You’ve studied hard at MIT or other prestigious mechanical engineering schools. You have acquired reasonable scores in your exams or may have even flown through college with flying colors. Your resume looks pristine, displaying all the specialized engineering subjects you have studied and passed – but that is not enough to land you your first job – the one that will get your foot into the industry. You now need to apply for the job and face “the interview”.
As a school-leaver, it can be nerve-wrecking as you probably won’t know what to expect at your first job interview. After all, school never prepared you for that. This section will cover the basic interview routine most employers will go through, as well as the questions that are commonly asked.
What To Expect During Your Interview
Most interviewers will want to know about your character, your talents and what you do best. Basically they want to know what sort of category you fall into in terms of being an engineer. Some interviewers will commonly ask the mechanical engineering applicant, “So, what type of engineering work are you most interested in?”. The worst answer to provide here is “anything”.
Mechanical engineering is so diverse, that an applicant can easily fall into different areas of work from being a designer who spends time on the bench drawing up schematics of product or systems, to one who understands the processes of manufacturing.
Always display your keen interest by being more specific about which area you really want to be in. This is the key to propelling your career forwards.
Questions Regarding Software Knowledge
Asking about your knowledge in the various software is also common, but expect the questions from your prospective employers to take on a different angle. After all, your resume would have already stated the different computer applications you know how to utilize, such as AutoCAD, Pro/Engineer or Solidworks etc.
The questions will more likely be along the lines of “What’s the most mind-blowing thing you know how to do using the software?”. These kind of questions will allow the interviewers to gauge your fluency and experience with a particular software package.
How Well Do You Deal With People?
Having the characteristics of a team player is crucial in all fields of engineering, therefor you should expect any prospective employer to want to find out just how much of a team player you are, and how well you work with others.
Furthermore, being good with customers or clients is equally as crucial to the success of any firm, and your employer will be looking out for this aspect in you as well. Clients and customers can be really picky and demanding at times but as they say, “the customer is always right” as as a mechanical engineer, your job is to give them what they want. Mechanical engineering is not just about ingenuity and individual expression, there is a business side to it as well thus it is important you can play the part of a salesman as well.
Are You Staying Up to Date With Technology?
Keeping pace with the latest in technology advancements is also an important aspect of any engineering field, and you will be questioned accordingly. What you’ve learned in school might be applicable now, but there’s a chance that the technology is already outdated as well. Hiring managers will want to know how proactive you are in keeping up to date within your specialized field in mechanical engineering, and how you’re doing it.