Do you need to have a P.Eng.?

The short answer is YES, but let’s explore your goals and beliefs together, shall we?

• Do you see yourself practicing engineering in the next 5-10 years?
• Did you study / practice engineering abroad?
• Do you see yourself being promoted and become a well paid individual contributor or a leader?
• Does your work require that you stamp designs, reports and other engineering documents?
• Do you take pride in your work?
• Do you like being called an engineer?

If you answered yes to 2 or more of the questions above, you should seriously consider getting your P.Eng. or P.Geo. designation.

Career progression becomes easier once you get onto the Engineering or Geoscience path. Most recent numbers from Salary Survey from Engineers Canada indicate that… (show graph with salaries for different levels of individual contributors and management)

If you studied and practiced abroad, you will have to submit your paperwork if you would like to have the same profession here in Canada, you may meet requirements for experience, but not academic ones, or vice-versa. Coming from abroad, a potential employer would like to have an assurance that you are at par with another engineer in Canada, that your credentials have been verified, that you are technically capable of delivering designs, programs or projects in compliance with Canada’s regulatory and ethical framework. Your best option is to apply.

Some jobs will require that you have a professional designation. A quick search of engineering related jobs indicates that 70-80% of those jobs require that you have a P.Eng. or that you are eligible to obtain your designation, meaning they are expecting you to pursue it and likely they will pay for your exams and your registration fees.

How about leaving $20,000 off the table in salary negotiations? Yes, that’s how much you may not be earning if you are not recognized as a professional engineer or geologist in your province. If you plan to stay in the profession for 15-25 years, that is good money you are not making. Do the math.

Finally if at the end of a tough, non-rewarding day, you feel like quitting, and then you think about what brought you to engineering, like exploring new sources of energy, making the lives of people around the globe better with your solutions, including the lives of your children, or engaging with a community of like-minded individuals, coaching or mentoring others at work, being inspired by the leaders in your career, then you are an ‘engineer at heart’, and you deserve to be called as such.