r/powerengineering

I’m a 24 year old fella and I’m enrolled to get my 4th Class PE starting this October. I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t really know what to expect when I actually finish my 4th class. I day dream about working in oil and gas or power generation. But from what I hear pickings are slim for inexperienced 4th class PEs.

I’m just wanting to have realistic expectations going into this line of work. Can I expect to work in an industrial plant right off the get-go? Or will I likely have to put in some time in building ops/maintenance?

I don’t mind moving for work, and I do plan to get my 3rd class eventually, but the local university only offers 4th class.

I've been having trouble looking for a job as a p.e in Alberta. I was wondering if it's worth it to get the special boiler operator ticket and if I qualify for the steam time on it as a 3rd class ticket holder.

I run a free job board that scrapes Power Engineering postings across Canada daily. Today's batch: 30 new listings, 19 still open after the dead-link check runs.

Notable one: three separate 3rd Class Power Engineer postings in Winnipeg hospitals alone today (Misericordia, WRHA, Shared Health) — if you're 3rd Class and open to relocating, that's worth a look.

Rest of the spread is BC/ON/AB/SK/NS/YT, mostly 3rd and 4th Class. Link if useful: fullsteamahead.ca/jobs.html

Hey everyone, I’m writing 3A1 very soon and just wanted to hear any last minute tips or advice from anyone who wrote the exam somewhat recently. I’d appreciate any responses on what I can expect to encounter on the test. Is thermodynamics basics more so theory or calculation questions where you plug in values into the formula ?
Thank you!

EDIT: I passed on my first try thanks everyone

Hi all, I'll be starting my Class 4 course soon but unfortunately have to quit my day job due to conflicting hours with class. Are there PE-related jobs out there with evening hours? Probably don't qualify for employment insurance because this isn't an apprenticeship.

Those of you that got your class 3 PE, did you find it worth it compared to when you were class 4, or did the pay not outweigh the added responsibilities?

Hey guys,
Just curious from where do I get the sheet which Is supposed to get signed off my chief power engineer to approve firing time.
Does school have it? Or is it provincial authority?

Would you be interested in working as a NOIT? Steam to nuclear switch. Is it worth it?

Currently a 4th class shift engineer based in BC working at a 4th class steam heating plant.
I was given the choice of working 12 hour shifts: Wednesday to Saturday, or Sunday to Tuesday

I am basically asking if firing time is counted as hours worked at the plant OR months you’ve been working at the plant. If it is months; then working an extra 12 hours every week won’t help me attain the required firing time for 3rd class.

Looking for any guidance or tips on how this goes now? Anything from the B books that I should focus on? And where to obtain PDFs of academic supplements and B-51/B-52? I dont see those on the pinned post.

Hi, i am a 36 year old male, thinking of persuing 4th Class certification course and then 3rd class at Keyano College, i'll also try for NAIT, but i have some questions regarding it:

1. My high school grades are low in math and science, i am a law graduate, can i still get admission in the Keyano College?

2. What is the difference between Power engineering Diploma and certificate courses?

3. In today's scenario, is it wise to persue power engineering specially for someone like at the age of 36.

Hey everyone, I thought I would provide a brief summary of what it took to write all my first class exams (hours studied, attempts):

1A1: Applied Thermodynamics & Plant Cycles - 140, 3

1A2: Principles of Applied & Fluid Mechanics - 55, 1

1A3: Applied Engineering Technologies - 70, 1

1A4: Power Plant Operations - 65, 1

1B1: Legislation & Codes for Industrial Equipment - 87, 1

1B2: Safety, Loss & Environmental Program Management - 75, 1

1B3: Inspection, Maintenance & Repair Practices - 85, 1

1B4: Business & Workforce Management - 90, 2

For any questions, please feel free to reach out to me!

I work at a union manufacturing plant and I make 36$/hr, about 90k per year. The plant I work at employs power engineers(needing a 4th class) to work in the boiler room. They make about 8$ per hour more than I do. If there is a job opening for a power engineer my company has to hire from within if anyone working in the plant is qualified, so I would likely be next in line. But I’m told there won’t be an opening for 8 years (obviously they don’t know that for sure).

I saw this as an opportunity to possibly eventually move into that role and have a possible backup incase my plant were to shut down or something like that. But it doesn’t appear like there’s a great job market for power engineers? I don’t see many job postings online. I could also do my steam time at my plant for free. Does this seem worth it? Is power engineering a good field to go into?

So I’m 26 and I have a super cool opportunity to interview with a plant in my state next week with no PE experience. I have a bachelor’s in aviation with my commercial/flight instructor blah blah you name it pilot licenses. With that 4 year, came some theocratical intermediate-advanced mechanical/physics classes. I also have my CDL B and I’ve been working those types of jobs which are mostly seasonal to help with income as flight instructing in my state is also seasonal. I’ve honestly been looking for a different career path and this is a golden opportunity for me. My burning questions are:

-Where do I go to find information to better prepare myself?

-What is the culture like in general? More blue collar? More white collar?

-What’s the “struggle” with the job? Every job has it

-For conversation sake, what’s day to day look like? What am I walking into?

I've got my 3rd class PE, advanced first aid and 13 years experience in heavy industry, although not oil and gas.