How to Nail Civil Engineer Job Interviews

So you’ve completed a degree in civil engineering. Now, welcome to the next phase: finding a job. That means job interviews.

Your resume will give employers a glimpse into your experience and qualifications, but no company will hire you without talking to you first. These interviews allow employers to gauge your level of interest, assess your knowledge, and ensure that you’ll fit into the culture of the company. I’ve done dozens of job interviews with private and government employers, both in person and remotely. Over the years, I’ve noticed similar questions come up again and again, and I’ve become adept at giving the right answers. I’m writing this guide to give up-and-coming engineers some knowledge and strategies so they can prepare for their interviews.

Preparation Strategies

Interviews can be intimidating and nerve-racking because you have so much on the line and you don’t know what exactly to expect. However, if you take the time to prepare, you’ll feel confident and self-assured. Here are some tips for getting ready for a job interview:

• Think of experiences from work or academia in which you performed like a rock star and saved the day. These can be personal narratives of when you employed creative methods to solve a problem, worked through a difficulty, or helped save your employer time and money. Many of these job interview questions begin with “describe a time in which you…” so if you have a collection of about three or four canned stories to draw from, you can usually pick one that matches your interviewer’s question. Use the STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
• Research the heck out of the employer before the interview. You should know all about the company’s mission, values, business model, all their locations, their biggest clients, what types of designs that produce, etc. If you know the specific skills they want (e.g. Revit, FEM programs, written reports, etc.) you can think of ways to describe how your skill set would match it. Also research all the key personnel (the principal, managers, etc.) and make sure you know about their experience and specialties.
• Dress for success. A conservative business suit is a must. A firm handshake and strong eye contact shows that you’re confident and ready. Make sure your attire is ready the night before and that your approach is well-rehearsed. Also, don’t sit down until they invite you to do so.

The Technical Interview

As an EIT, you should expect the hiring manager to give you some basic engineering problems as part of the interview process. The questions in a technical interview won’t go too in-depth, but they will test if you can hit the ground running on Day 1. Even if you impress your hiring manager with your qualifications on paper, blanking out during your technical interview means you probably won’t get the job. These interviews can take many forms: they can have you pull out some shop drawings and ask you to identify and describe certain objects. They can give you a written exam. They can even tell you to go to the dry erase board and draw some shear and bending moment diagrams. I’ve had all three of those interview types, by the way. So how does one prepare for a technical interview? You may have received an A in concrete design, but if you haven’t touched the material in over a year, your knowledge of concrete has likely faded away. Not to worry! Knowledge doesn’t die, it just goes dormant! After researching the company and their specialties, look up the pertinent information in the Civil Engineering Reference Manual by Lindeburg. That book is not only required reading for those taking the PE Exam, it also gives a good summary for all the aspects of civil engineering. Do some practice problems and make sure that you’re well-versed in both the equations and theory behind them.

Common Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself.
Usually the first question. Don’t recite your life story. Don’t regurgitate your resume. Use this question as an opportunity to tell them why you’re the right candidate for their firm. Tell them what you do now, what your past experience has been, and then use that as a segue to tell them what you’re looking for in your next opportunity. Connect your past experience, present situation, and future aspirations with working for their company.

How did you hear about this position?
This sounds like a generic customer satisfaction survey question, but you can use it to your advantage. For example, you can tell them that you found their company by searching specifically for openings within their specialty (land development, structural steel, etc.) and you applied because you were impressed by the portfolio on the company website. Also, this question offers you a chance to name-drop: if you know someone within the company, you can mention that they told you about the opening. A recommendation from a valued employee carries weight.

Why do you want to work for our company?
Remember, employers don’t want to hire someone who’s just looking for a job. They want to hire someone who wants to work for them. They’re going to see if you’ve taken the time to research the firm and can cite specific projects that interest you. Training a new engineer requires investment by the employer, and they want engineers who can quickly learn the tricks of the trade and stick around long enough for the company to get a return on their investment. Tell them how you want to develop your engineer skillset and take on challenging projects, and how you think the employer will help you reach those goals.

Describe a time when you had a personal conflict or disagreement with a co-worker. How did you resolve the conflict and what was the result?
Nothing hurts productivity and team cohesion more than a fight amongst co-workers. They want to know that you can work around differences with your fellow employees who may have different approaches and work habits. Respond to this question by emphasizing how you can work well with
people from all segments of society and that you don’t easily take offense to perceived slights. Getting along well with your team is critical for success.

Describe a time when you had an unforeseen problem that you didn’t know how to solve.
What steps did you take to solve it and what were the results? They want to know that you can take the initiative and learn on your own. If your supervisor has to walk you through a process every time you encounter something new, they might as well do the work themselves. You want to show them that you’re self-motivated, not just a robot that obeys commands.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
They want to know how this job opening will fit into your career goals. If you say something like “my ultimate goal is to join the FBI and perform criminal investigations!” the hiring manager will conclude that you’re just looking to earn some income whilst you wait for your dream job to open up. When you
answer this question, you should emphasize how you want to master the type of engineering that your prospective employer specializes in. For example, if a company specializes in precast concrete, you can tell them that you want to design and produce industrial-class precast concrete structures and sign off
on them as the PE.

What is your greatest strength? What will you bring to this job?
You’ll want to emphasize a positive attribute you’re going to bring on board to the job. Choose one that’s relevant to the company’s mission and operations. For example, when I interviewed with a public works organization in Phoenix, I mentioned the fact that I speak Spanish fluently. This company did tons of work in Latin America, so the figured bilingual skills would be a tremendous asset (and yes, I got the job.)

What is your greatest weakness?
This is the dumbest question ever, but it pops up in interviews. If they ask you about your weaknesses, choose a minor weakness and emphasize how you (1) are aware of this weakness and (2) have made a conscious effort to overcome it with positive results. Don’t say something disingenuous like “oh, I’m a perfectionist” or “I’m a workaholic.” They’ll see right through that.

Questions To Ask The Company

Remember, job interviews are a two-way street: you’re scoping them out as a prospective employer whilst they scope you out as a prospective employee. At the conclusion of the interview, they’ll ask if you have any questions for them. First of all, here’s two things not to ask them about: salary and paid time off. Just don’t. Wait for them to give you a job offer, and then you can negotiate.
Here’s a few questions you can ask the company:

• What kind of projects will I be assigned within the first 90 days of employment? This will show employers that you’re already thinking about the work you’ll be doing, and it’ll give you an opportunity to find out what they’ll have you doing as a new engineer. Some employers make you go through an orientation whereas others give you a project on Day 1. This question is also a subtle trick called “making them think past the sale.” You’re treating your employment there as a foregone reality. To answer it, the hiring manager must now envision you as already an employee, which will increase the likelihood of him extending a job offer.
• What program do you have in place for employee development? The most valuable thing to you as a new engineer isn’t necessarily money — it’s learning. You want an employer who invests in their engineers, teaching them new programs, design strategies, etc. Having in-depth design
  experience on your resume will be a tremendous boost for you, allowing to leverage that experience for higher salaries later down the road. You don’t want an employer who relegates you to menial grunt work.
• How did your firm weather the 2008 financial crisis? You may not be old enough to remember, but the Great Recession hit the construction industry hard and engineers were getting laid off left and right. It would be good to know how your firm survived that tough time.

One more thing: Negotiate for a higher salary. When they come back with a job offer, ask for more money. Maybe around $5k more. The worst they can do is say no.