Preparing for a interview

[LONDONDERRY]

I have a question in how to prepare for an Senior Mechanical Engineer interview. In past interviews I've brought a portfolio with past projects I've worked on. I've brought product pictures, some detail drawing of sheet metal, machined and wiring drawings plus some product tree drawings. However from past interviews I'm not sure if this helps or hurts in the interview process. I usually find myself talking more about the products I've worked on (almost as a sales engineer) and less about myself. I few times I caught this during the interview but it was to late. However on an interview I'm preparing for this week the potential company want to hear about some of the products I worked on.. can anyone give me a few tips on portfolio presentation and communication??


thanks

 

[zdas04]

You have described the slippery slope very well. Architects, Actors, and Models always have a portfolio at a job interview. It is rare for an Engineer to do that for all the reasons you state. When I ask someone to "tell me about your past projects", I want a description of the guy's contribution to the project, not a primer on how to repeat that project. I want to know what you saw as your role and how you carried that role out. It really doesn't matter to me if you were building a pressure vessel or a building water system. Even if I'm in the business of building pressure vessels, I am certain that any pressure vessels you design for me will not be monkey copies of the pressure vessels you built at your last job, so the technical details of those projects are very much irrelevant and counter productive.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist

 

[LONDONDERRY]

Interesting feedback..
How about if I just brought a picture of a product I worked on as a visual representation. the company I interviewing at designs bio tech instruments, which what I've done many times in the past. Sometimes its hard to describe what you've done without some material to back it up... thoughts on this?

 

[MikeHalloran]

Some of the stuff I've designed or improved will fit in a pocket. Sometimes I carry several such items to interviews, but it seems just as effective to include color images in my resume, which allows inclusion of stuff that doesn't fit in a pocket.

Because mechanical engineering is so broad a subject, an example or a photo helps the respondent understand what sort of thing you are talking about. That helps get the conversation started with technical people. It doesn't help much with nontechnical people.




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[MacGyverS2000]

I usually have a picture or diagram, as you said, London... it gets the ball rolling and provides some context as to what my role was.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[truckandbus]

How many drawings and data sheets do you have in your portfolio? Sounds like you should pare it back a bit

 

[LONDONDERRY]

Thank you for the feed back. I have a bunch of product pictures, what would be considered the right amount to bring 3-4 pictures? What about examples of detail drawings or should I pass on that?

One other thing I've noticed when showing a product picture is I paint myself into a corner. For example, when talking to the interviewer about the product, what it does and my responsibilities they asks more and more questions up to the point that it crossed outside of my area of expertise and ventures into the bio/chem world, which leads to frustration with the interviewer. Any suggestions on how to rein that in?

 

[tygerdawg]

Sure, pictures are worth a thousand words. I've carried a couple pictures, sketches, or drawings with me on interviews...just in case. I've pulled them out for show & tell, but only occasionally. And only when necessary to fully illustrate a point. I've never led off with them.

But put yourself in the interviewer's shoes:

We're looking not only for an Engineer, but a possible future Leader. How well can this candidate articulate and communicate his ideas, concepts, vision, and results?

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[MacGyverS2000]

The statement should go something like this..."Here is an example of a machine I worked on... <pull out pic>... I was the Mechanical Lead and reworked the drivetrain to reduce heat transferance to the bio-samples on the conveyer above, being careful to keep vibration to a minimum." You establish (and narrow) your role in the project, as well as provide talking points as to the type of problems you encountered or were tasked to fix.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[TheTick]

I know from bitter experience that bringing too many distracting shiny objects to an interview can backfire.

 

[IRstuff]

Also, bear in mind that most projects invariably hit snags or potholes, and I, as a employer, am interested in your ability to solve problems FOR ME. So, while you might be rambling, it's MY JOB to rein you in and steer you into the subjects I want to hear. For me to be a lump on a log and let you ramble on into weeds I'm not interested in shows poor judgement and managerial skills on MY PART. Your job, in that context, is to see if I'm starting to doze off and to change the slant and content into something that I'm excited about. Hopefully, you can concurrently show that you are as excited about my problems and wants as I am.

You are marketing YOU. To that degree, you need to convince me to buy your used car carcass and not someone else's, which means that you need to show me you know the work, you can solve problems, and you can specifically solve my problems. You need to show enthusiasm and passion for helping me with my problems.

TTFN
faq731-376

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529


Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com:

http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

 

[LONDONDERRY]

Yup rambling has always been a slight problem for me on interviews and has cost me jobs.. I've gotten better over time by more company presentations. As a friend told me, YOU have to interview the company and hiring team and ask the tough questions as well. If you walk away from the interview not knowing this they could be a horrible company to work at..
A lot of great tips

 

[KENAT]

I don't know if fundamentally you can bring too many examples (within limit of what fits in your briefcase/on flash drive etc.), but you can certainly try to show/share/force down the interviewers throat too many.

One guy I interviewed just wanted to go through his PhD presentation slide by slide - I nixed that guy (in as much as I have any ability to do so) for that and other reasons.

Some of the others that insisted on going through their prepared samples or presentations didn't do too well either.

However, folks that responded to specific questions I asked with a relevant sample I looked kindly upon.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[JohnRBaker]

Please take this in the spirit it was given; if you're planning to provide any material written by yourself, make sure that your grammar is correct and that you've used proper wording. I only say this after reading first the title of this thread and then your opening post as it's littered with grammatical and word usage issues. While I have no reason to know this, but if English is not your first language then that could explain it. However, even if that's the case, you will still need to carefully double-check and proofread anything written by you that will be included in the material you offer during the interview.

Anyway, good luck.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[LONDONDERRY]

Hi John-
Thanks for the grammar tips; usually I don't proof read my posts on websites esp. if its during working or late hours.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

However, folks that responded to specific questions I asked with a relevant sample I looked kindly upon.

In the past this was my method, bring a portfolio of sample drawings, designs, projects, calculations, etc. that you felt were relevant to the job you're interviewing for. Offer them to browse at the end or bring them out to answer specific questions. Don't try to let them speak for you though, they should be there to avoid having to describe something at length that you can quickly show. A engineering portfolio is not there so that you can avoid answering their questions about yourself.

Just my $0.20 (adjusted for inflation).

Maine Professional and Structural Engineer.

http://www.fepc.us

 

[KENAT]

My issue as interviewee has always been that IP or Govt security issues limit what 'real world' examples I could bring anyway.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[IRstuff]

"My issue as interviewee has always been that IP or Govt security issues limit what 'real world' examples I could bring anyway"

Nyah, you just kill them afterwards. That might not bode well for getting a job offer, though...

TTFN
faq731-376

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529


Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com:

http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

 

[LONDONDERRY]

So I had a phone interview, went well. I'm scheduled for an onsite interview this Wednesday and was asked to bring a portfolio of projects I've worked on, which will be about 3-4 pieces.
Having IP material in a portfolio is like bring Pepsi's secret recipe to a Coke Cola interview. Product broachers, some CAD screen shot and one or two complex detail drawings are all I bring.

 

[JohnRBaker]

In my soon to be 49 years of engineering work experience, the only time I've interviewed for a new job was when I left my first company in 1980 and joined McDonnell Douglas in SoCal. In 1977 we purchased our first CAD system from a company named United Computing in Carson, CA which was then being run as a subsidiary of MDC. In late 1979, MDC made final financial arrangements with the original owners of the company and merged it into their commercial automation division, McAuto. They also started to aggressively hire both programmers and pre- and post-sales personnel and that was when I became aware of an opportunity to take my by then nearly three years of everyday usage of the system and use that experience to find a new job. Remember this was when CAD/CAM was a very new field and any sort of real world experience was being sought after by both the companies developing the technology as well as many of the larger companies that were starting to invest in using it. During the early part of 1980 I started to see adverts in the local paper from companies looking for people with CAD/CAM experience. I ended-up interviewing with two large companies, one in Ohio and one in Utah. The people in Utah went so far so to make an offer on-the-spot, which I almost took except that I would be working not only out in the middle of what to me, coming from Michigan, looked like a desert but the office I would working in was located about 50 feet underground (the company manufactured material which occasionally blew-up while it was being produced so most of the employees worked in bunkers). In these two situations, since the products produced were so different than what I had worked on (I worked in the R&D group for a company that manufactured food machinery, primarily large commercial baking equipment) therefore I never even brought any 'examples' of my work, besides they were really looking at my take on how to implement CAD into an engineering organization.

I finally decided to call our rep from United (now McAuto) who had sold us our CAD system and asked him what was available (I was thinking that perhaps another local company was considering purchasing a CAD system and so I might not even have to move). Now since we were customers of MDC they technically could NOT approach me with a job offer as there was a 'no poaching' clause in our contract with them, however that did not prevent me from initiating any contacts (however I did have to sign a legal document stating that MDC had NOT made the first contact). Anyway, when I found out that they were hiring, I agreed to talk to them and so I flew down to St. Louis but since they already knew the sort of thing we did and since I also knew some of the people who worked on the software, the interview was not really what you would consider as typical for someone coming in cold. Anyway, I took the job even though we had to sell our house and move from Michigan to SoCal, but it was the best offer by far (although when you consider the cost-of-living difference between Utah and California that might not be a completely accurate statement) and I would be working with people I already knew, and most importantly, I would be working on a system I already knew inside and out, unlike the Utah offer where I would have been working on another, now-long obsolete system. Of interest is that the company in Utah, after many mergers and acquisitions, are now using our software so who knows, maybe I might have simply got them to move quicker if I had taken their offer. And for the record, the people in Ohio, they're now a customer as well.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.