3 Tips that will make your Engineering Interview memorable……in a good way.
It’s often said that “first impressions are last impressions”, and that phrase could sum up the nature of what we see play out every day. The tips for a successful interview we will discuss will add on to common sense concepts like preparation as well as discuss lesser discussed aspects of the interview. I think most professionals that have interviewed before know the basics like take a shower before you go to your interview, try not to fall asleep during an interview and most importantly remember to show up on the right day. Obviously, most candidates are aware of these basic concepts, but there are still more nuanced interviewing issues that occur that sometimes really hurt great candidates.
This article will be more geared toward the engineer (do you like my play on words with geared and engineer…..never mind, bad joke) to illustrate specific ideas that they encounter when interviewing as well as shine some light on some of the most common feedback we get.
1. Tip #1 for a successful interview......Preparation
As an engineer, you are probably in a group of people that account for the top echelon of preparedness. I have seen engineers put together spreadsheets for just about everything, introduce calculus into decision making that I never knew possible and overall be very conscientious of doing due diligence before making a decision. Where I have sometimes not seen that admirable trait expressed is doing enough research into a company before an interview. Research is important on two broad fronts, during the initial question phase and the actual conversational interview (where interactive dialog happens). During the initial interview, it 
probably comes up at least 90% of the time, “tell me what you know about our company”. Most engineers are well prepared to answer that question, it sometimes happens that they know nothing about the company and that is more of a reflection of their interest level than a personality trait. The second part of the interview, the interactive part, is where knowledge of a company is extremely important.
Most of our customers give plant tours, with a manager or senior engineer leading the tour. This is where good candidates and great candidates are usually distinguished, the difference between superficial knowledge and thorough knowledge. Let me give you an example, let’s say a manager is talking about a specific process issue going on in the plant. Sure you have years of process experience in your past engineering life but let’s say this is a new process for you (maybe you have injection molding experience but they electroplate or chrome plastic parts). You will be able to share your general knowledge of how you would tackle the issue, but if you could be more specific and cite certain elements that are specifically related to what they do, it will make you stand out. The other component to this is asking questions. If you are aware of what they make, you can do more research into what materials they might use or maybe what machinery they might have on their production floor. This allows you to ask better questions when conversing with them as well as allow you to better understand what they are talking about.
2. Tip #2....... Ask questions
I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten feedback “not interested” in qualified candidates because they didn’t ask questions. It’s such a simple thing to do, but often times is neglected by candidates. Often times candidates will remark that they had no questions or there was so much information that they were trying to process it. It’s completely understandable to blank or get nervous and that is why we always recommend having a list of pre-prepared questions in the event nothing comes up organically during the interview.
Why ask questions? Believe it or not, it reflects a level of interest. Think about it like a date, if you’re sitting across the table from someone and you only answer their questions but don’t ask them anything about themselves, what kind of impression does that leave them? If you guessed not a good one, you are correct in your assessment. Good interviews are a two way street of interactive communication that is evenly balanced. If one side is imbalanced, that is usually not a good sign. Obviously the best questions come dynamically during the course of an interview, however, some personalities lend to just taking a more prepared approach to a commonly overlooked part of the interview. Bottom line asking questions is a key component of having a successful interview
3. Tip #3.....Get the business card
It’s never been easier to thank someone for their time, but you have to know where to send that thank you. Business cards are an important tool for engineering candidates because it allows them to follow up and reinforce their interest level and some key experience traits that might reflect why they are perfect for this job.
I still really believe its important to send a thank you and there is a study by a large employment-based company that substantiates that belief. In the study, it says “22 percent of employers are less likely to hire a candidate who does not send a thank you and 91 percent like being thanked”. This little gesture is easy to do and could be the decisive factor between the top two candidates. So remember to grab that business card on your way out!
For more tips on successful interviewing check out “questions you could pose to an employer” and “questions that an employer might ask” as well as “interview psychology“
