you don’t want their advice… you might be surprised by what you learn). If you or your family doesn’t personally know any Mechanical Engineers, don’t despair. Get in the car, or take the bus or train… whatever… go to an engineering firm and ask to speak with a Mechanical Engineer. Tell them you’re interested in the field, but you want to know more about it.
STEP 5: Make a career plan.
“A career plan? I haven’t even finished high school. Sounds like a waste of time,” you may be thinking. Far from being a “waste” of your time, spending a few hours in writing down a career plan may be the best—and quickest—way for you to identify all the required steps, with corresponding timelines, needed to reach your goal of becoming an engineer. It forces you to think into the future beyond the immediate goals of graduating high school and getting accepted to a college. It’s easier to change course early on rather than years (and lots of $$) later.
Map out when you will take your college entrance exams. Then count a few months back to determine when to start your exam prep.
Determine how long you intend to spend completing your bachelor’s degree (4 years, 5, 6? Keep in mind, if you will have to work during school you will likely—but not guaranteed—need to take reduced course loading to ensure you have sufficient time to focus on your classes and keep your grades high).
Pencil in when you will take your Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE). This exam qualifies you to start earning work experience hours towards obtaining your professional engineer’s license (more on this later, but you can find my top “do’s and don’ts” of the FE and PE here);
Add ~4-5 years after the FE for sufficient qualified work experience to apply for the Principles and Practice of Engineering Exam (PE) (See your state’s requirements here). Of note, you don’t have to get a PE to work on engineering… there are lots of caveats and “tricky phrases” here on what exactly this means.
(Check out my article “How to Become a Mechanical Engineer without a Degree” for some interesting aspects of the engineering industry).
After your PE it’s sort of guess beyond that point. Getting to your license can be somewhat scripted since there are set requirements on what you will need to do to get your PE… but after that… it’s pretty much on you. Do you want to be a CEO; or the top technical PE in a firm, in a field, on a staff? Do you want to do sales; do you want to be your own boss; do you want to make tons of money without regard to hours worked; do you want to work minimal hours without regard to pay?
What are your goals? Even if you aren’t sure today just give it a shot and write something down, because hey… you can always change your mind. At least you are THINKING ahead and being PROACTIVE. Take the initiative and guide your own career rather than accepting what others hand down to you. This will make you feel more fulfilled, and you will totally be more successful & satisfied.
Always work towards something rather than simply work for work’s sake.
STEP 6: Research which universities you would like to attend.
TONS of people have already put together awesome material on how to “rank” or “rate” schools, so I will not reinvent the wheel here. One item I would like to bring to your attention though… if your plan is to become a licensed Professional Engineer (PE), it is important for you to review the education requirements of your state in order to qualify for engineering licensure.
Some programs that you think are “engineering” may not actually count towards your license, even if the name of your degree has the word “engineering” in it.
Also, some schools that offer engineering programs aren’t actually accredited by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.) for that specific engineering field. Before jumping to conclusions, you should know that there isn’t necessarily anything inherently wrong with this or “shady” on the school’s part. Some schools may have just recently launched their engineering program and may have not yet had sufficient time/experience to qualify for accreditation in your particular major. BUT, do you really want to be part of the “trial” process? It’s your call, just make sure you understand the facts/consequences before you commit to a non-ABET accredited program.
One note of qualification – it may not necessarily be a requirement to have an ABET accredited four-year degree to qualify for licensure in your specific state (US) of practice. Requirements for licensure vary from state to state. Some states have rubrics with years of experience vs. years/levels of education while others may require additional college level credit hours for those with non-ABET accredited degrees.
Click here to go to ABET’s Accredited Program Search to search by desired schools or to search by major to find accredited engineering programs. http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx
Click here to go to NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering) to find links and information for engineering licensure by state. Here you will find a map of the US where you can click on each state and get the link to that state’s board of engineering website. You can search on the state boards’ websites to find the educational requirements for licensure.
STEP 7: Apply to college early and get accepted!
Listen… don’t apply for university at the last minute and please apply to more than one school (it’s good to have options… options give you power). And apply for scholarships… lots of them. If you get even just one scholarship, it’ll more than pay for your time invested.
That’s it. There’s not really much more to be said on this one.
College:
STEP 8: Work with your class advisor to make a tailored degree plan; revise/update your career plan each semester.
Work with your respective degree planner/class advisor—whoever your school assigns to help you in making a plan to graduate. Take this seriously and don’t just accept what your advisor hands to you without thinking. Ask questions. People make mistakes (trust me on this one). Also, know that you have choices.
Picture this: You can plan from “day one” for a semester study-abroad in an exciting world destination you’ve always dreamed of going to but assumed it couldn’t fit into your schedule (Costa Rica?… Ireland?… China?…)
Remember… ASK QUESTIONS.
Choose technical electives that excite you. Of course, if you know you want to be an HVAC engineer, then it probably makes sense that you take an HVAC course offered by your school; however, if you want to be an HVAC engineer but think that the Nuclear Fusion elective course sounds like the craziest class and you want to take it… do the Nuclear Fusion class. You will not “ruin” your chances of getting hired if you haven’t taken every single course related to your selected field of study. I have been to career fairs both as a hopeful jobseeker and as an employer, and I can tell you from experience that this shouldn’t be an issue.
Here’s a personal example for you: I got my degree in Nuclear & Radiological Engineering, but now I’m a Mechanical Engineer working on HVAC and Plumbing design for buildings. It’s sort of a related field, but you probably get my point. (Read the full story here: “A Nuclear Engineer Gone HVAC”)
STEP 9: Study for understanding and not just for the grades.
Getting good grades/marks in your classes is great; but the reality is that your Heat Transfer “A” doesn’t directly correlate to getting your future engineering job’s projects successfully completed. I’ve seen so many engineers who did fairly well in college, and yet they struggle on design work during their first years on an engineering team.
Why is that? There’s a high chance they simply memorized for exams. Yes, the fact of the matter is that you will have to memorize tons of information to pass your college courses; but don’t stop there.
Ask questions. I mean, ask yourself questions. While studying, ask yourself to explain the concepts you are memorizing. If you find yourself struggling to explain how to derive the kinematics equations, or you’re not exactly sure why certain heat transfer profiles look the way they do (as in, you keep trying to memorize how to draw heat transfer profiles, but it’s just not sticking); then you need to set up a meeting with your professor or TA and get some interactive help (or you could actually read your heat transfer book).
Sure, you could memorize these topics well enough to pass the exam, but is that really the best use of your time & effort? Having a firm understanding of fundamental concepts such as differential equations will be so much more valuable to you in the future than simply earning an “A” because you are totally going to forget all that memorized stuff sooner than you think (like… the second you walk across the stage to get your diploma).
In HVAC and Plumbing design, for example, more often than not the reason why certain designs are so efficient is because the engineer/designer was able to sketch a great initial layout during early schematic design stages. They can do this because they can imagine how heat loss will develop across their system, or they can picture where fluid flow will be turbulent… all without cracking open a book. Of course, the number crunching and equations will follow during later design steps, but that basic understanding allows you to implement engineering concepts without having to constantly look up equations or examples.
On a lighter note… a 4.0 is not required to get hired (a 2.8 might give you some heartache though). Do well, learn as much as you can in your classes, but take advantage of the college environment (not talking about “getting wasted”… that is a waste… literally). Join a club, go hiking, use the gym, explore your new city/town, and go to free campus events… think of this, it helps in a job interview if you have interesting stuff to talk about other than your classes or senior project.
STEP 10: Prepare for your first job (Yes, before you graduate).
Make a resume. “But wait,” you may say, “I don’t have any real engineering experience.” Fear not; make your resume anyways.
TREAT IT LIKE IT’S IMPORTANT.
Sure, have friends and family proofread it—do this first—but then, just when you think it’s done… go to a professor or a practicing engineer (if you know one) and ask him/her to “critique” it. I chose “critique” deliberately. If you ask someone to “take a look at it” or “proofread” or “tell me what you think” they might not approach it the way that you need them to. You need your resume to be critiqued and criticized if necessary.
Relax… don’t get offended or upset if your first resume totally sucks and somebody tells you so. Just make sure you have that person explain to you why it sucks so that you can make it better. Remember, this is for YOUR benefit.
Join professional engineering societies such as the ones below (just to name a few):
- AIChE – American Institute of Chemical Engineers
- ANS – American Nuclear Society
- ASCE – American Society of Civil Engineers
- ASME – American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- ASHRAE – American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
- ASPE – American Society of Plumbing Engineers
- IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- NFPA – National Fire Protection Association (This society authors the National Electrical Code (NEC) in addition to their fire protection work)
Not only do these look good on your resume, but going to the local events can be the networking opportunity that lands you your first engineering job. It’s easy… all you have to do is show up and introduce yourself. Boom, done. Also, these organizations usually offer discounted memberships for students and you may even be able to get a free student membership through local society chapters. Further, they offer scholarships, selected free educational materials and much more. For those of you not in the US, it may still be beneficial for you to join some of these societies (depending on your field of study) as many of them are essentially international in scope and have many worldwide members.
Learn more about professional engineering societies in the article below from Engineer Q&A:
What is a professional engineering society and why should I join?
Go to job fairs at your university. You can practice your skill set at interviewing. Keep this in mind: recruiters are looking for people who they could imagine working with Monday-through-Friday, week after week after week. Avoid being that robot with the memorized script.
Just RELAX and be friendly, but please don’t call the recruiter “bro” and DON’T curse… wow, unbelievably I have seen these missteps on multiple occasions. Ask questions that are relevant and try to shun those standard generic questions used just to fill time and show “fake” interest. Be genuine, and have some fun. It can be an enjoyable learning experience if you make it as such.
STEP 11: Graduate from college.
No additional info needed on this one, right?
STEP 12: Take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE) as soon as you graduate (if not immediately prior to graduation).
Take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE) offered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering (NCEES) or the equivalent exam in your respective country for those of you outside the US. Take this exam—and try hard on it—even if you’re unsure if you want your engineering license. Not taking the FE soon after college can be a costly mistake with respect to your time and future stress level.
Pushing it off until “later” means you’ll have to re-familiarize yourself with all sorts of engineering terms and phrases and you’ll have to get proficient at taking exams all over again (yuk!). This is so important. Spare yourself the pain and “double-work.” Trust me… I get it… at the end of your senior year the last thing you think you want to do is take some intense exam that isn’t directly related to the immediate goal of graduation; but… you’ll already be super-practiced at taking exams and budgeting time; and all those engineering terms, equations, and processes will be fresh on your mind.
After passing the FE, apply to your state’s engineering board to obtain your Engineer Intern (EI) certification (don’t just assume this is automatically done for you simply by passing the exam). This is generally your first step towards professional licensure following graduation, and having your EI certification also sends a signal to your current or potential employers that you aspire to grow your career.
Click here to learn more about the FE from NCEES
Your First Full-Time Engineering Job:
STEP 13: At your first engineering job, be a sponge… an ACTIVE sponge. (Yes, I made that up; but you get what I mean)
Your most important objective while at your first job is to learn the “WHY” and to learn “WHERE” answers are found… ASK QUESTIONS (recurring theme). Your mission is to learn as much pertinent information as possible. If a peer, a senior engineer, or your manager says you must do something or design something a certain way, ASK WHY. More importantly you must ask, “Where can I find that information?” Then… go read that information.
Be aware that there is a fine line here that you’ll have to navigate as you cannot sink all your time into reading design manuals, codes, technical papers etc. at the complete expense of your assigned work. However, it is imperative that you “sacrifice” some “efficiency” or “productivity” to take some time (even if just a little) to look at the reasons why your peers are designing the way they do.
Hey… maybe their method is obsolete or no longer required/relevant… you could possibly lead the team to making a change resulting in greater productivity simply because you read the information within the current millennium.
Tip from the real world – I can almost guarantee you will hear something along the lines of the following in response to your “why” question at some point: “That’s just how we’ve always done [fill in the blank].” Sometimes this response is thrown at you by well-meaning people because that’s the response they’ve always gotten; or, perhaps they are busy or distracted. Please, don’t accept this response—for your sake.
Every once in a while you may have to temporarily move on without pressing the issue because of project schedule or perhaps the real answer to the question requires more than just a few minutes, but ensure this is only “temporary.” Follow up later and ask for details. Be polite. It may help to weave into your request the purpose for your follow-up:
I just want to know the reason for [fill in the blank] so that…
… I know where to find more information in case I have questions later on.
… I can work more efficiently.
… I don’t have to ask anybody next time.
… I can help other people on the team having the same question.
… I get smarter.
STEP 14: Participate in professional societies: ASCE, ASHRAE, ASPE, ASME, IEEE, NFPA etc.
Professional engineering societies are extremely important organizations that probably do a whole lot more than you ever imagined. Besides providing a platform for professional networking, they actually influence—and in some cases directly draft—the design standards and codes that local, regional, and national jurisdictions adopt as law. Often, these volunteer engineering societies set goals for energy efficiency, safety, and best practices that countries around the world use as the basis for their own goals & guidelines. If you are looking for a way to affect meaningful change in the engineering and/or energy realm on a national or global scope, get involved in these organizations and ask how to get on the technical/standards/research committees.
Do what you can to attend technical seminars, lunch & learn events, symposiums, exhibitions, social events etc. hosted by these societies. This is SO important to your networking and your knowledge growth. You can learn new ideas from outside your firm and meet peers who you can call “off the record” to bounce an idea off of (super helpful).
Many employers will pay your membership dues and many managers (with a few exceptions) will be flexible with your schedules to allow you time to attend society events during working hours. If you get a hard time from management, don’t get angry or defensive. Regroup and revise your strategy. How will your participation in these events benefit the team and benefit the company.
Sell it to them: knowledge growth should lead to fewer errors, better efficiency, and a larger positive impact to the team.
If you can’t get your company to pay for these society memberships or events, but they’ll be flexible with your schedule… DO IT. Yes, pay the money and participate. You’ll be happy you did. And if you don’t think it was worth it after a year, well the membership fee is not really that much money in the grand scheme of things. One quick note: If you feel that the societies you joined were a “waste” of your time, you should probably ask yourself if you took full advantage of the resources which they provide. Perhaps you may have missed out on some opportunities (assuming you joined a society that is relevant to your line of work).
Read industry magazines or electronic articles. No need to “nerd it out” here. Just pick one or two articles a month and read them. It’s a super small time commitment but it’ll get you exposed to products, problems, resolutions, and news within your industry.
Your Time as an Engineering Intern:
STEP 15: 18-24 months into your first job: Update your career plan for becoming a Professional Engineer (see STEP 5).
Update the timelines, the long term goals, and if becoming a PE is still your goal start mapping out when you think you will qualify to apply for professional licensure (varies by state). Go to your respective state’s board of engineering page and print, review, highlight, whatever… just ensure you know exactly what is required to become a PE in your state. Then, go to the NCEES website to review the application process for the Principles & Practice of Engineering Exam.
Click here to go to NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering) to find links and information for engineering licensure by state. Here you will find a map of the US where you can click on each state and get the link to that state’s board of engineering website. You can search on the state boards’ websites to find the educational requirements for licensure.
https://ncees.org/engineering/
Click here to learn more about the PE exam from NCEES
STEP 16: Prepare for the PE (~48 months of PE supervised experience required – check your state’s requirements for caveats/exceptions)
Review the process:
Read your state’s legal requirements for becoming a PE and practicing engineering. Yes, it is absolutely as boring as it sounds. But, you need to know this information (at least once), and your state will likely require that you take a short test on this (might be woven into an “ethics” exam) prior to applying for licensure.
Apply for the PE exam (process may vary by state):
While completing your application, take your time, double-check and triple-check your application. Small administrative errors can set you back by a whole exam cycle (6 months!). Trust me on this one. I rushed my application and did not employ due diligence with respect to checking my application status. When I eventually realized there was an error in my application I did not have enough time to get it resubmitted before the final exam approval board hearing. This is not to scare you (I survived), but it feels a bit silly to have to wait half a year because you didn’t check on something so important. Lesson Learned.
Start studying:
Determine when you will start studying for the PE exam. This is a long process (i.e. months). Don’t get discouraged. Remember, this is a professional license for a technical field related to public safety. It’s a big deal. Treat your studying for the PE like a college course. Ask other engineers for advice, read online forums and check out other articles, videos, and resources from Engineer Q&A for studying strategies.
Ultimately, your regimen will need to be catered to fit your personal style, but it’s definitely helpful to pick up some pointers from others who have already gone through the process. Be sure to start studying early… but don’t overdo it and risk burnout.
Professional Engineer:
STEP 17: Become a Professional Engineer (PE)
You’ve arrived. You passed the PE and have your engineer’s seal in hand—You are officially a “Professional Engineer” which is a legally recognized term by approved state licensing boards.
You are now part of an elite group of professionals making a difference in people’s lives and improving the standard of living for society as a whole.
What’s next:
- Maintaining licensure (CEUs)
- License reciprocity
- Career growth
- Becoming a lead engineer?
- Transition to management?
- Go out on your own?
- Set a course for CONTINUOUS professional and personal growth!
From your friends at Engineer Q&A, have a wonderful day and TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CAREER!