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The first examination, and why it is sat while you are still a student

The Fundamentals of Engineering examination covers the broad material common to all engineering rather than any one discipline, and is normally sat near graduation. Passing it is the first formal step on the road, and it is not a licence.

Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.

In beta. This lesson was written for Hone and has not yet been checked by a licensed engineer. Practice material, not professional advice. What that means.

What it is for

It is timed the way it is for a practical reason: the material it tests is the material you have most recently studied, and every year after graduation makes it harder rather than easier. Somebody who leaves it until they need it is revising subjects they last saw years ago, alongside a full-time job. The commonest version of this mistake is an engineer who joins a company with an exemption, has no immediate use for the examination, and sits it a decade later when they want to leave.

How to think about it

Sit it while the material is still fresh, even if you have no plan to license, because it is the cheapest step on the road at that moment and the most expensive one to defer. Treat it as keeping a door open rather than as a commitment. Boards set these rules and change them, so any figure you plan around has to come from your own board's page rather than from here or from somebody who qualified in a different state or a different year.

Worked example

It is broad, not disciplinary
The material common to all engineering rather than your branch.
Normally sat near graduation
When the material is the material you just studied.
Every year after makes it harder
Because you are revising subjects you last saw a long time ago.
It is not a licence
It is the first formal step towards one.
Which is why it is worth sitting anyway
Cheap now, expensive later, and it commits you to nothing.

Your turn

Say when the first examination is normally sat.

The fundamentals examination is normally sat near

The trap

Deferring it because you have no immediate use for a licence. The material is never fresher than it is now, and the people who most regret deferring are the ones who were covered by an exemption and later wanted to leave.

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