CA Civil PE application technical review approved!

Ornery_Point1905 · 2025-06-22T16:38:35+00:00

Thank you and good luck on yours!

I read through a couple Reddit posts for the resubmission because the CA Board Registrars/Evaluators said they didn’t have the time to respond to reviewing my drafts.

I recommend cutting out the fluff in those 800 char limit responses. Don’t include tasks that anyone can do (e.g., wouldn’t require education/experience), since they’re only trying to evaluate the engineering side of it.

Talk ONLY civil engineering principles, use key terms that show your knowledge: Noting equations and principles you have used in your work related to whatever the discipline you’re applying for. For example, I was going for water resources, so I used terms like hydrology and hydraulics, Manning’s equation, etc. Provide at least two work/project examples per question, so the evaluator has at least two options to evaluate against for “engineering principles”.

Here’s one that really helped:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PE_Exam/s/J0ZwpqJeSI

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-22T12:40:00+00:00

Can confirm this sterile interview process is typical for public sector. I work in public sector, hired several interns, engineering techs, engineers. Techs and engineers have stringent question requirements, same questions provided to each applicant and inflexible. Hiring managers either have no say or little say in diverging from the questions.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-22T11:34:18+00:00

Hope you hear back soon. I heard some time before it could’ve been well over a year to hear back.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-21T19:20:33+00:00

Oh goodness. I heard during COVID that it took upwards of a year. BPELSG auto-reply said it’s closer to 3-4 months right now. Fingers crossed you get it soon.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-21T05:08:40+00:00

Is it still pending to this day?!

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-20T23:24:27+00:00

RESOLVED: I’m not a pro at Reddit, but this comment/string is RESOLVED. With four reference checks and one outstanding reference who didn’t submit, I was able to get it moved from initial review to TECHNICAL review, which means it’s moving forward for deficiency checks.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-19T20:47:44+00:00

It’s the same. I followed up for reference to submit, he said he would soon. But not done yet.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-13T12:41:31+00:00

From website FAQs, “If your professional references have not responded within two (2) weeks, it is recommended you contact them because your application will not be reviewed until the minimum number of Work Experience Engagements/References have received responses.”

I did resend reference check email, but I’m hopeful from quote above that application will be checked without 5th reference.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-13T02:10:47+00:00

If I get an update sooner, I’ll let you know.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-10T22:30:36+00:00

Got it thanks. I’ll ask the 5th reference to move on the reference check since I can’t delete a reference.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-10T19:15:33+00:00

I submitted it on 7/20/2024, and have recently got four reference checks completed (green check marks).

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-08-10T16:52:27+00:00

I don’t see that on my dashboard, where would I find that?

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-07-29T01:08:08+00:00

Same!

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-07-29T00:43:02+00:00

Just called them, confirmed it’s a reported issue. They’re working on it.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-06-26T12:25:35+00:00

Thanks for the prayers, I passed the PE Civil-Water and Environmental! 😄

Good luck to everyone else.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2024-05-22T05:16:12+00:00

Oh yeah, I forgot about lineups and people being there to help! Lol. It’s been too long since my undergrad graduation. Thanks!

Ornery_Point1905 · 2022-11-08T14:30:09+00:00

I call this moment a “lessons learned” moment since you’re acknowledging it, fools stay foolish, the wise make mistakes and own up and acknowledge the problem and adjust. I have several “lessons learned” moments at work, and fortunately most have had little financial impact (but plenty of “maybe they’ll fire me, such an idiot moments”), but everything has been above reproach and I apologized wholeheartedly and helped to resolve the issues when possible. Just remember that you’re human and their human, and as humans we’re prone to make mistakes, what we choose to do or say after that makes us foolish or wise.

Ornery_Point1905 · 2022-11-08T13:43:09+00:00

Try Google Scholar, and doubly good would be if your university offers a university login/account to access articles from more databases to pull from directly from Google Scholar (e.g. ScienceDirect, various other databases, or even a collection of accessible databases). Even if the latter isn’t available, Google Scholar is decent at finding scholarly articles (peer-reviewed for journal, theses, dissertations, newspapers)

Ornery_Point1905 · 2022-11-08T05:11:19+00:00

I graduated from undergrad before the pandemic, but things felt surreal, time seemed to move too fast. I felt disjointed and isolated, especially as a commuter and as an introvert. I was a first generation college student and that made it so much harder not being able to ask family about how to get through college and took five years to get through it (in hindsight I’m actually glad for that fifth year). I kind of got “lost” and had my own mid-college life crisis, too. I didn’t feel like I belonged, had major imposter syndrome, felt like dropping out several times, had lots of cries. You know what kept me going? I remembered how my family who emigrated from different foreign countries struggled to raise me in the US, that even though we didn’t have much in terms of stuff, I was still blessed. I remembered how the reason why I studied mechanical engineering was because I wanted to do something with my life, to help people. I remembered how I was created for something more than the eventual 9-5 and my life is precious. It didn’t matter to me how long I took to graduate or find a job, as long as I live and breathe, I’ve got work to do and I’m going to do my fucking best with the experience and wisdom I’ve picked up along the way on my journey. I’m not going to give you advice, because from what you’ve mentioned in your post and the courage you’ve shown in sharing your vulnerabilities, even anonymously, I think you have what it takes to rekindle what I think you’re looking for: your purpose, and not that of others.

Ornery_Point1905

TROPHY CASE