Re: What to call us

[Laurie Rubin <lmr -at- SYL -dot- NJ -dot- NEC -dot- COM>]

Not true that ALL engineers require licensing!  My husband is an E.E. with 16
years experience, and
has never had the need to be licensed to call himself an excellent electronics
engineer (at least in NJ). Furthermore, he has been in the job
market 5 times
in the last 11 years (small cos. with short-lived R&D), and never once has
he been turned down for an interview because he does
not have P.E. after his name, nor has the question ever come up in interviews.
 He feels that licensing may be useful for
government contracts, but since he goes for the challenge of working in small
companies, no one seems to care about the licensing -- except maybe other
engineers in other states...

By the way, certification has nothing to do with competency.  It has to do
with how well you can prepare and take a test!! Performance is the only true
measurement for competency.
Laurie
> At the risk of being flamed, I think that it's about time that someone
> pointed out that nearly every state in the U.S. requires that anyone
> calling themselves an "engineer" must have attained a professional
> engineering license. (I'm not sure whether this is the case overseas, but
> if someone knows, I'd be interested in finding out.) The law *does* allow a
> company to bestow the title of "engineer" on its employees -- provided that
> there is a licensed professional engineer somewhere in the organization.

>  The reason for this is to
> protect the public from those not competent to practice engineering.

> Doctors and lawyers have similar (and even tougher) requirements, for the
> same reason.

> The point is that, whether you like it or not, the title "engineer" has a
> legal significance that precludes its use by those that have not satisfied
> the appropriate requirements. Although I am a degreed engineer with over 20
> years of experience, I have yet to complete the final 8 hours of testing
> (which I am scheduled to do this coming October).

> I have been simulataneously been working as a technical writer for most of
> those 20+ years, and I will choose to continue using that title even after
> I pass the test and get a "P.E." after my name. I think that "technical
> writer" best describes what I do, and that the added credential of being a
> licensed professional engineer will just help my freelance tech writing
> business.

> Comments are welcome; flames will be ignored.

> PJ

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