How to Answer: What is your 'shop' experience?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Mechanical Engineer job interview.
27. What is your 'shop' experience?
How to Answer
These types of questions are more common for roles where operating equipment is a central part of the job. It's important to recognize that your answer will be interpreted in the context of what the hiring manager is looking for, so be sure to research the team and position ahead of the interview. You can also use this opportunity to help shape a story about your professional journey. If you don't have considerable experience yet, then take some time to prepare any relevant, transferrable experience you do have.
Written by Jason Toby on October 12th, 2020
Answer Example
"My shop experience started with woodworking class in high school. I took two years of classes, where I learned to operate power tools in addition to learning basic shop safety. In college, I took manual machining classes, where I learned the basics of mill and lathe operation. I believe that learning these hands-on skills has helped me become a better engineer. If hired, I would be excited to build on these experiences by contributing to prototyping work as needed by the team."
Written by Jason Toby on October 12th, 2020