Tell me about a time when you failed at an assignment.

"Early in my career, I was tasked with instrumenting an engine with accelerometers and running tests at an expensive outside vibration test laboratory to estimate the levels of vibration that the engine mounts would have to withstand in customer service. I had never been responsible for a project like this before, but I had no doubt in my ability to do a good job. I studied drawings of the engine compartment and mounting points and decided where to put the accelerometers and how to mount them. No one in my team disagreed with my plan.When the test data came back, it did not show the expected wave forms for the vibration amplitudes and frequencies that we knew had been applied. I consulted with an in-house vibration testing expert and he pointed out the weaknesses in the locations that I had chosen to attach the accelerometers. He showed me what the best locations would be, based on his experience. We re-ran the tests and got the data we needed.I was very aware that I had made a big and expensive mistake. I thought I might be fired. But no one even tried to make me feel bad about it. My manager seemed to view it as a learning opportunity, and I sincerely tried to use it that way. I learned how important it was to consult with colleagues with the right expertise outside my immediate group. I learned that lack of input from your team, when none of you are experts on a subject, doesn't mean you've got it right. If you are not the expert, and the expert is right in your building, there is no excuse for not getting the right advice. I also learned that, like it or not, people will make mistakes. The best remedy is to correct the immediate mistake, figure out how to prevent it for the future, and move on."

This question is an invitation to display your emotional and professional maturity. Whether you choose to highlight an error in judgment or a technical error that you made, avoid recounting trivial mistakes. It should be something that was significant enough to have an impact on a project. You will want to explain how the error happened (without making excuses), how it came to light, how the error was corrected (if it was), and what you learned from the experience that will help you to avoid making this mistake - and maybe others - in the future.

You witness someone sexually harassing one of his employees. What do you do?

"I have both witnessed and experienced sexual harassment. In the case where I was harassed, it was by a man who put his arms around me and started kissing me while I was talking with the harasser's supervisor. Obviously, it occurred in full view of the supervisor, and he didn't care. I finished my conversation with the boss as if the harassment were not occurring in that very moment, and I left the scene. I reported it to no one. The next day, I caught up with the harasser, and I privately made it very clear that he had better never repeat this behavior. I was quite direct. This approach worked for me. Word got around - don't even try it with me. I never had another problem.But I know this doesn't work for everyone. Some while after that incident, another woman in my group approached me and told me that she was being harassed. She asked me for advice. I told her what I had done, but that was clearly not the right path for her. I told her that I would go with her to the Human Resources Department to report it, or I would be happy to do it on her behalf. If she did not want me to be involved, she could go on her own. I advised her this way because in my opinion, the support, advice and leverage provided by the group tasked with making sure that employees have a safe workplace, i.e. H.R., was a better starting place than the harasser or the harasser's supervisor, who might or might not take the allegations seriously. So this would be my response if I witnessed someone else being sexually harassed: approach the victim privately, offer to help, and take it from there."

This scenario does not have a cut-and-dried answer. You are most likely to be posed a question like this in an interview for a supervisory position, but any interviewer on any random day could decide that posing this dilemma is a good way to find out more about you. There's no time like the present for you to acquaint yourself with the rules governing the appropriate response to sexual harassment. They are right out there on the internet for anyone to read. In your answer, you want to come across as more than just a technical automaton with no feelings. You want to show that you understand that the situation may not be simple, but that you are a decent human being who would not simply hide under a rock to avoid dealing with an unpleasant situation.

Tell me about a time when there was friction between you and a co-worker. What happened in the end?

"Some things are easy. If your cube mate holds all his phone conversations on the speaker, you can try asking him to get a conference room. I find that they do not retain this request very long, and it is easier to avoid the problem by wearing industrial hearing protectors whenever the ambient bothers me. To be honest, that's a lot of the time, so I wear my hearing protectors at my desk out of habit, at this point.But that's a trivial issue. More important is when you depend on someone else's work to be done right and on time in order to get your own work done, and it isn't happening. We had several metallographic technicians at my last place of employment. My requests always seemed to be assigned to the one who sent back blurry photographs of poorly prepared surfaces from which I could draw no conclusions at all. At first I thought maybe that type of sample was particularly hard to prepare, so I went to the lab and re-did the work myself to get the data I needed. I had no problems. I took my concerns directly to the technician to try to find out whether it was a matter of training. I showed him my samples and photographs compared to his. He agreed that he would like to watch my sample prep procedure. I thought the problem was solved.But the next time my work was assigned to this technician, I had the same problem. I asked around with my colleagues and discovered that he didn't do good work for anyone. I spoke to my supervisor about it and he promised to speak to the technician's supervisor, but nothing ever changed.Finally, I told my supervisor that I was either going to include extra time in the estimates I gave him for projects he assigned me for me to do my own metallographic work, or else I needed an agreement between him and the technician's supervisor that my work would no longer be assigned to that tech. They struck an agreement and I no longer had to work with that technician. I realize that leaves everyone else getting even more poor work from that technician, but I am not in a position to do anything about that. I did everything that I could do in the group's interest, and when that failed, I took a chance on protecting my own interests, and succeeded. I think it is in the managerial realm to reach the conclusion that the department's interests are not served having that technician on board. Maybe someday, that will happen."

The workplace is not non-stop sweetness and light. You may have co-workers who are lazy, loud or don't seem very bright. The question is whether you handle it like an adult or a toddler. Needless to say, you will want to think through an example that shows you in a reasonable light, even if you are not a perfect person. And if you can't think of an example that doesn't make you sound like the problem, maybe spend some time reflecting on your need for personal growth.

Do you prefer working on your own or as part of a team?

"I recognize the value of both. If you can't work independently, you cannot bring anything unique to a team, and the whole reason that teams produce good outcomes is because of the independent contributions of the members. What I love about working as part of a team is the way other people can see problems with your ideas that you didn't pick up on. This is a valuable way to prevent poorly conceived plans from advancing. You can usually count on someone to notice the holes. You can also usually count on someone to offer a solution to a problem that comes up, or at least the idea for an approach. The problem can be, though, that team members may be preoccupied with their own problems, and just nod along to whatever you may say. Then, later, when things go wrong, they may say, 'Well, it was YOUR responsibility.' And that's true. And that's why I also like to have some time to work alone, to check my own work, and my own biases. There are some people who are the 'mad scientist' type who just want to be left alone in their laboratories to work. And actually, in my opinion, that has value too. These are often people with fabulous technical skills and maybe not-so-strong people skills. But they can still make their contribution - even an outsized contribution to the organization. Truly, this matter of whether you like to work alone or in teams is an example of the clich?, 'It takes all kinds.' I recognize, though, that the personality has to be matched to the function."

Teamwork is all the rage. Universities place a lot of emphasis on team project work, and technology companies are full of teams: project teams, functional teams, special problem-solving teams, and teams within teams. There is little doubt that teamwork is necessary to avoid dropping the ball as a product is handed off from one team to another during development. Errors resulting from gray areas not covered during handoffs are a common source of eventual problems with a product. It is also conventional wisdom that teams always produce better outcomes. But an interviewer is going to want to know that while you can work as a part of a team, you can also think independently and be a contributor to a team, not just the hanger-on who lets the other guy do all the work in Electronics 301 Lab.

The shop calls to say that the large test booth you designed is ready. You wheel a cart out to there to pick it up, but you don't see it anywhere. You ask the modelmaker, and he points to a tiny cube that looks like it belongs in a doll house. Now what?

"I am pretty sure that my first reaction to seeing that tiny test chamber would be to say, 'Hmmmm. It's a bit smaller than I expected. Could you show me the drawing that you were using?' I am not sure, but there also might be a tickle in the back of my mind that the only thing that could cause a modelmaker to make a perfect scale model of what I requested would be if I screwed up the dimensions somehow. Like when JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Lockheed Martin didn't communicate with each other about what units each was using to design and build a Mars lander, and it ended up crashing because JPL used the number 9.8 m/sec/sec for acceleration due to gravity, while Martin Lockheed was using 32.2 ft/sec/sec. My first guess would be that it was a mistake of mine that caused the dollhouse test chamber to be built. I think I would be tempted to ask where my dollhouse laboratory was, and if he would also be making the test samples to fit into the microchamber. Also, tweezers. I would need tweezers to set the little samples in there. If I could, I would keep from laughing, but I am pretty sure that would be impossible. I know I shouldn't laugh, because the modelmaker wasted company resources to build that desk ornament, but on the other hand, this lesson might keep me from making a similar but less obvious mistake in the future that would waste a lot more company resources to correct. I would probably quickly reflect on the fact that I may have to work with this modelmaker many times in the future, and better to invest a few company dollars in that relationship right now than to contribute to a sour, adversarial environment by being righteously indignant."

Oh yes, this actually did happen. The engineer who ordered the test chamber accidentally wrote 'mm' instead of 'cm' on the drawing. For whatever reason, the modelmaker built the part as specified instead of calling to ask about the obvious error. News of the engineer's angry and outraged response to his doll-house test chamber spread like wildfire, and he was laughed at behind his back for the rest of his career. We can guess that an interviewer could have a legitimate interest in knowing whether you are the kind of person who can just 'roll with it' sometimes.

Are you comfortable making decisions independently?

"If a decision is mine to make, I am very comfortable making it, but I like to think I know the boundary between a decision that belongs to me and one that belongs to my manager, or someone else. Let's say I am responsible for determining whether a batch of material can be shipped to a customer. I know that the customer is waiting for this material for a critical project. I look at our internal requirements. If those are all met, then I look at the customer's requirements. If test results meet their specifications too, it's easy. Ship it. But what if it meets all the customer's requirements, but is just barely outside the acceptable range for one of our in-house requirements that the customer doesn't necessarily care about? As a relatively junior employee, that's where I need to consult my supervisor. I would bring the boss up to speed on the test results and the potential technical implications for use of the product of being just out of range on one feature. In this situation, the customer's urgent need for the product, especially when the customer's own requirements are met, might outweigh failure to meet an internal specification. I would technically be within my rights to say nothing to my boss and discard the material, but wasting usable material while inconveniencing a customer might not be the best overall outcome. I try to use good judgment about whether a decision is one that I should make independently or not."

This appears to be a simple yes-or-no question. Interviewers are taught to ask open-ended questions that invite you to reveal more about yourself. So you can be sure that if the question is phrased in this way, the interviewer wants your first reaction to the question. However, think before you speak. In your mind, append the next logical question - why or why not? - and answer that, too. Use the opportunity to discuss how you make decisions.

What one thing could be taken away from you that would profoundly damage the quality of your life? Assume that the health and welfare of your family and friends are not at issue here.

"As you instructed, I am laying aside the issue of friends and family for the purposes of this question. 'Profound damage to my quality of life' would mean to me that the thing I lost could not be remediated or mitigated in any way. I might lose one of my limbs or senses and be more constrained in doing something that I loved, for example hiking in the back country, but there are workarounds - other senses, prosthetics, adaptations that might not give me exactly the same experience as before, but did close the gap on the loss. One could still consider this a profound loss, but I think I could overcome those deficits. In fact, no matter what loss I can name, we could apply this logic to it, and conclude that we could find a way to go on. Humans can bear almost any loss. Some of them have known such deprivation, whether through the condition of their birth or at the hands of some external event, that I hesitate to apply my first-world sensibilities to a question of what I could live without, because no matter what I choose, I can look around me and see someone living without that very thing. But given my relatively comfortable life and the resources available to me, my answer is that the one thing whose loss would profoundly damage the quality of my life would be the loss of my pets. I live alone, and while I have friends, colleagues and many contacts out in the world, my pets are always there with me, always ready to provide company, always needing my care, which it feels good to provide. Losing them would leave a stark, gaping hole in my life that I do not think could be filled by anything else. I would go on, somehow, of course. But my quality of life would be damaged. For how long, who could say? From where I sit right now, it would feel like a permanent, gnawing loss.I am curious to know how you would answer this question, if you don't mind saying."

This question is apparently simple but acquires layers of complexity as you work your way through the logic of it. You would want to do this, possibly by pausing for a moment to think about your answer so that some of the complications occur to you before you start rambling on in an attempt to justify a quick answer that you decide, halfway through the third sentence, is not a very good one. There is no right answer, of course, the answer just highlights something about who you are and how you approach a thought-starter question like this.

I see here that you graduated 10 years ago with a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering, and that you have been employed at one company since then. What has been your approach to staying current on technical developments in your field?

"It's true that the way life worked out, I never got a chance to go back to graduate school. But in place of that, I have spent the last ten years learning things that are not taught in schools anyway - like when to abandon a fruitless line of experimentation; when to push your boss hard for what you believe in; how to accept criticism and let it make the final product better - and a whole lot of technical details of my projects that are confidential. At the same time, you bring up a critical point. It is vital to keep refreshing your skills after you leave school. I am a member of ASM. I attend my local chapter's meetings, giving me a chance to talk to other metallurgists regularly. Of course, with ASM membership, I have access to their publications, and I do leaf through them every month. Sometimes I get ideas, and I can use ASM's digital library as a jumping off point. I took their short course on failure analysis two years ago. Aside from ASM, my current company has offered the chance to take some short courses - on welding techniques, for example - that are relevant to our sector. I have also studied problem-solving approaches like Shainin Red X and Green Y. Those are just a few examples. I take continuing education seriously. I want to take advantage of all the research being done out there to help with my own work."

Skills do fall behind if they are not maintained. Just try looking at your college textbooks and see how many of those formulas look like anything except a bunch of little Greek letters whose significance you don't remember. As a person with ten years of experience, you do have value to offer to companies you might apply to. You know how to get things done, how to fail until you succeed, how to learn what you need to know. If you haven't taken any continuing education courses, you will have to answer this question carefully, emphasizing what you have learned on the job. Sit down before the interview and list all the short courses you either had to take or chose to take, or other ways you tried to keep current, and be prepared to talk about how those activities enhance your value for the job under discussion.

You say in your statement of purpose that you are passionate about the environment. Tell me more about that.

"When I went to the university, I originally intended to study forestry. I thought this would help me save the environment, by which I meant preserving forests, recycling, and cleaning up lakes and streams. I loved the subject matter I learned in the School of Natural Resources. But some of my friends were studying engineering, and out of curiosity, I had a look at their textbooks. I got interested in metallurgy, and ultimately concluded that there was more than one way to pursue my passion for preserving the environment. I switched my course of study to metallurgical engineering. By working on improved materials and manufacturing methods, I came to believe that I could help preserve resources in a potentially wider arena than what I could affect as a forester in a specific geographical space. That's why I am interested in this job at your company. I believe that participating in the development and manufacturing of automotive emission control products will give me more leverage over something I care a lot about, protecting our planet."

No matter what passion you highlight in your resume, make sure that you can either explain how that passion enriches your life without interfering with your work, or, even better, explain how your passion and your career are linked.

Please describe your role in this item on your resume that says, "˜Developed jet turbine engine.'

"While working for XYZ Corporation, I led a project to develop the turbine engine for the new F-999 jet fighter. I had teams working on alloy development, modeling, mechanical design improvements, manufacturing processes for the selected alloys, prototype hardware builds and in-situ testing. I managed 400 people and we brought this project in on time and only 5% over the original budget, while meeting all of the customer requirements."

Oh, you mean your summer job was actually to run the creep rupture tests on several candidate alloys that were developed by someone else and designed by someone else?Don't inflate the importance of what you, yourself, did beyond the boundaries of your actions. There is hardly anything more embarrassing than being pinned to the interview table like a bug in an insect collection by someone who knows what goes into the design of a complex metal part. You can show that you understand how your role fit into the whole project, but don't pretend that you did all the work.

Are you more interested in pursuing a technical track or a managerial track in your career?

"Providing a technical track for advancement in parallel to the management track really recognizes the contribution of science and engineering to the overall success of a company. I am glad to learn that The Company has dual tracks. That is a really important factor in attracting and retaining top technical talent. I am just getting started with my career, and in my opinion, the best foundation for managers in a technology company is a solid understanding of its products and the science behind them. I am not really sure if I want to be a manager. Maybe that would feel right to me after I got my feet under me and mastered the technical aspects of the product lines you develop and manufacture. But for now, I want to stick with a technical focus."

Every corporation needs both technical gurus AND strategic geniuses. An organization full of nothing but CEO-strivers would be non-functional. Who would do the work? Do some thought experiments about what it would be like for you to mostly concern yourself with people-management in a technical field versus mainly concerning yourself with the science/engineering aspect, but never being allowed to make the big strategic decisions. In the interview, just tell the truth, while keeping in mind that if you are applying for a managerial job but you answer that you want to be on a technical track, your resume is probably going to the bottom of the pile. Make sure your answer is a good fit to both you and the job for which you are interviewing.

Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

"My ultimate goal is to have a role in top management where my decisions can affect strategic decisions about product development. But I know that I first must lay a good technical foundation and develop a good understanding of not just product development, but also marketing, sales, and supplier relations, in order to have a chance to reach that career objective. After five years, I should have a good technical foundation in the company's products, and I would like to have a chance to move around to some of those different roles, to get the experience I need. In ten years, I would like to be managing a small to medium-sized group, demonstrating that I have what it takes to keep moving up the ladder. I know those are big goals for a recent college graduate, but high management is my long-term goal. I also realize that there are a lot of steps between where I am right now and that ultimate target."

This is a classic interview question. It gets asked, in varying ways, because the answer matters. One thing it tells the interviewer is whether or not you have a realistic view of the company he represents. Do you want to be the CEO? That's not going to happen in 5-10 years unless you start your own company. Maybe you don't see yourself working for this company for more than 5 years, anyway. Try to pick an answer that blends honesty and reality with a bit of salesmanship.

Tell me about your summer job at ABC Corporation.

"I was glad to have a chance to work in industry between my junior and senior years. My job at ABC Corporation was to create an Excel spreadsheet of all the product drawing numbers that had been created as paper blueprints, before CAD drawings were used. Some of these products are still manufactured, but design changes were hard to track because no one thought to search the paper files. I spent a lot of time copying lists of print numbers from crinkly old sepia paper into columns in my computer spreadsheet. Although that job was not what I would want to do for my whole career, I learned a lot about the history of ABC by doing that job, and it was a real eye-opener to see how easy it is to waste resources duplicating effort and re-learning lessons just because information that was already documented wasn't easily available. It made me realize how important it is to track down the history of a project before initiating a bunch of work that may have already been done in the past. The importance of good documentation is a lesson that will always stick with me."

Hopefully, you had a good experience at ABC Corporation. But even if you hated it, you learned something. Figure out what that was and tell your interviewer about it. Try to relate what you did on that job to the job for which you are now being interviewed.

What was your favorite college class? Why?

"I think my favorite class was Metal Casting. It opened up a whole new world to me - the world of how to plan to create a useful object - say, a propeller - and then actually carry it out. I loved planning the molds, planning the molten metal feed points, the split line, the right alloy for the job, the melt temperature, the smell of the lab, the satisfaction of opening that mold and seeing a real, live propeller that I had personally made. It's true that the job I am applying for at The Company is as a welding quality engineer, but the casting class helped me understand the behavior of molten metals, and what kinds of defects can occur when you turn solid metal into liquid for any reason. The foundation my casting class gave me is actually pretty relevant to welding. You plan your piece, you weld it with the right technique, and you inspect it to make sure that there are no hidden defects. It's not just your own pride that you are protecting with good quality. It can be critical to product safety."

Remember that you are applying for a technical job, and that an answer about a technical class will be the most helpful. If your favorite class is not directly relevant to the job on offer, you can still show passion and mastery in a brief description of why you loved it, and you can likely find a thread that connects back to the job for which you are being interviewed.

(To a woman) It looks like you've got a baby on the way. It will be such a big change for you having both a new baby and a new career at the same time. What are your plans for childcare once the baby comes?

"{A slow smile and a pause tells the interviewer you know this game} You have told me today that this job requires on-site work four days per week, and that employees can choose to work from home one day per week. But I also understand that in a salaried engineer's position, sometimes we all have to put in the extra hours it takes to get across the finish line on a project. You can count on my commitment to the work that I am assigned."

Several decades into the 21st Century, it is unlikely that the interviewer doesn't know that this question is a no-no. It is a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to discriminate against a woman on the basis of pregnancy or childbirth. As the interviewee, you have three choices: 1) Tell the interviewer that you believe he or she is violating the law and walk out; 2) Finesse the answer to the question without creating open conflict; 3) Answer the question honestly and move on. It's your choice, but diplomacy shows intelligence and maturity. It could be a good choice if the company has a generally solid reputation on equal employment opportunity issues. Read up on what company representatives are and are not allowed to ask in pre-employment interviews. Decide beforehand how you will handle a question like this.

Do you have any questions for me?

"Yes, I do. In the Careers section of your website, I saw that you have research and development locations in the Far East. One of my goals is to work at an overseas posting, because I think it would help me understand the business better and form relationships that would strengthen my contribution to a company that has operations all over the world. Does the company support this kind of global posting for those who are interested? Could you tell me how that might work at the company?"

Of course you do. If you cannot muster the curiosity to ask one, single question, how sincerely interested in the job can you possibly be? Perhaps you read about the company's newest product and have thought of an intelligent question to ask about a technical aspect of it. Or perhaps you have a question about something the interviewer said, or a significant company policy. If you truly have no questions, then you might soften that by saying that the interviewer's descriptions of the company and the hiring process were quite clear and then briefly summarize what you heard, ending by asking whether you summarized it correctly.

Why do you want to work for XYZ Steel Company?

"My dad was a steelworker, one of the guys that put the ingredients into the furnace and made molten steel run out the other end. I still remember him bringing me lumps of iron ore, limestone, coke, and all the rest of the ingredients. I used them in a school report on making steel. I think this stayed with me, under the surface, till I got to college and discovered metallurgical engineering. XYZ has 60% of the architectural steel market. With XYZ, I would have an opportunity to help make the materials that help beautiful buildings take form in our cities, and that's exciting. There's always room for improvement in material performance, in cost efficiency, in optimizing processes. I would have an opportunity to participate in that at XYZ, and that's what I want to do."

If you have a true passion for the industry in which you are applying for a job, that's a big advantage. Use it. Briefly describe your passion and show that you understand where this company fits into the industry, what makes it uniquely interesting to you. If this is 'just a job' for you, dig deep. Either find something that can be meaningful for you about the job or realize beforehand that this is not the job for you.

You discover that a product that your company is about to release has a defect that could cause a spontaneous fire. Your boss won a company award for this "˜innovation.' What do you do?

"This is a very serious question. I would like to work for a company where I do not have to concern myself with a potentially egotistical response from my supervisor upon being presented with evidence that a fault has cropped up with his masterpiece. The truth is that the fault may not have been foreseeable, so if he is a mature individual, worthy of being a supervisor in a technical role, his reaction to the problem would be to immediately call his manager to tell him about the problem, and to convey in no uncertain terms that production and sales must be suspended while we investigate. If I don't think I can trust my boss with this information, then I really have no idea who I CAN trust at the company, as the culture may be corrupt in ways I had never even thought of. First, I would make very, very sure of my facts. Then I would think about whether I knew of any other supervisors that I felt could be trusted to do the right thing. If not, I would approach someone in the company's legal department, explain the situation, and let them advise me. If they did not support me with useful advice and help to make sure we stopped production and tackled the problem, I would submit my resignation, take on a personal lawyer, and let him advise me on next steps. I hope to God I am never faced with a scenario like this, and that if I am, that I am surrounded by ethical people who want to make it right. That has certainly been my experience of my engineering colleagues up until now."

This question explores how you would tackle a problem with extremely serious consequences for everyone involved with the product - not to mention those who might potentially be harmed by it. You will want to display that you have your priorities right. What the right priorities might be to the interviewer and the company he represents will be unknown to you, but if you answer the way an ethical engineer would, you can send a message of your own. If that's the kind of answer that the interviewer was looking for, then you've done well. And if the interviewer was looking for some kind of unethical thought process and didn't get it from you, thus disqualifying you from further consideration, so much the better for your conscience.

Tell me about a time when you were troubleshooting a production process. How did you go about investigating and solving the problem?

"I've only been asked to troubleshoot a production process one time. We had a resistance welding line joining the two halves of a stainless steel, sheet-metal clamshell with a perimeter weld. I wasn't an expert on resistance welding, but I got on the plane and went. When I got there, I looked at the parts, which had molten metal squeezed out the ends, cracks where the weld started, and periodic blow holes through the thickness of the sheet metal. I couldn't understand how an existing process could be this far out of whack. Not knowing what else to do, I asked for the welding machine manuals. I read them. I compared the settings on the machine to the settings in the book, and they had nothing in common. I reset the feed speed, the electrode pressure, the current and a few other things, then we sent some more parts through the line. I had them prepare a few quality check samples, and they looked good. We ran some more, checked again, and those were fine, too. I asked a few questions about how the machine settings had gotten so far off, and it was clear that this had been a slow process of adjusting the settings based on superstition and feelings until it was finally so far out that the process blew up. I posted the correct settings at the machine, got on the plane and went back home. In the end, all I did was read the instructions.I realize that most production problems are much more complicated. I have watched colleagues struggle with them. If I had responsibility for a process that wasn't producing the desired result, I would first verify the basics - like I did with the resistance welder. I would do the obvious things: figure out when the problem started, look for some other factor that I could correlate with that. I would look to see if other machines performing the same process were still giving good results. I would quantify where we were at and where we needed to be - maybe it was a dimension that wasn't right, for example. And if nothing simple popped up very quickly, I would be looking to apply my Shainin Red X training to structure the approach and resolve the problem. Often, these kinds of problems are not simple and involve a lot of interactions that can only be found when you apply a structured and statistical approach, once you see that the answer is not obvious. This takes time, but produces better results."

If you have been responsible for a production process, you may have trouble confining yourself to just one story. You've got dozens! But in your answer, remember to focus on the methods you used to get things back on track. The interviewer is looking for a systematic, analytical approach. If you HAVEN'T been responsible for a production process, you can still come up with a good answer by mentioning what techniques you would have used in that situation.

Suppose you are assigned to recommend a material for the exhaust manifold on a new internal combustion that is under development. What are the key steps that you would take to approach this assignment?

"First, I would ask what requirements the exhaust manifold must meet in terms of temperature, vibration, thermal cycling, upstream and downstream attachment methods, packaging, manufacturing process and target cost. I would find out what materials had been used for this application before and analyze how the new manifold requirements differ from the existing applications. Perhaps the materials used for current applications could be used for the new one. I would be asking a lot of questions.I would make a preliminary selection based on everything I was able to determine about the requirements, and then take advantage of Finite Element Analysis modeling, using the material characteristics, to see if we were on the right track. Maybe this would require a few iterations. Then, we would be in a position to make an initial recommendation. Of course, careful testing of prototype hardware might result in further adjustments, but this is how I would get started."

With this question, an interviewer is not asking about your possible intimate knowledge of materials for exhaust manifolds. They are looking for a thoughtful approach to a topic that you may currently know nothing about. Hit the high points of a structured plan to reach the right answer: gather information, run appropriate tests, recommend material, follow the results and adjust as needed.

Your boss just handed you a material specification for an alloy that your company has been trying to develop for some time. It is marked 'XYZ Corporation Confidential.' He tells you to make up a batch of the alloy for testing. What is your next move?

"It is conceivable that XYZ Corporation now has a non-disclosure agreement with our company to work together on a project involving the alloy in the materials specification that the boss gave me. On the other hand, it is possible that a person at a mutual customer of ours wants the alloy offered by XYZ, but made by us... and they thought they could get it by passing along information provided to them in confidence by XYZ. In which case, why didn't my boss already refuse it? I need to know where the information came from. I would ask my boss the circumstances under which he obtained the information, and I would ask him if he checked in with our legal department to verify that using the information would be ok. I think I would just listen at that point. My next move after that would, frankly, depend on whether what he said hung together or not. If the provenance of the information was above board - i.e. if XYZ and my company have an agreement to work together on a customer project, then fine. I would get to work. But if the spec was handed to my boss under the table, I want nothing to do with that, regardless of how amazing the results would be. It would be illegal. I would call our ethics hotline and report what had happened and ask them what to do next. I realize this could be a bit touchy with my boss, and I would probably try to evade the subject until I had advice back from our legal department. Then I would do as they advised."

No! Your next move is NOT to go back to your desk and start ordering materials for the melt. Ethics must come to an engineer as naturally as breathing. Engineers are often entrusted with the safety and lives of thousands of people through the products and structures that they create. If something sounds a little fishy, it probably is, and your Bad Practices Detector should sound the alarm even if you have never had the formal ethics and compliance training that most big corporations hold every year. Show that you know right from wrong with your answer.

You are responsible for customer support at ABC Corp. They recently set back a box of parts that they claim are all "˜bad.' But on re-testing, they pass all in-house tests and are deemed "˜good.' Now what do you do?

"In your scenario, we have already excluded the possibility that the parts themselves are bad, at least according to the way we measure 'bad' or 'good' in-house. Before I start chasing ghosts, I want to make sure that the customer is using the part correctly. Was there an undocumented change in the service environment such as a nearby leak or excessive temperature? Did they follow the wiring diagram? I would provide a few brand-new parts that we had verified were 'good,' and ask the customer if I could tag along and watch as they were installed and tested, so that I could make sure that we had captured all the requirements properly. If I could see something obvious during that phase of the problem-solving, I would bring it to their attention, and we would discuss whether the customer's written requirements needed to be updated, leading to a change in the part, or whether they could adapt to using the part as intended. If everything about the way they used the part was in order, I would want to document every detail of their real service environment and take it back to our product team for them to study. Is it possible that our in-house evaluations did not test the characteristic that was determining success or failure in the service environment? That's a possibility that has to be considered. These are the first few steps to how I would attack the problem you outlined."

The customer is always right - except when he's wrong. In your career, you will be faced many times with the need to diplomatically determine which situation you are in. The interviewer will be listening to see whether you recognize that the customer could be using the product incorrectly...or the customer might know something that you don't. Show the interviewer that you can chart a course that can resolve this kind of problem without angering the customer.

What sources do you use for metallurgical data to use in your work projects? For example, you may be looking for mechanical and physical properties, or heat treatment properties.

"The easy answer is Google. If I know nothing about a topic and want to get a few general pointers that will take me to more narrowly tailored technical resources, or read a layman's explanation of something, there is nothing wrong with starting with a Google search. I always look to see what the source of the answer is, and I am looking for it to be something other than a Reddit forum or a 'Citizen Q&A' forum of any kind. I am looking for university, science or technical organizations, or writers with verifiable credentials who have posted the sources they used. If I am looking at a set of materials properties that I found in this way, it is only going to be a general guide to me, and I am going to be looking for sufficient definition of test methods and conditions to be able to interpret what I am seeing. In parallel, I would check out databases from organizations like ASM, the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, and other vetted, responsible collators of data. In addition, if we are talking about a very specific alloy, I have found that the manufacturer's own data is a reliable source of information on the exact material you want to know about. Sometimes, the information simply doesn't exist and you either have to extrapolate from a similar material whose data you do have, or even generate your own data if you have the facilities. If not, and if it is important enough, you could potentially require the supplier to do the testing that you need done, or even contract with an independent laboratory. There are plenty of ways to get data. But I think you really have to be careful to verify the quality of the source and how well the data applies to your situation."

A lot of companies no longer maintain physical libraries, and university libraries are shifting to virtual resources as well. So you might think that the answer is 'Google.' But a good answer to this question would describe how you know whether a source you located on Google is appropriate for your purposes, and what other resources you could bring to bear.

What are three ways that the yield strength of a metal can be increased, with a few details about the upsides and downsides of each?

"The yield strength of a metal is increased by anything that impedes the movement of dislocations through the structure. Dislocations are defects in the crystal structure accumulated from the original crystallization of the metal or created under various stresses. When enough of them pile up in one place, plastic deformation occurs. The movement of dislocations is hindered by anything that interrupts the crystal structure, like the presence of the stress field around a substitutional or interstitial atom trapped in the lattice, or grain boundaries, or even getting tangled up with other dislocations that are in different orientations. So if grain boundaries are a pinning point, we want to make more of them by thermal treatment to produce smaller grain size. If substitutional and interstitial atoms in the lattice pin dislocations, then we can add alloying elements to pure metals, for example carbon in iron, or tin in copper to make bronze. The last thing I mentioned, entanglement of dislocations, is produced by work-hardening - rolling or otherwise deforming the original crystal structure at cold (or anyway, not hot) temperatures to create these tangles. There are other ways to increase yield strength, but these are three of them."

This is a basic metallurgical engineering knowledge question. With your answer, you can demonstrate that you understand the main principles of physical metallurgy that you spent four years studying.

Give me a brief overview of the electrical conductivity of metals compared to semiconductors, and a couple of the major effects on conductivity in each.

"If you look at the possible range of electrical conductivity of materials, you find ceramics and other materials with strongly held electrons at one end - the insulators - and metals, with their de-localized electrons that are capable of moving around easily through the crystal structure, at the other. Pure metals are highly conductive, with silver the very best, even better than copper. Semi-conductors are in between. The conductivity of a metal decreases with temperature. This is because the extra thermal agitation of the metal atoms results in shorter distances that electrons can travel through the crystal before they get deflected, which reduces the average rate at which they can travel through the structure - conductivity - decreases. The hotter the solid metal gets, the more the conductivity decreases. Any other barrier that can shorten the mean free path of an electron in a metal will also reduce conductivity, such as the presence of substitutional or interstitial solutes added to the base matrix. So bronze, for example, has lower conductivity than pure copper. Semiconductors have the opposite reaction to temperature and carefully chosen impurities than that of metals. Semiconductor conductivity increases with temperature. This is because semiconductors are prevented from conducting at lower temperatures by the existence of energy gaps between the valence bands that its electrons can occupy. When a semiconductor, say, silicon, is heated, the electrons gain enough energy to jump those gaps and the electrons are then able to move, leaving holes behind that can be filled by other electrons. By choosing appropriate 'dopants,' the conductivity can be tailored to the conditions that the engineer wants, conducting by the motion of both positive (holes) and negative (electron) charges. Obviously, there is a lot more to conductivity than this, but that's a brief summary."

If the answer to this question does not immediately come to mind, it can be found in the textbook for your first materials science course. See, e.g., 'Elements of Materials Science and Engineering, Sixth Edition' by Lawrence Van Vlack, 1989. As a metallurgical engineer, it is well to bring some basic knowledge of a range of topics into your interview experience. You will know for yourself whether this is a question for which your answer should demonstrate complete mastery, or whether the question is a sidelight from the interviewer to find out how broad your knowledge base is.

Give me the two-minute explainer on copper-based alloys, as if I'm your boss and you need to make me understand whether brass or bronze would be better for an application that we are discussing.

"Right off the bat, I would say this in answer to my manager's question: 'Of course, it will depend on the exact composition of the alloy, but brass is generally thought of as easier to shape than bronze, since it melts at a lower temperature. Brass has a more yellowish color, like gold. Think of a brass instrument, like the tuba. Most brass applications are for plumbing parts or decorative items. They are pretty corrosion resistant, with an adherent oxide layer. Bronze is more of a red-brown color, and it's harder and more brittle. Think ancient swords. When the first iron - not steel, iron - swords were made, they were not any harder than the bronze ones, and they were harder to make because they melted at a higher temperature. But bronze is especially resistant to saltwater corrosion, and that is obviously valuable for marine applications. Why don't we sit down and make a list of the real technical requirements for this new application, and then I will do some more research and come back to you with a specific alloy recommendation based on the requirements, how the material properties of brass and bronze match up to the requirements, and the potential cost?'Hopefully this would be enough for the two-minute explanation. In terms of my interview here with you today, the truth is that most of my emphasis, both in school and in my first job, was on ferrous metallurgy. However, the same principles of physical metallurgy apply to all alloy systems, and I am ready and willing to work to quickly come up to speed on other materials than those on which I currently have more knowledge."

Metallurgical engineers may go their whole careers without having anything to do with non-ferrous metallurgy. If you are asked this question, it is either because you have applied to work at a company whose main business is in the non-ferrous realm, or because it has both ferrous and non-ferrous products (in which case you should have educated yourself to be able to answer questions about non-ferrous alloys beforehand), or it could be a 'weeder' question designed to see who was paying attention in class. A whole period of history, the Bronze Age, turned on the importance of copper-tin alloys for weapons, eventually supplanted by iron, then cast iron, then steel. You don't need to go into all that in your answer. Your take-home message from this question: show that you have a little breadth of knowledge as a metallurgist, the best you can. If you don't know the answer, do what you can with it.

What laboratory skills do you have?

"I have had the good fortune to be exposed to a number of laboratory situations. In my summer job at ABC Corporation, I worked two days a week in the metallography lab, so I am comfortable with all phases of preparing mounted samples for microscopic examination, as well as performing the required microscopy and photography. I have not had the opportunity to operate an SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) or TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) by myself, but I have assisted the operator and been present for work that I requested as part of failure analyses that had been assigned to me. I took a course in X-Ray Diffraction, so I have some theoretical familiarity with that method, but no practical experience.In my summer job at XYZ Corporation, I was responsible for tensile testing various materials upon request, including non-standard sample shapes such as test specimens machined from small turbine blades. So I think I have good skills in that domain. I have also used an experimental rolling mill and all the tools that one might find in a prototype shop such as the drill press, lathe, band saw, and what have you. I have additional, less relevant experience with my home workshop, which is a lab, in a way. I can go into that you would like."

There is no right or wrong answer to this question at the moment when you are already in the room with the interviewer. There is only the truth. However, if reading this question jolted your blood pressure because you haven't got any laboratory skills, and the job you want may require them, you've got the time, starting right now, to remedy that.

Explain the difference between high-cycle and low-cycle fatigue, and generally, what factors are important for avoiding each one.

"Fatigue is caused by repeated application of stresses below the ultimate tensile strength of the material. A crack is initiated, grows, and leads to final failure when the remaining cross-section of material can't support the load anymore. One example might be something like an airplane wing that repeatedly flexes during takeoff, landing, and flying. Another example could be parts on a car going over bumps, stressing the engine mounts, exhaust system, drivetrain and anything which is not completely isolated from loading. Random vibration and thermal cycling can also produce fatigue damage. High-cycle fatigue is when the cyclic stress is below the yield strength of the material, and failure occurs after more than ten thousand cycles. The majority of the component's lifetime is spent initiating cracks, which then slowly propagate until they become unstable, leading to failure. Delaying crack initiation prolongs life, and that means reducing stress concentrations that help cracks form - things like sudden changes in cross-section, sharp radii, notches, holes, and part defects that create 'crack starters.' To avoid high-cycle fatigue, parts should be designed with no sharp radii. Increasing the thickness or strength of the part to decrease the stress amplitude can help. Another common solution is shot peening or case hardening to produce compressive residual stresses in the part surface, which reduces the effective tensile stress under cyclic loading.When we observe fatigue failure in less than ten thousand cycles, we call it low-cycle fatigue. The applied load results in stresses higher than the yield strength of the material, so that low-cycle fatigue cracks grow by plastic deformation. Thermal cycling is a common source of low-cycle fatigue. Crack initiation occurs early in the component's lifetime, and most of the low-cycle fatigue life will be spent in the crack growth phase. The rate of crack growth determines whether the crack remains harmless or leads to premature failure. In low-cycle fatigue, stress concentrations are still important, but not as important for high-cycle fatigue, and there is no benefit from compressive stresses at the surface, because the first few strain cycles wipe out the residual stresses. Simply using a thicker section or a stronger material can make low-cycle fatigue worse. A more ductile and tougher material, one that can accommodate more strain, can be helpful. Finding ways to reduce the load on the sensitive area is also effective. One way to do this is to provide sliding seals and bellows in high temperature machinery. Expansion joints in bridges is another example."

If you read this sample question and could only vaguely remember that you learned about fatigue once upon a time, get out your books for a refresher course. Despite all that is known about metal fatigue, there is a fair probability that much of your career will revolve around helping engineers from other disciplines understand fatigue and how to manage it. A good two-minute interview answer is a good start.

Explain the development of residual stresses in a carburized part.

"Carburizing produces a harder, stronger layer on the outside of a softer, weaker (and tougher) steel part. The part is heated to a temperature that will cause it to transform to austenite, which has a higher carbon solubility than ferrite. Then, a carbon-containing gas mixture is introduced into the furnace. The carbon diffuses into the steel surface to some depth and results in a concentration profile from the surface to the core that depends on the details of the carbon potential of the gas, temperature, and time. When the part is quenched from high temperature to below a critical temperature that depends on the base composition of the steel and the carbon concentration gradient, martensite will form. Martensite has a less dense crystal structure than austenite or ferrite, so wherever the martensite forms, there is a volume expansion. The volume of the metal atoms expands in the surface layer, starting at the boundary layer between the core and the case and moving outward toward the surface. As the surface layer cools relative to the core, the greater volume attempts to contract but cannot. When the core cools, it attempts to contract and creates compressive stresses in the outer layer, which really doesn't quite fit anymore, on a micro-level. Ideally, you end up with the highest compressive stresses at the surface of the part. If case hardening is not done correctly, you can end up with tensile residual stresses at the surface, which is highly undesirable."

You may or may not know the detailed answer to any particular technical question that you are asked. However, if you are a recent college graduate, you will be expected to have some command of the basic metallurgical coursework that you encountered. Maybe you didn't take a course on the physical metallurgy of steels. But you certainly took a course on physical metallurgy principles, and being able to combine several basic principles into a first approximation of the right answer to a technical question will be a valuable skill throughout your career, not just for interviewing. Pause, think, then try. Admit it if you don't know, outlining what you would do to find out.

What are the main differences between ferritic and austenitic stainless steels?

"All stainless steels contain chromium, 10% or more. Ferritic stainless steels may contain small amounts of other elements such as titanium or molybdenum, but austenitic stainless steels also contain significant amounts of nickel. As a result, the crystal structure of austenitic stainless steels is face-centered cubic, while the structure of ferritic stainless steels is body-centered cubic, as in mild steels. While both are more corrosion resistant than typical mild steels, they are quite different in other ways. Ferritic stainless steels are magnetic, austenitics are not. Austenitic stainless steels are more corrosion resistant than ferritic. They are also tougher and more ductile. However, they are a lot more expensive."

There is a lot more to metallurgy than just making and using steel, but for a metallurgist, being able to intelligently discuss the differences between ferritic and austenitic stainless steels is pretty basic. Know it. Even if you are interviewing with a silicon wafer manufacturer, knowing the answer to a basic question like this demonstrates that you have a good educational foundation that the prospective employer can expect to build on. Being able to cite common applications of these steels would be a cherry on top of your basic answer.

Metallurgical Engineering Interview Questions

Go Back

1. Tell me about a time when you failed at an assignment.
2. You witness someone sexually harassing one of his employees. What do you do?
3. Tell me about a time when there was friction between you and a co-worker. What happened in the end?
4. Do you prefer working on your own or as part of a team?
5. The shop calls to say that the large test booth you designed is ready. You wheel a cart out to there to pick it up, but you don't see it anywhere. You ask the modelmaker, and he points to a tiny cube that looks like it belongs in a doll house. Now what?
6. Are you comfortable making decisions independently?
7. What one thing could be taken away from you that would profoundly damage the quality of your life? Assume that the health and welfare of your family and friends are not at issue here.
8. I see here that you graduated 10 years ago with a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering, and that you have been employed at one company since then. What has been your approach to staying current on technical developments in your field?
9. You say in your statement of purpose that you are passionate about the environment. Tell me more about that.
10. Please describe your role in this item on your resume that says, "˜Developed jet turbine engine.'
11. Are you more interested in pursuing a technical track or a managerial track in your career?
12. Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?
13. Tell me about your summer job at ABC Corporation.
14. What was your favorite college class? Why?
15. (To a woman) It looks like you've got a baby on the way. It will be such a big change for you having both a new baby and a new career at the same time. What are your plans for childcare once the baby comes?
16. Do you have any questions for me?
17. Why do you want to work for XYZ Steel Company?
18. You discover that a product that your company is about to release has a defect that could cause a spontaneous fire. Your boss won a company award for this "˜innovation.' What do you do?
19. Tell me about a time when you were troubleshooting a production process. How did you go about investigating and solving the problem?
20. Suppose you are assigned to recommend a material for the exhaust manifold on a new internal combustion that is under development. What are the key steps that you would take to approach this assignment?
21. Your boss just handed you a material specification for an alloy that your company has been trying to develop for some time. It is marked 'XYZ Corporation Confidential.' He tells you to make up a batch of the alloy for testing. What is your next move?
22. You are responsible for customer support at ABC Corp. They recently set back a box of parts that they claim are all "˜bad.' But on re-testing, they pass all in-house tests and are deemed "˜good.' Now what do you do?
23. What sources do you use for metallurgical data to use in your work projects? For example, you may be looking for mechanical and physical properties, or heat treatment properties.
24. What are three ways that the yield strength of a metal can be increased, with a few details about the upsides and downsides of each?
25. Give me a brief overview of the electrical conductivity of metals compared to semiconductors, and a couple of the major effects on conductivity in each.
26. Give me the two-minute explainer on copper-based alloys, as if I'm your boss and you need to make me understand whether brass or bronze would be better for an application that we are discussing.
27. What laboratory skills do you have?
28. Explain the difference between high-cycle and low-cycle fatigue, and generally, what factors are important for avoiding each one.
29. Explain the development of residual stresses in a carburized part.
30. What are the main differences between ferritic and austenitic stainless steels?

Metallurgical Engineering Interview Questions

1. Tell me about a time when you failed at an assignment.

2. You witness someone sexually harassing one of his employees. What do you do?

3. Tell me about a time when there was friction between you and a co-worker. What happened in the end?

4. Do you prefer working on your own or as part of a team?

5. The shop calls to say that the large test booth you designed is ready. You wheel a cart out to there to pick it up, but you don't see it anywhere. You ask the modelmaker, and he points to a tiny cube that looks like it belongs in a doll house. Now what?

6. Are you comfortable making decisions independently?

7. What one thing could be taken away from you that would profoundly damage the quality of your life? Assume that the health and welfare of your family and friends are not at issue here.

8. I see here that you graduated 10 years ago with a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering, and that you have been employed at one company since then. What has been your approach to staying current on technical developments in your field?

9. You say in your statement of purpose that you are passionate about the environment. Tell me more about that.

10. Please describe your role in this item on your resume that says, "˜Developed jet turbine engine.'

11. Are you more interested in pursuing a technical track or a managerial track in your career?

12. Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

13. Tell me about your summer job at ABC Corporation.

14. What was your favorite college class? Why?

15. (To a woman) It looks like you've got a baby on the way. It will be such a big change for you having both a new baby and a new career at the same time. What are your plans for childcare once the baby comes?

16. Do you have any questions for me?

17. Why do you want to work for XYZ Steel Company?

18. You discover that a product that your company is about to release has a defect that could cause a spontaneous fire. Your boss won a company award for this "˜innovation.' What do you do?

19. Tell me about a time when you were troubleshooting a production process. How did you go about investigating and solving the problem?

20. Suppose you are assigned to recommend a material for the exhaust manifold on a new internal combustion that is under development. What are the key steps that you would take to approach this assignment?

21. Your boss just handed you a material specification for an alloy that your company has been trying to develop for some time. It is marked 'XYZ Corporation Confidential.' He tells you to make up a batch of the alloy for testing. What is your next move?

22. You are responsible for customer support at ABC Corp. They recently set back a box of parts that they claim are all "˜bad.' But on re-testing, they pass all in-house tests and are deemed "˜good.' Now what do you do?

23. What sources do you use for metallurgical data to use in your work projects? For example, you may be looking for mechanical and physical properties, or heat treatment properties.

24. What are three ways that the yield strength of a metal can be increased, with a few details about the upsides and downsides of each?

25. Give me a brief overview of the electrical conductivity of metals compared to semiconductors, and a couple of the major effects on conductivity in each.

26. Give me the two-minute explainer on copper-based alloys, as if I'm your boss and you need to make me understand whether brass or bronze would be better for an application that we are discussing.

27. What laboratory skills do you have?

28. Explain the difference between high-cycle and low-cycle fatigue, and generally, what factors are important for avoiding each one.

29. Explain the development of residual stresses in a carburized part.

30. What are the main differences between ferritic and austenitic stainless steels?