Engineer Interviews

Engineer Interview Questions

Engineers are responsible for designing and building products. In an interview context, expect to be quizzed on your technical skills, and also evaluated for your ability to work as a part of a team to get things built. The specific questions you are asked will depend on what type of engineering position you are looking for such as a specific engineering discipline like software engineer, electrical engineer, or mechanical engineer.

Top Engineer Interview Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question #1: What is the most challenging engineering project you've dealt with, and how did you ensure it was successful?

How to answer
How to answer: This question requires you to give a specific example. Ideally, you're able to choose a project that mirrors the type of work you'd do in the role you're interviewing for. Even if it's not your most challenging project, make sure you describe your obstacle(s) and the successful outcome clearly and enthusiastically.
Question 2

Question #2: In your current role, what steps do you take to avoid making mistakes?

How to answer
How to answer: Whether you have a formal process or not, list any specific measures you employ (i.e., digital tools, consulting with colleagues, etc.). Make sure your answer demonstrates a commitment to quality control, efficiency, and safety.
Question 3

Question #3: Describe a time you dealt with a difficult client or stakeholder.

How to answer
How to answer: This one also requires a specific example that demonstrates patience and good judgment. An employer is looking for evidence that you're able to confidently and calmly stand by your decisions. Share an example with a positive outcome.

842,254 engineer interview questions shared by candidates

I was asked to write a program to find common items between 2 lists.I used java to write the program. I wrote the program which was iterating the smaller array list and used contains. The Hiring manager argues with me saying that the code is not efficient enough because 'contains' method on arraylist would lead to o(n) and that would result in O(m*N)(which is incorrect) In the interview, I was not able to google it and I was taken aback when he was talking so assertively as I assumed that he understands java. However, after I hung up the phone I realized that I am indeed right and that the algorithm I created was very efficient. The interviewer came to the interview with a view to reject me. Its a waste of time. They should let subject mattter experts do the interviews, not the people with background in c/C++ interview java guys or the other way round. The hiring manager seemed very professorial background. I tried to tell recruiter to let them know the problem, but I do not think even she has any clue on how to approach.
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Senior Software Engineer

Interviewed at Tripadvisor

3.5
Feb 5, 2015

I was asked to write a program to find common items between 2 lists.I used java to write the program. I wrote the program which was iterating the smaller array list and used contains. The Hiring manager argues with me saying that the code is not efficient enough because 'contains' method on arraylist would lead to o(n) and that would result in O(m*N)(which is incorrect) In the interview, I was not able to google it and I was taken aback when he was talking so assertively as I assumed that he understands java. However, after I hung up the phone I realized that I am indeed right and that the algorithm I created was very efficient. The interviewer came to the interview with a view to reject me. Its a waste of time. They should let subject mattter experts do the interviews, not the people with background in c/C++ interview java guys or the other way round. The hiring manager seemed very professorial background. I tried to tell recruiter to let them know the problem, but I do not think even she has any clue on how to approach.

You have one billion numbers, implement getRandom() which returns a random number from them. Constaints: 1. No duplicate returning value. 2. getRandom() will at most be invoked 100 million times. Then optimize for space.
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Tripadvisor

3.5
Jan 11, 2010

You have one billion numbers, implement getRandom() which returns a random number from them. Constaints: 1. No duplicate returning value. 2. getRandom() will at most be invoked 100 million times. Then optimize for space.

The hardest problem posed was the C# function I had to write. Write a function that accepts a character parameter such as "8" and then returns its digit value which would be 8 in this case. You cannot use any helper functions, casting or conversion functions. int ParseCharToInt(char c)
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Cornerstone OnDemand

3.2
Jan 25, 2013

The hardest problem posed was the C# function I had to write. Write a function that accepts a character parameter such as "8" and then returns its digit value which would be 8 in this case. You cannot use any helper functions, casting or conversion functions. int ParseCharToInt(char c)

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