How to prepare for engineering process interview?

Question

I have an interview coming up. It comes with a engineering process interview, which is Q&A to learn about your approach to common situations that occur as an engineer, followed by a values and leadership interview, which is about problem solving and team interaction.

How can i prepare for the engineering process interview? Can I interpret it as behavioural interview or more on technical Q&A? But I see some overlapping with the values and leadership interview so im a bit confused.

Alexander Rashkov · Accepted Answer

This sounds like an Engineering Behavioral interview. While they look simple and straightforward here are some tips on how to prepare:

1. Key Focus Areas

Delivering Projects / Execution:
- Think about times when you successfully delivered a project from start to finish.
- Highlight your project management skills, how you handled challenges, and ensured timely delivery.
Turning Unknowns to Knowns:
- Prepare examples where you faced uncertain situations and how you navigated through them.
- Emphasize your problem-solving skills and how you gather information to make informed decisions.
Resolving Conflict:
- Reflect on instances where you had conflicts with teammates, engineers, or cross-functional partners (PM, Design, Sales).
- Discuss your approach to conflict resolution, effective communication, and maintaining a collaborative environment.
Communicating Effectively:
- Provide examples demonstrating your communication skills in various scenarios, such as team meetings, presentations, or writing reports.
- Highlight how you ensure clarity, conciseness, and effectiveness in your communication.
Self-Growth Mindset:
- Showcase your commitment to personal and professional growth.
- Discuss how you seek feedback, learn from failures, and continuously improve your skills.

2. Prepare Scenarios

Identify 7-8 scenarios from your past experiences that align with the key focus areas. Ensure you cover a broad range of situations, including:

Successful project delivery
Handling ambiguous situations
Resolving conflicts
Effective communication
Instances of self-improvement and learning from failures

3. Write Down Scenarios Using the STAR Format

Structure each scenario using the STAR format:

4. Practice Delivering Your Answers

Role-Playing: Practice answering questions with a friend or family member acting as the interviewer.
Feedback: Seek constructive feedback on your responses, focusing on clarity, completeness, and relevance.
Refinement: Refine your answers based on the feedback to ensure they are concise and impactful.

5. Addressing Different Levels of Impact

For higher-level roles (i.e), prepare to demonstrate broader impact.

Complex problem-solving: Highlight more complex problems you’ve solved and your strategic approach.

Collaboration: Show how you’ve led larger teams or projects involving multiple stakeholders.

Learning from failures: Discuss significant failures, what you learned, and how it led to future successes. This last bit is really important!

Focus on impact and business value: Emphasize how your work has delivered value to end-users or the business.

Look for online platforms where you can practice with other engineers that are going through preparation. There are plenty of Discord servers for interview prep.