If you prepare thoroughly for each interview at the start, this will save you time and money in the long run because it will help you to find the best candidate straight away.

Structuring the interview

Jenny O’Donovan, the national careers advisor for Engineering Australia, recommends a one on two situation for interviews with engineers that have about 3-7 years experience, instead of a panel interview. One person should test the candidate’s technical knowledge and the other person (probably somebody from Human Resources) should ask questions that shed light on how the candidate would fit in with the overall team and culture of the organisation.

“You would assume that the interviewee would have done some research into the company beforehand, so ask them about what they know about the company already. Engineers are usually good gatherers of information, so this would reveal how good they are at preparation. It would also be a good idea to go through the job description with them, to see how competent they would be in the described areas. Some engineers are a bit shy about their achievements in the past, so the interviewer should probe them to seek deeper information. Ask questions such as: “What did you do exactly? What did you achieve? How did that fit in with the overall game plan? Were you the leader or the doer?” This should give you some insight into how hard they work and what their capabilities are.”

She adds that engineers tend to answer questions concisely and with very short sentences, so it is a good idea to ask open-ended questions, such as: “Tell me about a time when you worked on a project and when something went wrong? How did you deal with that issue?” These questions are better than closed ones, such as: “Did you do well on the project?” This might attract a simple: “Yes” answer.

Technical knowledge

O’Donovan adds that it would be a good idea to do a background check on the candidate to make sure his or her technical knowledge really is up to speed.

“Find out from past employers how they go about their work; how good their project management skills are and how they work with people. Most employers these days are concerned about how employees will fit into the culture of the organisation and whether that person has the potential to be a leader in the future. In the interview, it is also a good idea to test for mathematical and design ability. Ask them to tell you about their past experiences. Ask the interviewee to bring along examples of their work

Of course there are many different engineering roles out there.” O’Donovan provides a quick overview of which areas you should cover when it comes to interviewing candidates for different engineering categories.

“When dealing with structural and mechanical engineering, the candidate should be asked about their role in the production cycle. Did they supervise the machinery? Or did they take care of quality control? Test their knowledge on how much they know about the product too. Get to know what that person’s involvement was in the whole process. As for the biomedical field, ask them if they were involved at the hospital level, or did they work for an organisation that designed the components? Did these components improve people’s lives in any way? With electrical engineers, find out how up-to-date they are with the latest telco news. Have they been involved with cables above or below the ground? Do they know about new mobile systems and data networks? In regards to chemical engineers, you could ask them if they have been involved with improving any products in regards to the environment? With all these areas, dig deep to find out if they have done anything innovative in those areas, which means they could bring original skills to your organisation.”

O’Donovan adds that software engineering is an area that is growing rapidly.

“Software engineers often tend to work on their own. So with them, the best thing to do is check their ability to do testing. There is a lot of innovation in this area. It’s full of new ideas. The computer gaming stuff is especially taking off, with Nintendo, and many more companies providing plenty of opportunity. Graduates are very excited about this area.”

Searching for the wow factor

When looking for somebody with potential leadership capability, O’Donovan says it is important to find out how they deal with pressure when change is happening from the top. How do they work under those circumstances? How good are they with checking how the rest of the team is following through?

“You’ve got to find out how they deal with all these issues. You also need to find out if they are the sort of person that can visit clients, make presentations and feel comfortable in that setting. It is not everybody’s forte. Ask them about which areas of development they’d like to follow – that will give you an idea of how they could fit into your organisation’s future strategy. Engineers also usually make very good mentors, so find out if they have been involved in mentoring in the past, such as at University or in past employment. If they have these qualities then they could bring extra value to graduates coming into your organisation.”

The importance of creativity

Although many people see engineering as a mundane office job, a lot of their time is spent writing, researching, being part of a team and thinking creatively. These are further qualities that need to be found out by the interviewer. But of course you do not want everybody in the team to be the same, so it is important to find people that are good in different areas, but can all come together to enhance the success of the project.

O’Donovan adds that many engineers are also very good musicians and artists.

“Because they need to think outside the square, they are normally very creative. They are often handed a solution and have to work back from that point. Whereas in a lot of professions, you are handed a problem and have to solve it. With engineers, they are told: “This is where we want to be and this is the solution we are after!” For example, this could include creating a car that runs on petrol. They are told: “Now make it happen!” In other fields, such as accounting, there is only one way to do the profession. With engineers, there is more than one way to do that, and you have to find the best way to do it. That could be through testing, design or working on a project team. So this is all very important to bear in mind when conducting the interview. Find out how creative the person is.”

The need for a good attitude

O’Donovan adds that attitude and determination to succeed are also key traits needed in a candidate.

“I have done a lot of research on Generation X and Y and it seems that people expect to work hard for a few years, and then they want to do something else, such as travel. So companies need to be flexible too. In some cases, many companies offer employees the chance to travel for a year and then come back to the company. This helps to retain the talented staff and also in turns helps them to have a good attitude towards the company. So long as they are willing to work very hard and give all they have got for a few years, that should be fine. You have to tap into what the individual wants. It’s a good idea to offer opportunities for rotation in different departments to help them improve their skills.”

O’Donovan closes by saying that many companies conduct psychometric tests, which have been very useful in regards to sifting through candidates to find the right one. She also says it is important to get the “I” out of the interviewees instead of the “we”. You need to ask them how they completed the project from A-Z and what was their role along the way? Reference checking is important too, she adds, because 99 times out of 100 previous behaviour will predict future behaviour.

Recruit the best engineering candidates now on IndustryJobs.com.au

Article Copyright © 2008 - IndustryJobs.com.au

No portion of this article may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated or otherwise used without written authorisation from IndustryJobs.com.au