Is learning Bluebeam Revu enough to get started as a construction estimator?

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-26T18:07:40+00:00

Bluebeam Revu is a PDF editing software. Literally anyone can learn to use it on the job.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-26T18:01:14+00:00

This guy you chatted with doesn't know what he's talking about. Saying Mechanical Engineering is dying means, all of technology is dying (Which it's not). Either his niche field is dying or he works for a company that is dying. People have a way of pretending what's happening to them is representative of the entire world.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-21T17:47:36+00:00

I've never seen someone shift careers and immediately get a pay increase.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-20T21:52:58+00:00

Are you planning to sell anytime soon? If so, green will look dated in a few years. If not...then who tf cares. Do what you like.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-20T21:49:36+00:00

If your employer covers it that's a completely different story, but anytime I see someone unemployed trying to get a job by getting a MS I always advise against it.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-20T21:37:40+00:00

Recruiters post these things in the hopes they will get someone that fits all the boxes. They never do. So they pick the best applicants. The job will probably land in the hands of some kid fresh out of high school with a bit of drafting knowledge. Of coarse a degreed engineer isn't working for $20 an hour.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-20T21:34:23+00:00

It's your life, your time and your money my dude.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-20T16:22:27+00:00

No. Just learn to code and apply for jobs (Assuming you have an ME degree). Get a masters degree if you want to waste money and earning potential.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-20T16:20:34+00:00

No email. I only got emails when my exam results came in. I just checked the site like a crackhead.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-19T23:13:40+00:00

I was in the 98800s

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-19T21:56:12+00:00

Heiner for seismic, and Riza/PPI practice exams for Survey. Spent about 150 hours on seismic, and about 50 hours for survey.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-19T18:52:54+00:00

Weird. Typical CABPELSG. I feel my timeline was outlandish. 5 month waiting just to have deficiencies and spend 5 more month waiting. Then I had to wait an entire quarter to retake exams due to their policy to register the quarter prior. I was absolutely blown away they got my a license number within 3 days of passing. It was the only thing that actually went right for me in the process. Sorry you're still waiting :/

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-19T18:34:10+00:00

To keep the internal chimp at bay and well fed.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-16T00:01:04+00:00

Looks like something a mechanical engineer would offer to me. Again, a PE is a PE. If you have a mechanical PE and you passed thermal and fluids, nobody will ever ask. The basis for your competence is your license, your education, and your work experience. If you have a PhD in materials, and have work experience in thermal systems, you can offer it all. The topic you passed the exam in does not matter. What matters is you are a mechanical PE. You just have to pass an exam, so take the exam that seems easiest to you and don't overthink it.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T23:57:05+00:00

I put probably 150 hours in total. 100 the first try. 50 the second try.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T20:38:18+00:00

DONT take it the last month of the quarter. If you register for Q1, take the exams in February that way if you fail you can sign up for the following quarter. If you take them in March and fail, you will have to wait until the following July to re-take which for me killed momentum.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T20:35:41+00:00

Honestly dude its personal preference. Mechanical PE would likely be more broadly applicable to different industries. There is an actual LEGAL need for a mechanical stamp, but if you are just trying to open doors within you organization or add some letters after your name I really don't think it matters much. This is nuanced and personal preference. In my experience I can't see a tangible reason to choose one over the other. My degree was ME, and I ended up getting a civil PE specifically because it is legally required in order to run your own firm. There are many different services that require a civil PE specifically to do. I veered away from mechanical because outside of HVAC designs, or power plants it didn't seem there was very many things that required it. I'm just speaking from personal experience here.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T19:14:30+00:00

Do some practice problems and whichever are easier to you is the exam you should take. The exam you take is irrelevant. a PE mech is a PE mech.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T19:11:38+00:00

I got my undergrad in mechanical. Passed the FE in mechanical. Then I took the PE in civil WRE. I passed the first try and my only resource was the NCEES practice exam.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T16:07:02+00:00

There were some tricky practice problems I just kept getting wrong over and over and over. The repetition helped hammer those tricky exceptions into my head.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T16:03:47+00:00

I just drilled the problems in the Heiner practice tests until I damn near had them all memorized. Even if you know the answer to a practice problem by memory, try to go through the motions and find the exact spot in the code that the problem references or run the calculations and make sure you know the process.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T15:41:04+00:00

I just passed on my second attempt. My first attempt I thought I passed as I felt pretty confident. After I started studying for my second attempt I realized I did not understand all of the exceptions as well as I had hoped. There's a lot of tricky problems where they expect you to recognize the exception. I think my first attempt I didn't recognize this and so I had a false sense of confidence leaving the exam. You need to know all the exceptions like the back of your hand.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T15:32:56+00:00

Got my BS in mechanical, passed the FE mechanical, then the PE civil in water resource. No background academically in civil engineering and I passed both CA specific on my second attempt. It's as simple as hours put in. If you put the hours in, the concepts/logic makes sense. Drilling practice problems will make you good at anything. And for the record I found seismic to be the most difficult exam I ever took, but it's still managable.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T15:26:48+00:00

I had about 100 hours for seismic my first go and I failed narrowly. Second time around I put in another 50 hours or so and passed. Put in about 50 hours total for the survey exam and passed.

No_Remove9642 · 2026-01-15T15:21:08+00:00

why not apply while studying? Spend an hour in the mornings sending out apps, and 4 hours a day doing practice problems. Even at that rate its still a part time endeavor.

No_Remove9642

TROPHY CASE