jistre--sounds like you know of states that don't require the FE exam before sitting for the PE exam. Which states don't have the FE exam requirement, care to say?
TomFin--I see "EIT or PE" requirements (interestingly, rarely do they say "FE" even though EIT is an outdated acronym) in job ads all the time. Perhaps I'll remember to give you a link when I see one next time.
As you probably expect, the utility of the EIT/FE/PE depends on the industry, or whether you want to work for yourself some day as an 'engineer.' Most states require you to have the PE to work for yourself, say as a consultant engineer. If you work for a manufacturer, I can't think of a state that requires a PE for you to do so legally as an engineer. If you work for a company that builds buildings, or puts stuff in buildings like HVAC, or works on bridges, highways, etc., you don't have to have a PE to work there, but it will help your career considerably to have a PE, since that means you can sign off on drawings, meaning you are taking responsibility for the design and the design had better be good! (see for example Hyatt Regency walkway collapse in the early 80s).
Curiously, when you work for an airplane manufacturer and screw up, and an airplane crashes, whether you have a PE or not, you as an engineer will not get sued or lose your license--the company itself indemnifies you and your work. Someone on one of these threads said you still could get sued, but I've never seen an example of such a case of a responsible person in aerospace being sued for a bad design that results in loss of life.
