The stereotypical engineer has a brilliant mind, but has less than adequate social skills. Of course, not all engineers fit this persona, but many can find the interview portion of the job search process challenging. Through the right planning process, an engineer can become at least a bit more comfortable when sitting face to face with a potential employer.
Planning for the Interview
Engineers should focus on five areas of preparation before heading to an interview:
- Company Background - History of the company, product and service lines, recent news
- Industry Background - Current competitors, state of the market
- Interviewers - Responsibility within the company/division, activities outside the company
- Self-Objectives - Desired position, responsibilities, benefits, salaries
- Self-Experience - Technical experience, management experience (personnel and project management), publications, patents, software, hardware, language
By having a clear understanding of the interviewing company, the interviewers, and the candidate's expectations, an engineer can be well prepared for the interview.
The Engineering Interview
Many engineering interview consist of the candidate speaking with several people within the company. These can include managers, peer engineers, project directors, and human resource personnel. Each of these people will have a specific agenda for the interview, and will ask the candidate different types of questions, and the responses should be tailored to the specific person, their background, and their agenda.
- Managers - Managers are interested in knowing about the successes of the candidate. This can include education, publications, patents, leadership experience, and how the candidate can help the company provide a cost-effective product or service.
- Peer Engineers - Peer engineers are most receptive to technical information, and they will relay their opinion on the technical competency of the candidate to the hiring manager. Engineers can get the most in-depth into technical discussions with peer engineers
- Human Resources (HR) Personnel - HR personnel do not have the technical expertise that managers and peer engineers have, but will be asking questions to examine the candidate's personality and overall qualifications. Engineers should be able to discuss their technical qualifications and experience in a simplified manner to get their qualifications across to non-technical personnel.
By tailoring the information provided to different types of interview personnel, an engineer can clearly communicate his strengths in a way that will be most favorable to each type of interviewer.
After the Interview
After the interview, the candidate should review the information that was discussed with each person during the interview. The candidate should write a hand-written thank you note to the hiring manager, noting one or two topics that were discussed during the interview. Also, the candidate should send an email to the person who arranged the interview, if different than the hiring manager, thanking them for the opportunity to interview and to let them know the best way to contact the candidate if they have any questions or if they need any additional information.
With adequate preparation, any engineer can feel comfortable with the interview process, leading to a higher probability of being hired.
Susan Kristoff - Susan Kristoff is mechanical engineer by trade, but has a diverse set of professional and personal interests. The glue that binds all of ...
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