Re:Caltech's CS interview prep course
by ThrowawayR2 on Sunday February 27, 2022 @06:01PM
(#30493716)
> "But nobody was interested."
No, no one took the PE exam for software engineering because it was effectively impossible.
To become a PE, first the candidate has to pass one of the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become an engineer-in-training. Except, whoops, there wasn't ever a software specific FE exam; the most relevant one is the EE/Comp. E. exam. Take a look at the list of topics: https://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/FE-Ele-CBT-specs.pdf. Most developers aren't going to pass that even with a CS degree.
Secondly, you need 4-8 years of job experience while supervised by a licensed engineer. Again, whoops, there are barely any software developers with a PE license, so who would they get to supervise them?
Only then do you get to take the PE exam for software engineering and become a licensed professional engineer. Frankly, the situation was so absurd that one has to suspect that NSPE didn't want to certify software developers as PEs.
No, no one took the PE exam for software engineering because it was effectively impossible.
To become a PE, first the candidate has to pass one of the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become an engineer-in-training. Except, whoops, there wasn't ever a software specific FE exam; the most relevant one is the EE/Comp. E. exam. Take a look at the list of topics: https://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/FE-Ele-CBT-specs.pdf. Most developers aren't going to pass that even with a CS degree.
Secondly, you need 4-8 years of job experience while supervised by a licensed engineer. Again, whoops, there are barely any software developers with a PE license, so who would they get to supervise them?
Only then do you get to take the PE exam for software engineering and become a licensed professional engineer. Frankly, the situation was so absurd that one has to suspect that NSPE didn't want to certify software developers as PEs.