Civil Engineer

[Heartland 0]

My husband is a Civil Engineer in Jordan. He went to school in Yemmen. Does he have to have his transcripts accredited before he can find a job here?

What steps must he take to work as an Engineer in Michigan???

IM CLUELESS!!!

Wendy

[dawnnhatem 0]

HI-

We have sorta similar situations...

I'm in Illinois so our path is different but the state of Michgan issues professional engineering licenses from its licensing division of the bureau of commercial services of the dept of labor. Start by contacting the MI dept of labor and when you reach the lic division, they will be able to spell out the reqs for getting a PE for him if its possible. In Illinois, its not possible to get a PE without 2 years of work experience here, so he can work as an engineer for any employer that would hire him, and he doesn't need his credentials evaluated until he is ready to apply for a PE license(in 2 yrs)Its at that time that he would go back to class for any deficiencies so getting the PE is kinda a dragged out process. Good luck to you guys. If your guys isn't here yet, encourage him to bring copies of his degrees and curriculums and transcripts with him just to keep in a safe place. It might be really hard to get these later from here and even if originals are required, these copies can at least get translated and used tentatively until official ones are available. Don't order credential evaluations before you need them, though. they are 400-500 dollars and they expire, and the party that requests it will likely want them sent directly from the evaluaters. Jumping the gun can make you need to do this more than once.

[Jasman0717 9]

There are companies that will accredit the education as long as he has the certificate(s) from the schools he attended. Good luck

[Heartland 0]

Ok after reading some things on MI's Gov page... I think he has to pass his PE licence first. My DH as worked as an engineer since 2003 so by the time he gets here it will be the required 4 yrs. So I went online to Amazon.com and ordered used and new books to send to him on studing for his PE as well as a highly recommened book on civil engineering priciples and foundations.

Now to send it to him... What is the best way to send it once it comes. They have a family po box as it is weird there and NO ONE gets mail to their door...very weird.

What classes did your husband have to take once here to work as an engineer? how did he know which ones he needed???ect?

Wendy

HI-

We have sorta similar situations...

I'm in Illinois so our path is different but the state of Michgan issues professional engineering licenses from its licensing division of the bureau of commercial services of the dept of labor. Start by contacting the MI dept of labor and when you reach the lic division, they will be able to spell out the reqs for getting a PE for him if its possible. In Illinois, its not possible to get a PE without 2 years of work experience here, so he can work as an engineer for any employer that would hire him, and he doesn't need his credentials evaluated until he is ready to apply for a PE license(in 2 yrs)Its at that time that he would go back to class for any deficiencies so getting the PE is kinda a dragged out process. Good luck to you guys. If your guys isn't here yet, encourage him to bring copies of his degrees and curriculums and transcripts with him just to keep in a safe place. It might be really hard to get these later from here and even if originals are required, these copies can at least get translated and used tentatively until official ones are available. Don't order credential evaluations before you need them, though. they are 400-500 dollars and they expire, and the party that requests it will likely want them sent directly from the evaluaters. Jumping the gun can make you need to do this more than once.

[dawnnhatem 0]

Ok after reading some things on MI's Gov page... I think he has to pass his PE licence first. My DH as worked as an engineer since 2003 so by the time he gets here it will be the required 4 yrs. So I went online to Amazon.com and ordered used and new books to send to him on studing for his PE as well as a highly recommened book on civil engineering priciples and foundations.

Now to send it to him... What is the best way to send it once it comes. They have a family po box as it is weird there and NO ONE gets mail to their door...very weird.

What classes did your husband have to take once here to work as an engineer? how did he know which ones he needed???ect?

Wendy

I wouldn't send him books by mail....no way. small light boxes are so expensive to send that I wouldn't want to think about a box of books. He has time. either next time you visit him or next time you know someone going to Jordan, hand deliver them. If someone's suitcase goes overwieght, pay it. probably be a fraction of a mailing cost.

As far as the classes go...he hasn't pursued this so I don't know what classes he would need. he wouldn't know what to take until he had his credentials evaluated, which wouldn't be until he was ready to apply for the pe, and he couldn't apply til he met the requirements and even if he landed an engineering job today, would still be 2 yrs from now.

Anyway...For us, the reality is that he won't be working as a professional engineer any time soon, if ever although nothing stops him from working as an engineer without a PE. In Illinois, that status is EIT engineer in training and all you need is an employer willing to call you an engineer. If MI has a 4 yr experience requirement, they must have a similar way for people to work without a PE.

I wish you lots of luck

[Heartland 0]

ANYONE GOING TO JORDAN??? LOL!!!

It seems as though it would be easier just to apply the classed he has taken and just go back to college...

Ok after reading some things on MI's Gov page... I think he has to pass his PE licence first. My DH as worked as an engineer since 2003 so by the time he gets here it will be the required 4 yrs. So I went online to Amazon.com and ordered used and new books to send to him on studing for his PE as well as a highly recommened book on civil engineering priciples and foundations.

Now to send it to him... What is the best way to send it once it comes. They have a family po box as it is weird there and NO ONE gets mail to their door...very weird.

What classes did your husband have to take once here to work as an engineer? how did he know which ones he needed???ect?

Wendy

I wouldn't send him books by mail....no way. small light boxes are so expensive to send that I wouldn't want to think about a box of books. He has time. either next time you visit him or next time you know someone going to Jordan, hand deliver them. If someone's suitcase goes overwieght, pay it. probably be a fraction of a mailing cost.

As far as the classes go...he hasn't pursued this so I don't know what classes he would need. he wouldn't know what to take until he had his credentials evaluated, which wouldn't be until he was ready to apply for the pe, and he couldn't apply til he met the requirements and even if he landed an engineering job today, would still be 2 yrs from now.

Anyway...For us, the reality is that he won't be working as a professional engineer any time soon, if ever although nothing stops him from working as an engineer without a PE. In Illinois, that status is EIT engineer in training and all you need is an employer willing to call you an engineer. If MI has a 4 yr experience requirement, they must have a similar way for people to work without a PE.

I wish you lots of luck

[zyggy 9]

I have a PE in Michigan....

He can get a job as a Civil Engineer without a PE.. However, his advancement prospects are pretty slim.... and right now there are lots of laid off PE's looking for jobs. He may have to start out as a draftsman or get on a field crew to get his foot in the door right now...

He will need to get his transcripts from his school in Jordan translated and then send to a accredidation service acceptable to the Michigan Board. The one they accpeted has stopped doing them.. you'll have to call the board to find an acceptable substitute.

After this has been done, he needs to send it to the Michigan Board for their review. They will tell you whether or not his degree is acceptable, or what the deficiencies are and what classes he will need to take to correct them. Foreign degrees almost always have deficiencies in humanities and social sciences...

Another option is for him to get a Master's degree in Civil Engineering here in the US. If he does this, the Board will accept his foreign degree withut the need for an evaluation.. Which might be just as good a deal in terms of cost..

He will also need to take both licensing exams. The FE Exam is on Engineering Fundamentals. The second PE exam is on Practice. He can't take the second exam until he has over 4 years of experience under a licensed PE and has been approved by the board to take it. Most of his experience he has earned up to now is not acceptable. He has to have his four years of experience under a licensed PE. However, the board can give credit for some previous experience earned outside of the US.. but it's not usually more than 2 years or so... But he'll have to bring copies of his work and calculations to present to the board to show his level of work...

More information is included on the application packets shown below... The reciprocity ne is especially helpful when it comes to education..

http://www.cis.state.mi.us/bcsc/forms/eng/peexam.pdf

http://www.cis.state.mi.us/bcsc/forms/eng/perecip.pdf

If you have any additional questions, please let me know...

Edited January 4, 2007 by zyggy

[Heartland 0]

Thank you so much for the information!!!

Wendy

I have a PE in Michigan....

He can get a job as a Civil Engineer without a PE.. However, his advancement prospects are pretty slim.... and right now there are lots of laid off PE's looking for jobs. He may have to start out as a draftsman or get on a field crew to get his foot in the door right now...

He will need to get his transcripts from his school in Jordan translated and then send to a accredidation service acceptable to the Michigan Board. The one they accpeted has stopped doing them.. you'll have to call the board to find an acceptable substitute.

After this has been done, he needs to send it to the Michigan Board for their review. They will tell you whether or not his degree is acceptable, or what the deficiencies are and what classes he will need to take to correct them. Foreign degrees almost always have deficiencies in humanities and social sciences...

Another option is for him to get a Master's degree in Civil Engineering here in the US. If he does this, the Board will accept his foreign degree withut the need for an evaluation.. Which might be just as good a deal in terms of cost..

He will also need to take both licensing exams. The FE Exam is on Engineering Fundamentals. The second PE exam is on Practice. He can't take the second exam until he has over 4 years of experience under a licensed PE and has been approved by the board to take it. Most of his experience he has earned up to now is not acceptable. He has to have his four years of experience under a licensed PE. However, the board can give credit for some previous experience earned outside of the US.. but it's not usually more than 2 years or so... But he'll have to bring copies of his work and calculations to present to the board to show his level of work...

More information is included on the application packets shown below... The reciprocity ne is especially helpful when it comes to education..

http://www.cis.state.mi.us/bcsc/forms/eng/peexam.pdf

http://www.cis.state.mi.us/bcsc/forms/eng/perecip.pdf

If you have any additional questions, please let me know...