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.

842,634 engineer interview questions shared by candidates

You are given 1000 containers of water with exactly one container containing poison. You can use pigs to test which container contains poison. The conditions are that: A pig drinking the poisoned water woudl die exactly after 1 hour and that a pig could be used for sampling multiple containers. Assume that the pig takes 0 time to drink water from any number of containers. What is the minimum number of pigs would you use to identify the poisoned container within 1 hour.
avatar

Software Development Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5
Mar 16, 2011

You are given 1000 containers of water with exactly one container containing poison. You can use pigs to test which container contains poison. The conditions are that: A pig drinking the poisoned water woudl die exactly after 1 hour and that a pig could be used for sampling multiple containers. Assume that the pig takes 0 time to drink water from any number of containers. What is the minimum number of pigs would you use to identify the poisoned container within 1 hour.

Given a binary tree with only upwards (parent) node references, re-construct the tree adding in child references. You are given a list of leaf nodes (sorted in left to right order). Tricks include making sure to account for extremely unbalanced trees.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5
Apr 27, 2011

Given a binary tree with only upwards (parent) node references, re-construct the tree adding in child references. You are given a list of leaf nodes (sorted in left to right order). Tricks include making sure to account for extremely unbalanced trees.

Q: how do you query tune? if a query is taking more time then it initially did, what may be the checkpoints and order of things to check to look at the cause Q: [python] find non duplicate numbers in first list and preserve the order of list [1,1,3,2,5,6,5] --> [1,3,2,5,6] Q: [python]flatten a nested list Q: [sql] Rank, row_number, dense rank questions
avatar

Data Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5
May 25, 2021

Q: how do you query tune? if a query is taking more time then it initially did, what may be the checkpoints and order of things to check to look at the cause Q: [python] find non duplicate numbers in first list and preserve the order of list [1,1,3,2,5,6,5] --> [1,3,2,5,6] Q: [python]flatten a nested list Q: [sql] Rank, row_number, dense rank questions

1. Given the sample: id, status 1, active 2, active 3, active 4, pending 5, expired 6, expired 7, expired 8, pending Pull the unique statuses that show up consecutively 3 times, e.g. from the sample, the output would be 'active', 'expired'. 2. Given the sample: employee, in_out, time A, IN, 6:00 B, IN, 7:00 A, OUT, 8:00 C, IN, 9:30 A, IN, 9:00 A, OUT, 10:00 B, OUT, 11:00 C, OUT, 10:00 Determine which employees are in the building at 10:30.
avatar

Senior Data Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5
Jan 7, 2022

1. Given the sample: id, status 1, active 2, active 3, active 4, pending 5, expired 6, expired 7, expired 8, pending Pull the unique statuses that show up consecutively 3 times, e.g. from the sample, the output would be 'active', 'expired'. 2. Given the sample: employee, in_out, time A, IN, 6:00 B, IN, 7:00 A, OUT, 8:00 C, IN, 9:30 A, IN, 9:00 A, OUT, 10:00 B, OUT, 11:00 C, OUT, 10:00 Determine which employees are in the building at 10:30.

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