Since I started my first internship I’ve gotten a lot of advice on how to get ready to apply for my Professional Engineer (PE) License.  I’ve listed below a lot of the advice that I’ve gotten.  It’s all from Engineers that are licensed in Texas, but will probably apply to most states.

Check Your State’s Professional Engineer Licensure Requirements
Find out the specific list of what is required.  That way you know ahead of time what’s expected and you aren’t scrambling at the last minute.  Your states board of professional engineers or other PE governing organization will have the list.

Create a Log
Log what you do each day or at least each week.  Keep track of the projects that you worked on and what you were responsible for on that project.  Most states will have you document the engineering work you’ve done since you graduated.  That’s a lot easier to do if you have a log of all of your work.

Keep a Copy of Your Projects
You don’t have to keep every sheet.  I was told to keep the following sheets from a plan set: project title sheet, quantity sheet, cost estimate.

In addition to those sheets, also keep a list of specific things you were responsible for on the project, the client name and contact info, design fee, dates you worked on the project and anything else that you think is important.

Go After Challenging Work
You generally will need to show an increase in responsibility and quality of your work between the time that you graduate and the time that you apply for your PE license.  A great way to do that is to go after work that is increasingly more difficult.  Don’t over extend yourself, but look for opportunities to learn more and take on more responsibility when you’re ready.

Try Out Several Fields Then Pick One
This is one I also hear contradicted sometimes.  The afternoon PE exam is specific to one area of civil engineering.  When you get your PE License you are probably working your way to becoming an expert in one of those fields.  It’s good to specialize.  The civil engineering industry is way too broad to become an expert in everything.  However, when you become a project manager you will need to have at least a basic understanding of how the other fields of civil engineering work and interact.

This is some of the advice I’ve heard most often.   Since I don’t have my PE yet I can’t add much of my own to the list.  What sort of advice have you been given or what sort of advice to you have to offer?

Deadlines are interesting things.  They are both written in stone and constantly changed.  Especially if you work with government organizations.  In the past few weeks I’ve had deadlines moved up, moved back, eliminated and switched from don’t work on it to due tomorrow.

Through all of this I’ve learned a few things about deadlines.

If you are working for a private sector client then the schedule and deadlines are pretty well set.  They expect the product when you agree to provide it.

When you work for a government organization deadlines and schedules seem to be more of a target than a law.  The organizations will want to review plans at different stages and offer comments.  Sometimes it can take a long time to get comments back.  Sometimes you have the comments right away.

The schedule will change
Things always come up.  Any number of things can move the schedule back or forward.  Be ready for it.

90 percent of the work is in the last 10 percent of design
That last little bit of time is where you clean things up and make sure everything is perfect.  It’s also the time you find any mistakes.  Plan for changes.

Don’t wait until the last minute
The last minute is already full of final corrections, clean up, enhancement, etcetera.  Make sure that you aren’t doing any design at this point.

Work ahead
Just because a project isn’t due for a while or you are waiting for specific information doesn’t mean the project shouldn’t be touched.  Work as far ahead as you can with what you have.  That way you are ready when the next step comes.  Cramming doesn’t work any better in civil engineering design than it does before finals.

Always be ready for the deadline to be moved up
This is especially true if you are told that the next due date is now unknown.

Don’t relax on projects that aren’t due right away
Just because a project isn’t due soon doesn’t mean you can let it go.  The due date could get moved up or other projects could come along and demand your attention.  Be ready for them

Be ready for some overtime
If you are able to work ahead and are prepared early, then you shouldn’t have to worry about overtime or working weekends.  But sometimes it still happens.  When projects are due you want them to be as perfect as they can be.  That may mean some overtime just before the due date.

Those are a few of the things I’ve learned since I started doing civil engineering design.  To sum it up; do the work right and do it right now because something will happen.  It’s a lot easier to be ahead on a project than behind.  And the day before it’s due is not the time to be fixing major problems.

After dealing with a lot of different projects, deadlines and a few other things that helped inspire this post, I’ll be back on track.  I’ll be posting more on internships soon.