While at the entry level, you need not be licensed as an aerospace engineer in order to provide your Aerospace Engineering Services. However, as you move on in your career, you must start looking for the required licenses, lest you are adjudged unqualified to offer your services in the industry. When your experience as an aerospace engineer continues to increase, your responsibilities in the industry will move in the same direction as well. Inevitably, you will be required to show that you are truly licensed and qualified to operate as an aerospace engineer, and offer your services, in an industry where safety is paramount.
First, you need to look for the right engineering program, and ascertain that it enjoys the ABET accreditation. You also need to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, which you can take right after you graduate with your bachelor’s degree program, and make sure that you obtain passing score. Relevant work experience is imperative, since you cannot be offered more responsibilities and work in the industry, if you have never worked in the past. It is important that you also take and pass the Professional Engineering exam. Once you pass the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, your title in the industry will be an engineer in training or engineer intern.
Aerospace Engineering Services Requires Constant Upgrading of Education
Once you obtain your initial licenses, you should never stop there. If you intend to continue providing Aerospace Engineering Services, you must never end your education. This industry is in constant need of qualified engineers, and you need to keep up with the changing times. The only way to do this is to take continuous education to improve your skills as an aerospace engineer. You can even use licenses from other states in a different state, as long as the licensing requirements are at par. With time, you can advance from being an aerospace engineer, to a technical specialist, if you think this path is good for your career.
Eventually, and only after you have worked in the industry for a while and possess the requisite qualifications and licenses, you can start supervising other engineers as well as technicians. You could advance your career to become a project or program manager, which is an executive position, but still allows you to provide Aerospace Engineering Services. However, before you even think of taking up any managerial position, you need to start by working as an apprentice under a more experienced and better-qualified aerospace engineer for some time. You could even become an engineering manager, as this is one of the top executive positions available here.
If you intend to provide the industry with your Aerospace Engineering Services, you should be willing to work with other professionals. Teamwork is a major factor in the world of aerospace engineers, as you are constantly exposed to working with other professionals to come up with products that are safe as well as of the highest quality. You must communicate well with the rest of your team, and learn how to distribute work amongst yourselves, in order to achieve common goals. Failure is never an option in this industry, and you must design your Aerospace Engineering Services for success.