The other day I figured out that I was coming up on 4 years of being out of school. Nothing too remarkable about that until I noticed that for about 2.5 years of working with P.Eng's. I used to tell myself that it would be great to get that designation so that I could sign passports, but with the Laura's job, that would be redundant. So why would I try for it now? So I can call myself a "professional person"? That would be a crock.
I used to think that I'd never really work with P.Eng's at all so I thought that it would be too difficult to get the required 4 years of experience. Do I think that it would change how much value my opinion carried at work? God no.
I've talked to someone who's been a P.Eng. for a long, long time and he told me that he keeps on thinking of letting his license lapse so he doesn't pay the fees anymore since he doesn't feel he uses it. Again, do I see myself actually using a professional designation? Not really.
But for some reason it has an appeal that I keep coming back to. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. :-/
I feel the same way about the P. Eng. in the software field. While it's important to develop dependable systems, there's probably only a handful of organizations in the world who do any real software engineering. The chances of you using the designation for its intended purpose are probably very slim. However, who knows how things will be in the software development world 10 years from now. I say that if you have the opportunity to get your P. Eng. then you should go for it. It will probably open op a lot of possibilities in the future.
ReplyDeleteJust a question though. Do you know how much the professional fees are? Also, I seem to remember that professional fees are tax deductible, so it may not end up being that expensive anyway.
I was looking into those questions myself. I couldn't find the fee amounts at all.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know if it will actually open doors... if someone came to me to apply for a software job I'm going to put most of the weight on their experience and attitude rather than on if they have a P.Eng. or not. Maybe that'll change, I don't know.
If you keep thinking about it, I'd say give it a shot just so you can say you tried it out. If after a few years you think it's a waste of money... then let your license lapse and at least know that it's not for you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm pretty sure you don't need a professional designation any longer to sign passports, just Canadian citizenship.
Just to finish that last thought about signing a passport, here's the new criteria for being a guarantor (http://www.ppt.gc.ca/can/guarantor.aspx?lang=e):
ReplyDeleteEligible guarantors
Your guarantor must:
1. Hold a five-year Canadian passport that is valid* or has been expired for no more than one year, on the day you submit your application;
2. Have known you personally for at least two (2) years.
3. Be a Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older;
4. Have been 16 years of age or older when he or she applied for his or her own passport.
It may not get you the job one way or another, but it could mean the difference between being interviewed, and not being interviewed. Once you get into the interview, you can impress them all you want with your attitude and personality, but until then, you have to get through the HR drones. Many places require job candidates have some sort of MCSE (or similar). It doesn't mean that people with an MCSE are any better suited to do the job, many times I feel like they are worse suited, but gives the People in HR a good checklist of things to look for on perspective resumes, so that they can cut down the list and come up with a reasonable number of people to interview.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that your perspective is technical, not managerial. I suppose I'm biased coming from a snobby research/tech background with lots of P.Eng's, but in my mind being a real engineer (ie, with the ring, not a "software engineering" drone from some 9 month program) engenders some instant confidence in a resource because the bar is higher to get that ring and it shows (in theory) that you can take on complex problems and be expected to solve them systematically and reliably. It's also another place for an employer to lay blame if you turn out to be a dud.
ReplyDeleteSince you can't really say "Software Developer, comes with Iron Ring" on a resume (and nobody reads your education section except to figure out how old you are), putting "P.Eng" at the end of your name does help distinguish you from the hordes of other applicants. Once you're in an interview all bets are off, but most people don't get called in for one.
Also, if you can find your way into a gov't job - come to the dark side, Jim - you'll be making tens of thousands more as an engineer than a CS, at least as of last time I worked on an HR system.
hahaha... but I am a software engineer (graduate) with a ring! I just can't call myself a "engineer" since I don't have a rubber stamp...
ReplyDeleteI guess that it's time to stop pondering about it on a blog and actually talk to some engineer's...