Ethics

It's been a while since I've posted a FE review lesson, so today I thought I would cover a topic that is often overlooked in my opinion: ethics. This is a section that is definitely worth studying because there are a surprisingly large amount of questions on the topic and if you "get it" you can slam dunk this portion of the test for easy points. I really struggled with the math and other sections of the morning session before I got to the ethics part, and when I got through these it really kind of picked up my morale because I was prepared for them and able to answer them well.

Make sure you study this section. I know, the temptation is there to just skip it because we're all good people and know right from wrong, right? But don't skip this! Make sure you study it a bit, because it's a significant part of the exam, it's relatively painless to study, and if you blow this section you will hate yourself for throwing away easy points just because you never thought of something a certain way.

There is a portion of the Supplied-Reference Handbook that covers this section. My review professor suggested simply reading this the night before the exam. I would suggest reading it once now, and then reading it again the night before the exam, to take advantage of delayed-review learning which helps your brain retain info. Either way, though, it's a good thing to review the night before as a break from the calculations and heavy mental lifting.

There aren't really any practice problems or anything you can do. Just review the section in the book, pretty simple.

So, what should you expect? The basic premise is that engineers have to uphold the public safety at all costs. That's priority #1. The questions you get on the exam will likely present a scenario which might appear to fall into a gray area, and it's your job to determine that it is in fact a cut-and-dry issue and take the most appropriate action to rectify the situation rather than shrugging it off. An example:

You have been friends with Roscoe since childhood and you work at a local consulting firm together. Over beers at the local watering hole, Roscoe reveals that he got his engineering degree from EngineerDegreesWithoutAnyActualSchooling.com and that it is not accredited by NCEES or any other reputable organization. You know that if Roscoe loses his job his family will become destitute and he will be forced to sell his eight children into endentured servitude. Do you...

A) Help Roscoe finish night classes to get a real degree before his deception is discovered,
B) Don't worry about it; you're writing air quality permits and a trained monkey could do that job,
C) Photoshop your name out of your college diploma and put Roscoe's name on it so he has a diploma from a real school, or
D) Inform your boss as soon as possible.

This is a completely fictional question and I embellished it a bit, but you get the idea. The correct answer is D, by the way. So basically you're going to have to put aside many values you might have -- don't rat people out, if it doesn't really matter don't sweat it, etc. -- and view every situation as black and white. Remember, you're potentially gambling with people's lives, so never assume that it's probably not a big deal.

There are some other things to consider, such as what constitutes a bribe, etc. and you can get those from the book.

Review the book, and get yourself in the right "ethical mindset" and you'll do fine!