4 Surefire Activities To Prepare For An Engineering Job Interview

As an engineering recruitment company we are often asked by candidates exactly how to prepare for an interview in a way that guarantees a yes! Much as that is the outcome every candidate would like it does take some work and preparation. I have been personally interviewing engineers for many years and have honed down what makes engineering candidates successful or not when it comes to performing well at an interview. So I thought it would be useful to share my top here.

1. Do your research

Obvious I know and yet many candidates still don't prepare thoroughly enough: even engineers. With today's business social networks and the power of the Google search engine there is no excuse for not knowing everything possible about your new company. First of all Google their name and then systematically look at all the pages on their website. Most engineering organisations will have plenty for you to read on their website. Best pages to look at is their about us and news page; if they have one. This will often give you a great understanding and background to what they are about and importantly what their vision is for the company. Look at the products and services they sell and make notes.

2. Look the part

In today's society it is 'in' to dress down for many things. My experience is not when it comes to an interview. No matter what type of engineering jobs you are applying for first impressions count. A great tip is to ask the advice of the recruitment company who you are working with, as they will be able to tell you a lot about the style and dress sense of the company. For instance in some companies for guys you need to wear a suit yet not a tie. It is similar for the girls you might not need to wear a forma business suit; though a matching outfit or smart dress might be the order of the day. If in doubt always dress up rather than down. It goes without saying that you must attend to personal grooming. You want the interviewer focused on you and what you have to say rather than looking at dirty shoes or being over powered by your perfume or aftershave.

3. Be friendly and approachable

As engineers you will be great problem solvers and focused on the task at hand; the jargon term is more task focused. This is great when it comes to the functional side of the role. However make sure that the interviewers also experience your personality and how you get along with people. This will be important as you will be working as part of a team. It is quite common in today's business world for people need to get a job offer because there were doubts about how they might fit in with the team.

4. Be prepared to answer questions

Be prepared to ask questions on a number of topics; from why this particular role and company through to your technical expertise and how you would go about handling different engineering challenges. The second is usually pretty easy for engineers the first though takes some thought and is best thought through in advance. If you really dislike your current job or manager saying this in a matter of fact way is unlikely to secure you a job offer. Instead think of why you don't like it or them. Perhaps you need more autonomy? Or you want to be stretched. Frame your response in this way and you will get a positive response.

So there you have it four easy activities that will help you to prepare for your next engineering job interview.

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