How To Interview An Engineer

What Is Your Greatest Weakness

The interviewer knows that everyone, including you, has a and probably more than one. To provide a good answer to this question, you should focus on a non-essential skill, highlight skills you have improved, and turn a negative into a positive:

I used to have a tough time talking in front of groups of people which was difficult when I had to make presentations. I enrolled in public speaking training to try to improve my confidence, and now Im much more comfortable talking in front of large groups.

Interview questions for engineers vary based on your discipline, e.g., , , , or . However, almost any interviewer will ask questions to assess your technical abilities and personal qualities. Be ready to ace your interview by having your answers prepared in advance.

What Are Some Important Things To Consider While Designing Castings

Your answer to this question should highlight your knowledge and experience in the specific topic. When interviewers ask technical questions, it indicates that the specific technical knowledge may be relevant to the job role.

Example:âWhile designing castings, I try to make the form as simple as possible. Thickness of sections should be as uniform as possible, and large flat surfaces should be avoided to improve stress performance.â

What Are The Top Three Crucial Skills Of A Successful Engineer

The technical knowledge of an engineer varies within each industry and engineering speciality, but the critical skills for success are similar throughout. The goal of the question is to evaluate the candidate’s perspective on the crucial skills that create success in the role of an engineer. What to look for in an answer:

• Solid foundational technical knowledge in their specific type of engineering, such as chemical or mechanical
• Understanding of the role of an engineer within the company
• Ability to identify critical skills and abilities that contribute to their career success

Example:

“I think the top three crucial skills of a successful engineer are technical understanding in their industry, project management skills, and critical thinking and analytical ability.”

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What Qualifies Interview Engineers To Conduct Technical Interviews

Interview Engineers must complete an onboarding program that teaches Karats proven best practices for delivery of the interview including how to reduce bias. Then, with the guidance of a mentor, new Interview Engineers practice delivering interviews and improve through feedback. Interview Engineers qualify for more questions and conduct more advanced interviews as they gain proficiency in interviewing. Karat supports Interview Engineers learning in specializations, such as machine learning and devops.

Launch

12 weeks

New Interview Engineers are supported by a mentor Interview Engineer. They will gain mastery of the Karat code of conduct, interview delivery guidelines, and their first interview question.

Preparation

12 weeks

Interview Engineers are paired with a mentor who guides them through practice delivering their first interview question, provides performance feedback, and sets expectations for improvement.

Apprentice

2 weeks

Apprentice Interview Engineers will conduct interviews with early career candidates. Mentors continue to provide feedback, soft skills are refined, and new questions are mastered.

Interviewing

4+ weeks

Interview Engineers master a large library of questions and conduct more advanced interviews including project discussions.

It is really nice to have trained interviewers. It makes the process more comfortable when you’re allowed to ‘pass’ on questions to show what you do know.

Robinhood, Back-end Data Engineering candidate

What’s The Most Significant Contribution Youve Made As An Engineer

A successful engineer works on projects that improve the lives of those they serve and contribute to the company they work for. The goal of the question is to evaluate the candidate’s ability to contribute positively within their role. What to look for in an answer:

• Interest in producing high-quality work that provides a contribution
• Attention to detail and accuracy in the work they complete
• Critical thinking and analytical skills to assess a project for maximum impact

Example:

“The most significant contribution I’ve made in my career as an engineer would have to be working on the restoration of the tailings ponds in northern Alberta. Reclaiming the land and restoring it to its natural state was a rewarding project.”

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What To Expect In The Process

The application process starts with a resume review from a diverse committee of recruiters, Kambadur said. Bloomberg’s AI research engineering group receives up to a couple thousand resumes annually.

Candidates that pass the resume review can expect to get a call from a recruiter who will outline the process and position. Then candidates can expect two rounds of technical interviews over video, testing their machine learning and computer skills.

Once a job seeker passes those, there are four more in-house interviews, three testing more technical skills.

There’s no set of standardized tests, Kambadur said the case study questions are usually derived from the applicant’s previous experiences. They will probe an applicant’s machine learning knowledge, both theoretical and practical, and can be based on hypothetical situations.

For instance, if the candidate worked at a company that detects spam emails, Kambadur would not only ask about how to detect spam and the theory behind it, the potential automation use cases, and the privacy implications, but also about scale: “You have a million subscribers,” he said as an example. “How would you set up your system so that a million models can co-exist at the same time?”

During these technical rounds, interviewers will be looking out for candidates to explain the thought process behind their mathematical models.

Prepare Answers For General Or Common Interview Questions

Interviewers will want to learn more about the kind of candidate they are hiring. This means that you should expect a lot of technical and behavioral questions designed to find out more about your academic background and professional experiences. For this reason, you should go over both general and in-depth questions to make sure you have answers prepared and wont stop the conversation.

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Where Do You See Yourself Five Years From Now

Your new employer is going to invest a lot of time and money in your training and development, and they dont want to hear that you get bored easily and will likely look for opportunities elsewhere before too long. should include a natural career progression from the position that youre being interviewed for along these lines:

I would like to start out in this role as a junior engineer and master the technical skills necessary to move onto a more senior position. From there, Id like to assist in major projects and hopefully eventually take on a leadership role in the company.

Mechanical Engineer Interview Questions Faq

How Do I Prepare for a Mechanical Engineer Interview?

The best way to prepare for a mechanical engineer interview is by studying the most common interview questions and practicing your answers beforehand. Not only does this give you a confidence boost when walking into a technical interview, but it reduces the likelihood of being caught off guard. Its always a good idea to learn more about the hiring company, its culture, competitors, and work practices.

What are the Basic Questions Asked in a Mechanical Engineer Interview?

Questions asked during a mechanical interview will vary according to the company and specific role. However, you should expect a combination of technical questions to test your mechanical engineer skills, behavioral questions to assess your personality and fit for the company, and general questions that tell more about your academic background and previous experience.

Can I Make a Good Living as a Mechanical Engineer?

Yes, you can earn good money working as a mechanical engineer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for a mechanical engineer is $90,160. In addition, employment in this field is projected to grow seven percent from 2020 to 2030, which is close to average for occupations in the US.

What Types of Industries Can I Work in as a Mechanical Engineer?

What’s Next?

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Make Decisions Based On Max Skill Not Average Or Min Skill

So far, I’ve only talked about individual questions, not the final interview decision. My advice here is to try to base the decision on the maximum level of skill that the candidate shows , not the average level or minimum level.

This is likely what you are already doing, intentionally or not! The way hire/no hire decisions are made is that everyone who interviewed a candidate gets together in a meeting, and an offer is made if at least one person is strongly in favor of hiring, and no one is strongly against. To get one interviewer to be strongly in favor, what a candidate needs to do is ace one section of the interview. Across our data, max skill is the attribute that’s most correlated with acing at least one section of a company’s interview. However, to be made an offer, a candidate also needs no one to be a strong no against them. Strong noes come when a candidate looks really stupid on a question.

Here we find just a great deal of noise. There are so many different ways to be a skilled engineer, that almost no candidates can master them all. This means if you ask the right question, any engineer can look stupid. Candidates get offers, then, when at least one interview lines up with an area of strength and no areas line up with a significant weakness. The problem is that this is noisy. The same engineer who fails one interview because they looked stupid on a question about networking passes other interviews with flying colors because that topic did not come up.

Have You Been Involved In Cost Reductions Have You Shaved Expenses Or Been Asked To Work Within A Slashed Budget

In most economic climates, cost reduction factors into a company’s success at some point. Even if the company itself is doing well, it may be that a particular project has exceeded the allocated budget, for example. Or, perhaps a new competitor has challenged profit margins, creating a battening down of financial hatches. Whatever the case, a candidate’s ability to prove they can help cut costs or work within a suddenly decreased budget framework is important.

Doyle’s article inspired the final four interview questions helpful in shaping specialty-specific engineering questions:

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Dont Neglect Your Resume

To gain any interview opportunity, its important that your resume promotes you well. Some of the most popular engineering resume formats include: Chronological, Functional, and Project-Based. The best format to use depends on your career experience, and how it supports the position you seek. You can learn more about the reasons to use each type, and view resume templates, in my article, The Perfect Engineering Resume.

Mechanical Engineering Interview Questions

When applying to mechanical engineering positions, it is important to prove your abilities in this type of engineering role so you can secure a position with a new employer. Preparing for common interview questions can help you think of effective answers and feel more confident during the hiring process. By recalling engineering situations in which you excelled, you can show that you have the skills an employer is looking for. In this article, we share common interview questions for a mechanical engineer and how to answer a few of them.

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Phone Interview Tips For Engineers A Technical Recruiters Perspective

Contents

Throughout every engineers career, he or she must participate in conversations with hiring managers when seeking new employment or a new position within their current firm.

The typical tool for initiating this process is a phone interview.

Just as your resume is designed to outline your strengths as an engineering professional, the interview process is designed to promote your overall value to an employer, and enable them to envision you on their team.

When you understand how the process works, and apply proven tips for successful employment conversations, you can approach the task with confidence.

Questions For The Interviewer

As your interview comes to an end, the interviewer will likely ask whether or not you have any questions. Always have at least three questions prepared. Good questions to ask include those about the working environment and on-the-job training. Here are some examples:

• How would you describe the company culture?
• What might a typical day be like for me, if I were to obtain this position?
• Is the work structured in this department, or can I generally work at my own pace?
• What personal qualities would you consider ideal in the candidate you choose to fill this position?
• What have past employees/interns who have held this position liked best and least about it?
• How much travel is required for this position?
• How often are performance reviews given?
• If I were to be offered this job, how long should it take for me to learn the basic duties to be productive and make a contribution to the organization?
• What is the typical career path for this position within the company?
• When do you expect to make a hiring decision?

Be careful not to ask questions that inadvertently send the wrong message about your personal motivations or your level of interest in the employer or the job. Dont ask about:

Finally, don’t be pushy! Asking about your chances of getting the job, for example, puts the interviewer on the spot, especially if there are still additional candidates to interview.

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Be Sure To Screen Early In The Process

Another important factor? How quickly you send a technical screen to candidates.

After analyzing hiring pipelines in various industries and company sizes, weâve found that developers who score 4 or 5 on Screen are 2.5x more likely to be hired from the point in the funnel where they were given the test. Screen is free and an easy ask from candidates, so we suggest sending it before a resume review â sending it to all of your applicants at the top of the funnel means youâll build those improved outcomes into your pipeline as early as possible

Jennifer Rose is a technical writer and content strategist at Triplebyte, where she writes how-to guides, articles, and supporting documents for engineers, company users, and staff. She’s a former writing instructor, journalist, and copyeditor.

Questions About Engineering Experience And Background

Your answers to questions involving your background and experience give the interviewer an idea of your qualifications for the position you applied for. During this time, you can determine if the companys values line up with yours.

• What kind of education do you have? How much education do you have?

• What do you like about engineering?

• What is your least favorite thing about engineering?

• What do you think makes a great engineer?

• Why did you apply for this particular position? What appeals to you about our company?

• How do you motivate a team of engineers when a project is floundering?

• What is the biggest challenge you have ever faced as an engineer?

• Do you have any security clearance to work on classified projects?

• Have you ever helped save money in previous jobs? How did you save it and what was the amount that you saved?

• What is your greatest success that youve had in engineering?

• Do you ever lose your temper while working? If so, how do you recover?

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Describe How You Communicate Complex Technical Information To A Non

A competent engineer must be able to adapt their communication towards the audience they are addressing. The goal of the question is to evaluate the candidate’s ability to tailor their vocabulary and information to the people they’re talking with. What to look for in an answer:

• Interest in speaking in a way that people understand the ideas and concepts
• Ability to use simple language and terms to explain complex technical information
• Adaptability and flexibility to address various situations

Example:

“When speaking to a non-technical audience, I use simple terms with lots of analogies. I find using analogies helps people understand complex ideas without being condescending. I also focus on using common vocabulary, even for technical items.”

Preparing For The Next Step: Technical Interviews

While there are plenty of software engineer jobs out there, to land the one you want, it helps to know what they’re going to ask and what you should ask them. Preparing ahead of time with facts and examples can help you relax and be ready to put your best foot forward.

After you’ve memorized your answers to the common software engineer interview questions listed above, it’s time to start preparing for your technical interview. Technical interviews help hiring managers gauge your programming ability by having you complete a coding assignment.

In another post, we take a closer look at the differences between behavioral and technical interviews. To help you prepare, we’ve also created a complete guide on how to ace a technical interview.

Some technical interviews also require you to use a specific language. Make sure you’re skills are up to par with the Skill Paths below:

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Software Engineer Interview Questions

If you’re a software engineer, see these interview questions about the skills and attributes that qualify you for the job. Some of the common ones include:

• What programming languages are you familiar or proficient with?
• What is the process you use when writing a piece of code?
• What is your process for finding errors in large files with code that you cannot step through?

Describe Your Process For Developing A Software Solution From Beginning To End

You should discuss key elements of the project life cycle, such as:

If you’re applying to be a full-stack engineer, your interviewer will likely expect you to be well-versed in all elements of the development process. To learn more about what it takes to be a full-stack engineer, check out our breakdown of what full-stack engineers do.

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