What Questions Should You Ask in an Engineer Interview for a School Project?

[Jack Hass]

i need to interview an engineer for a school project could sombody answer my questions?



1. How many years of schooling did you have to go through to become an engineer?
2. What kind of things do you do on a daily basis while on the job?
3. What was the hardest thing you’ve had to do in your engineering career?
4. Around how long is your average work day?
5. What do you like most about your job?
6. What do you dislike most about your job?
7. What other kind of people do you work with?
8. What kind of tools or other equipment do you use frequently?
9. Where do you work at?
10. How long have you been an engineer?
11. What made you want to become an engineer?
12. What do you spend most of your time doing in your job?
13. What was the hardest class you took in high school?
14. What was the hardest class you took in college?
15. What are some of the advantages to working in your field of work?
16. What kind of qualities does an engineer have to have in order to become successful?
17. Do you need to be physically fit in your job?
18. What kind of college courses did you have to take?
19. What would an engineer who has just come out of college average salary range be?
20. What is your work environment like?
21.What type of engineer are you?
22.What is your name? (I need to know this so I can say who I interviewed)

Thanks for helping

 

[brewnog]

1. How many years of schooling did you have to go through to become an engineer?After school, 2 years of A levels then 3 years at university.
2. What kind of things do you do on a daily basis while on the job?Design, analysis, attending various technical meetings, liaising with suppliers and customers, project management, and some travel
3. What was the hardest thing you’ve had to do in your engineering career?Commission, manage and run a series of destructive tests, involving a good deal of uncertainty, some high risks, high budgets and very tight timescales
4. Around how long is your average work day? 8 hours nominally
5. What do you like most about your job? Being able to deal with such a wide range of problems and people
6. What do you dislike most about your job? The pay, or lack thereof
7. What other kind of people do you work with?All sorts. Other engineers of different disciplines, supervisors, shop floor, customers, suppliers, directors
8. What kind of tools or other equipment do you use frequently? Various pieces of instrumentation for strain, vibration, noise, temperature and pressure measurements. A pen. Pro E. A PC, with Office and Powerpoint.
9. Where do you work at? In the UK
10. How long have you been an engineer? Just over a year, qualified
11. What made you want to become an engineer? Always having been asking 'why?', taking apart toys as a child, and generally being inquisitive and creative
12. What do you spend most of your time doing in your job? It's a real mix, but generally chasing other people!
13. What was the hardest class you took in high school?Maths
14. What was the hardest class you took in college?Fluid dynamics!
15. What are some of the advantages to working in your field of work? Meeting such a wide range of people, working on such a wide range of products, and getting up every day knowing that you'll always come across something different.
16. What kind of qualities does an engineer have to have in order to become successful?A creative and enquiring mind, technical aptitude, patience, real teamworking skills, time management and some patience
17. Do you need to be physically fit in your job? Not especially
18. What kind of college courses did you have to take?The usual mech eng courses; mechanics, fluids, thermo, materials, systems, control, maths, design, modelling...
19. What would an engineer who has just come out of college average salary range be? £22k in the UK
20. What is your work environment like? Ranges from very nice offices to a heavy industrial setting
21.What type of engineer are you?Mechanical
22.What is your name? (I need to know this so I can say who I interviewed) James

Thanks for helping[/QUOTE]

 

[chroot]

That's a lot of questions! Since you didn't specify the engineering discipline, I assume the answers you will get will be very different. Personally, I'm an electrical engineer, and I do mixed-signal integrated circuit design.

1. I have a four-year degree, and am pursuing a master's.

2. I design integrated circuits. My job involves perhaps 15% actual design work, 50% design verification, 15% design automation, 10% documentation, and 10% administration.

3. Become an "expert" in the use of a complex tool in a manner of weeks.

4. Normally, 8 hours or even a little less. Sometimes I end up putting in long hours in the days or weeks before a release, but, overall, the hours are quite good.

5. The flexibility, the intellectual challenge, and the teamwork.

6. Having to deal with organizing large volumes of documentation and data into a format that everyone -- from the entry-level technicians to the company VPs -- can understand. In other words, herding bits.

7. Other engineers, marketing and sales people, and technicians.

8. Most of our tools are actually computer programs. I mostly use Cadence's Virtuoso platform and ncsim for most of my design and verification tasks. I use Python for most of my automation tasks. I use a wide variety of analysis tools, some custom-written.

9. Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco.

10. A little over five years.

11. I like building things, solving puzzles, and using computers.

12. Simulating and verifying my designs.

13. In high school? Organic chemistry.

14. Including post-graduate? I'd say Digital Communications II.

15. Good pay, good hours, interesting work, respect, lots of corporate perks.

16. Attention to detail, a willingness to learn, and the ability to teach others.

17. Nope, but I am anyway.

18. I did a fairly normal computer engineering program for undergrad.

19. It depends on the type of engineer, but generally around ~$50k.

20. Lots of computers, lots of meeting rooms. I'm not sure how to answer such a vague question.

21. Electrical.

22. Warren Craddock, Sr. Design Engineer, Intersil Corp.

- Warren

 

[draconmythica]

Hey do you guys mind if I use your answers for my project too? I have been looking everywhere for an engineer to interview and this thread is exactly what I need. Also if either of you wouldn't mind adding a very brief biography of yourself I would really appreciate it. Either way though thanks for the great answers you're a lifesaver.

 

[FredGarvin]

Oh what the heck...

1: 4 years for a bachelors degree is minimum. Continuing education and Master's degree are on top of the minimum.

2: Mechanical design, analysis of test data and manufacture of components for upcoming projects.

3: Get used to how engineering is really practiced versus what it is like in school.

4: I average 10 hour days.

5: I work in a field that interests me and I get to work on many different programs/disciplines at one time.

6: The most disliked things about my job are particular to the company I work for, not to the engineering discipline itself.

7: I work with managers, technicians, other engineers (from my company and other resources).

8: Calculator, computer (Pro/E, AutoCAD, ANSYS, proprietary fluids programs), wrenches, various instrumentation and data acquisition systems.

9: A jet engine designer/manufacturer.

10: 12 years

11: Wanting to understand the things around me and wanting to be able to do what I am doing now.

12: Mechanical design of test rigs.

13: Chemistry was my bane in H.S.

14: I'd have to give my control systems the "hardest class" award.

15: I get to sometimes make things fail. I get to work with unproven/unseen designs. I get to work in so many disciplines in a single day.

16: Good work ethic and not afraid to get his hands dirty. Also, one needs good organizational skills. A lack of ego is a definitel plus.

17: It definitely helps. We tend to do some heavy lifting and are on our feet a lot. We also work outside in both the cold and heat.

18: Courses spelled out in any accredited engineering school.

19: I would only guess it would be somewhere around $40k but it greatly depends.

20: A bit hectic, some pressure for sure. Mostly relaxed when management isn't around.

21: Mechanical.

22: S.H. Lead Engineer, Test Facilities (I prefer to withold my company name).

 

[hajarw3]

i want a physicist to answer my questions
because i have a report i need to do
and i actually need help doing the report because I am not so good with reports
one of the parts is to summarize the interview with the engineer
if you engineers would like to help me i would be very pleased
thank you very much

 

[hajarw3]

what kind of education do you have?

what kind of professional and communication skills do engineers need

what kind of conferences do engineers belong to besides APEGGA

what kind of conferences do engineers attend

what kind of professional journals do engineers subscribe to or read

what kind of scholarly journals do engineering students and professors consult for research purposes( try to ensure names of the core/most important journals of the fields. also ensure names of others. at least 5 in total)

what kind of research might engineers do or be expected to do.(does the answer depend on a variety of things, if yes what kind of things)

how much writing and what kind do engineers do

tell me something about your job(if u don’t mind could you tell me any useful information you could give me in terms of a career)

i need your full name, title, position, address, place where you could be reached.(its just because i need to write a thank you letter for all your trouble.

 

[PhanthomJay]

i need to interview an engineer for a school project could sombody answer my questions?



1. How many years of schooling did you have to go through to become an engineer?4
2. What kind of things do you do on a daily basis while on the job? Budgeting, estimating,scheduling, managing projects,developing design loadings, structural design and analysis, coordinating with other disciplines.
3. What was the hardest thing you’ve had to do in your engineering career?scheduling workload amongst competing priorities
4. Around how long is your average work day?8 to 9 hours
5. What do you like most about your job?varied workload, responding to and working with others, casual work environment
6. What do you dislike most about your job?paperwork!
7. What other kind of people do you work with?all sorts, designers, technicians, VP's, managers, construction supervisors, lawyers, environmental folks,etc.
8. What kind of tools or other equipment do you use frequently?computer software and a cheap calculator
9. Where do you work at?Dowtown Engineering office, occasional visits to construction sites
10. How long have you been an engineer?40 years
11. What made you want to become an engineer?good in math and physics in high school
12. What do you spend most of your time doing in your job?responding to e-mails
13. What was the hardest class you took in high school?calculus
14. What was the hardest class you took in college?Theory of Elasticity
15. What are some of the advantages to working in your field of work?work with all kinds of people, decent pay, rewarding work
16. What kind of qualities does an engineer have to have in order to become successful?]good writing and communication skills, technical ability, humility, and common sense
17. Do you need to be physically fit in your job?not really
18. What kind of college courses did you have to take?Engineering Sciences, Calculus, Mechanics of Materials, Concrete and Steel design courses, Environmental Design
19. What would an engineer who has just come out of college average salary range be?varies depending on discipline, around $40,000 to 50,000 in general, i guess
20. What is your work environment like? comfortable and modern workplace, good people to work with
21.What type of engineer are you?Structural
22.What is your name? (I need to know this so I can say who I interviewed)Jay

Thanks for helping

You're welcome.