In this video, I talk with Chris Siwczak, a project engineer at Colliers Engineering & Design who failed the FE exam 2 times but then passed it the third time. He talks about what he did differently the third time around and how he built accountability into his study schedule.
Here Are Some of the Questions I Ask Chris:
- How many times did you take it, and what made the difference in finally passing the FE exam?
- Did your company support you when taking the exam and if so, how did they support you?
- What did your study schedule look like?
- What tips can you share with the listeners that helped you in passing the exam?
Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed in This Episode:
- The first time I took the exam was during my senior year at college during finals. I barely studied, and thought I would pass by only studying for a couple of days. I did not pass the exam!
- Following graduation, the company I worked for encouraged me to take the exam again. This time around I chose to self-study, and did not take any review courses. I failed again!
- Pre-COVID, I decided to try again and took an on-demand review course. COVID hit a week before, and I could not take the test. During that time, I decided to enroll in a live review course that helped me to pass the exam the third time.
- Colliers Engineering & Design has a professional development initiative that support their staff financially to further their career development. They also don’t make you use PTO on the day of the exam.
- I studied for about three hours a day, four days a week. My social life had to take a stand back so that I can fully engage myself in studying. The hardest part for me was to study after a long day’s work so I would encourage young engineers to take the FE exam before they start working.
- It’s really important to understand the method of the FE exam, how long it takes to read the problem, where in the reference book you have to go, and how long you can spend per question.
This Episode Is Brought to You by PPI
PPI has helped engineers achieve their licensing goals since 1975. Passing the FE and PE exams can open doors to career advancement and new opportunities. Check out PPI’s wide range of prep options, including Live Online courses, OnDemand courses, and digital study tools to help prepare you to pass your licensing exam here.
I hope you found this week’s FE Environmental engineering exam prep question helpful. In upcoming articles, I will answer more FE Exam questions and run through more practice problems. We publish videos bi-weekly on our Pass the FE Exam YouTube Channel. Be sure to visit our page here and click the subscribe button as you’ll get expert tips and tricks – to ensure your best success – that you can’t get anywhere else. Believe me, you won’t want to miss a single video.
Lastly, I encourage you to ask questions in the comments of the videos or here on this page and I’ll read and respond to them in future videos. So, if there’s a specific topic you want me to cover or answer, we have you covered.
I’ll see you next week.
Anthony Fasano, P.E.
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
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