12/28/2019 Common Engineering Job Interview Questions

JOB INTERVIEWS INTERVIEW Q&A

Common Engineering Job Interview Questions

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BY ALISON DOYLE | Updated September 26, 2019

If you are an engineer applying for a job, the questions posed during an interview may vary
based on whether you are applying for a position as an electrical, mechanical,
computer, civil, or other type of engineer.

However, almost any engineer job interview will

include questions that assess your
technological knowledge, your engineering
skills, and your ability to communicate with
team members and clients. 

Tip: As in any interview, it's a good idea to review questions, and practice your
response, in advance of the interview.

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Being prepared will help you feel confident, and ensure you're hitting the right notes in your
answers. 

Engineering Interview Questions

The following is a list of frequently

asked engineering interview questions. Several
of these general engineer interview questions
are behavioral questions, that ask you how you
have acted during a given situation in the past.

Structure your responses by using the STAR

interview response technique to describe a
past situation, the task or challenge involved,
the action you took, and the result of your action.

• Tell me about the most challenging engineering project that you have been involved
with during the past year.

• Describe the most challenging written technical report or presentation that you've
had to complete.

• Describe an experience with a di cult client. How did you handle the situation? What
would you have done di erently?

• Tell me about your greatest success in using logic to solve an engineering problem.
• Give me an example of a time when you applied your ability to use analytical
techniques to define problems or design solutions.

• What checks and balances do you use to make sure that you don't make mistakes?
• Do you have any patents? If so, tell me about them. If not, is that something you see
yourself pursuing in the future? Why or why not?

• What engineering skills have you developed or improved upon during the past year?
• Which software packages are you familiar with? What is the most interesting thing
you know how to do with one of these packages?

• What are you doing to stay current with the latest technology?

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Civil Engineer Interview Questions

Civil engineering firms that are hiring new

colleagues will often seek to gauge how
seamlessly promising candidates would adapt
to their company culture. Since hiring
initiatives can be time-intensive and expensive,
they also prefer to hire associates that they
can trust will stick around for a while. Prepare
for these questions by researching the firm
ahead of time.

• What appeals to you about working for our

company?

• Why did you apply for this particular job?

• Why did you select civil engineering as your
field or major?

• Describe a time when you questioned your

choice of engineering as a career or major.

• Describe an occasion when you worked on a

team and something did not go well. How
did you respond?

• Share a situation when a project or proposal of yours met resistance or was not
adopted in a timely fashion. How did you handle this dilemma?

Software Engineer Interview Questions

If you're a software engineer, see these

interview questions about the skills and
attributes that qualify you the job.

Questions About Your Personal Attributes

Your interviewer will be interested not only in

your training and professional experience, but

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also in your personal goals, self-knowledge, and the soft skills (“people skills”) that enable
you to work well with clients and other team members.

• What strengths make you a good engineer?

• What was your professional development plan for the past two years?
• Describe a time when you received criticism from a supervisor or professor. How did
you respond?

• Describe your ideal boss.

• What is an example of a problem where you had to think on your feet?
• What will be the biggest challenge for you with this position?

Questions About Your Resume / Career Trajectory

Be prepared to explain any “red flags” on your resume, such as significant employment
gaps and brief position tenures. Your interviewer may also inquire about your plans for the
future and about information you may not have included on your resume.

• Why are you currently unemployed?

• What have you accomplished outside of school and work that you are proud of?
• What are your salary expectations?
• Where would you like to be with your career five years from now?
• Describe something you omitted from your resume and how that would make you a
good fit for the position.

Problem-Solving Questions

Problem-solving questions require you to “think on your feet,” just as you have to do daily
in the workplace. Be ready to o er examples of a few of your most important engineering
accomplishments that demanded deep analytical skills and a proactive trouble-shooting
stance.

• Describe any situations where you took initiative or displayed an entrepreneurial

approach.

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• Give me an example of how you applied your problem-solving skills to a design

challenge.

• Share an example of how you have applied your skills to on-site work.
• Describe your most successful engineering project. What enabled you to achieve this
success?

• What about on-site work is most challenging for you?

Technical Questions

Don’t be surprised if you have to field a few questions that test your basic engineering
knowledge and training background.

• What is the required information to repair a midbeam in a building?

• Describe any projects or coursework which equip you to work on design issues for
water systems.

• How much oil is necessary to pollute the ocean?

• Do you have any security clearance to work on classified projects? If you have
worked on a DOD project, describe a challenge which you encountered.

• What are the ways to filter the contaminants in drinking water?

• What are sources of contaminants in water?
• Describe the di erences between Corsim and Vissim models. 
• How have you best applied computer technology to your work during the past year?
• What software have you learned to use or mastered more fully during the past year?

General Job Interview Questions

In addition to job-specific interview questions, you will also be asked more general
questions about your employment history, education, strengths, weaknesses,
achievements, goals, and plans. Here's a list of the most common interview questions to
review, and examples of the best answers.

Key Takeaways
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REVIEW COMMON ENGINEERING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: 

Be prepared to answer both general queries about your education and professional
background and questions specific to the job you are targeting.

RESEARCH THE EMPLOYER: 

Learn as much as you can about the engineering firm you are interviewing with so
that you can prove how you would be the perfect fit for their department.

KNOW YOUR TRADE: 

Be ready to discuss the engineering design processes and technologies you use in
your day-to-day work. 

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Sample Behavioral Job Interview How to Answer the Most Frequently

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Interview Questions and Answers

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GLOSSARY INTERVIEW Q&A

Structured Job Interviews and How Questions You Might Get Asked at a
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Here Are Some Weird and Unique Job Best Answers for the Most Common
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