Your professional engineering experience is one of the most important parts of your licensure application—but it can also be one of the most difficult sections to document effectively.
Many engineers have worked on complex projects but struggle to explain their personal responsibilities, technical decisions, and progression in a way that a reviewer can evaluate.
In Episode 05 of the ShaiLearning FE-to-PE Licensure Webinar Series, I explained how to document professional experience in NCEES Records clearly, accurately, and effectively.
What is an NCEES Record?
An NCEES Record is a verified compilation of information that an applicant may submit to a licensing board as part of the licensure process.
A completed Record can include academic transcripts, examination results, employment history and verification, professional references, and information concerning existing licenses.
The Records program is particularly useful for licensed engineers applying for comity licensure in additional jurisdictions because it reduces the need to collect and resubmit the same verified information repeatedly.
However, establishing or transmitting an NCEES Record does not guarantee licensure. Each licensing board makes its own decision and may request additional information.
Document Your Complete Work History
NCEES requires applicants to provide a chronological record of their applicable work history. Dates and employment information should be accurate, complete, and consistent with what employers or other respondents can verify.
Don’t wait until you need to submit an application to reconstruct or remember several years of engineering work. However, if you don’t remember details, you can refer to key projects listed in your CV and pick one or two to document in your NCEES Record.
Maintain a confidential career record containing:
- Employer and position
- Employment dates
- Project names or general project descriptions
- Your specific responsibilities
- Calculations, designs, studies, or analyses performed
- Engineering decisions you personally made
- Supervisors or individuals who can verify the work
Describe the Engineering Work You Personally Performed
A common mistake is describing the company or project instead of explaining the applicant’s own engineering contribution.
For example, a statement such as “worked on electrical substation projects” provides very little evidence of personal engineering responsibility.
A stronger description could explain that the applicant performed short-circuit studies, developed equipment specifications, reviewed protection settings, evaluated grounding requirements, or prepared design calculations under appropriate supervision.
Every entry should clearly communicate:
- What you personally did
- How you applied engineering knowledge
- What technical decisions or recommendations you made
- The complexity of the work
- Your level of responsibility
- How your responsibilities progressed over time
NCEES advises applicants to describe their work explicitly but concisely, including the complexity, duties, and exact engineering work personally performed.
Use Specific and Verifiable Language
Strong experience documentation should be clear, specific, and verifiable.
Use action verbs such as “I calculated,” “I designed, “I analyzed,” “I evaluated, “I developed,” “I reviewed, “I recommended,” and “I specified,” among others. Avoid using phrases like “I was part of a team,” “I was engaged in,” or “I worked on,” … without providing any specific thing you did on a representative project
However, do not exaggerate your authority or take credit for an entire team’s work. The description should reflect your personal contribution and remain consistent with what your verifier can confirm.
Prepare Your References and Verifiers
Contact professional references and employment verifiers before submitting your requests. You worked hard for the PE Exam; however, each step matters.
Confirm that their email addresses are correct, explain why they will receive a request, and ask whether they are willing and available to respond. Give them enough time and follow up respectfully if the request remains incomplete.
Your references should understand your professional reputation, while your work-experience respondents should be able to verify the employment dates and engineering responsibilities included in your entries.
Review Before Submitting
Before submitting your information, check for:
- Missing periods in your work history
- Inconsistent employment dates
- Vague or repetitive descriptions
- Duties that describe the team instead of your contribution
- Unsupported claims about responsible charge
- Incorrect reference or verifier contact information
- Acronyms that a reviewer may not understand
A carefully prepared Record can reduce corrections and make it easier for reviewers to understand your engineering development.
Watch Episode 05 in Parts; 1 to 6
This webinar includes practical rules, examples of strong and weak entries, guidance on references and verification, key takeaways, and questions from engineers navigating the PE licensure process.
What NCEES Records Require
How to write a strong Work Experience
Difference between a strong and weak experience
Providing References and completing verifications
NCEES Record key Takeaways
NCEES Records and Q&A Session
Additional Information
Use our quick assessment tool to gauge your readiness.
Watch the entire Episode 05 recorded video here
For current requirements, review the official NCEES Records Program and NCEES Work Experience FAQs.
This is Episode 05 and the final session of the five-part ShaiLearning FE-to-PE Licensure Webinar Series.
