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  • Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.

  • And in this tutorial, I will teach you how to prepare for, and pass, a mechanical engineering

  • interview. So it does not matter which organization or company you are being interviewed for to

  • join as a mechanical engineer, I promise you that if you watch this tutorial from beginning

  • to end, it will not only help you during your preparation, but it will give you top-scoring

  • answers to the likely interview questions that will come up. Now, before I go through

  • the tutorial, a very warm welcome to this mechanical engineering training video. As

  • I say, my name is Richard McMunn. That's me there in the center. I've been helping people

  • to pass their interviews for about 20 years now. I do that by giving you great, top-scoring

  • answers that you can't find anywhere else! Please do make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel

  • by clicking the red button below the video, and that way you won't miss out on any of

  • the weekly training videos that I upload. I would also very much appreciate your support

  • if you gave the video a LIKE Thanks!). That always motivates me to create more content

  • for you. Thank you very much indeed. So, before I get into the mechanical engineering interview

  • questions and top scoring answers, I'm going to answer a quick question that people ask

  • me time and time again. And that is: How do I prepare for a mechanical engineering interview?

  • Well, in a nutshell, you have to make sure you read the job description and the person

  • specification whilst you are preparing for your interview. Now, this only takes a few

  • minutes, but it will enable you to understand the key skills and qualities that are required

  • to carry out the job. So, once you've read the job description for a mechanical engineer,

  • think of situations that you have been in whereby you have already demonstrated the

  • key skills and qualities needed to be a competent mechanical engineer. For example, in the mechanical

  • engineering job description, it will usually list a number of essential skills, and some

  • of those skills might be tosolve mechanical engineering problemsand also towork

  • as part of a team’. Now, during your preparation for this interview, my advice is to think

  • of specific situations you have been in whereby you have already solved mechanical engineering

  • problems, and you have already worked as part of a team. So the interview question will

  • probably be: Can you describe a time when you've solved a complex mechanical engineering

  • problem? Or, can you also describe a time when you've worked as part of a team to complete

  • a mechanical engineering problem or project? That is the first tip, when you're preparing

  • for a mechanical engineer interview, is to read the job description and the person specification

  • and you will be much more prepared than the majority of candidates. I'll give you some

  • more tips as we progress through this tutorial. But let us now start to work through my recommended

  • mechanical engineering interview questions and top-scoring answers. I will put the interview

  • question up on the screen, and I will then give you a suggested answer. Please do take

  • notes as I go along, or if you want to wait, I will tell you at some stage where you can

  • download my full set of mechanical engineering interview questions and answers. Question

  • number one: Tell me about yourself and why you want to be a mechanical engineer? Here

  • is my top scoring answer: “I am naturally an inquisitive person who enjoys working in

  • a team environment where the ability to problem-solve and collaborate with others is an essential

  • part of the role. I believe I have a good balance of technical, analytical and practical

  • skills that mean I am a strong candidate for this mechanical engineering position. I have

  • always had a passion for mechanical engineering, which means I have a desire to go above and

  • beyond what is required. I also understand how important safety is in respect of mechanical

  • engineering, and on that basis, I am someone who is disciplined, organized and able to

  • follow strict rules and procedures. I will never take risks or put your organization

  • in danger through the work I carry out for you. I suppose the last thing I would like

  • to say is, I feel if you invest in me, I will repay the faith you have shown in hiring me

  • by being professional, conscientious and a positive contributor to the mechanical engineering

  • team.” So that's an in-depth answer! It answers the question, tell me about yourself,

  • and more importantly, why you want to be a mechanical engineerbecause you've always

  • had a passion for it. The next question is: What do you think are the most important skills

  • are to have as a mechanical engineer? Again, I will give you an answer to this question

  • and you can take notes as I progress. “I think the most important skill as a mechanical

  • engineer is safety awareness and compliance. You also need numerous other technical and

  • non-technical skills to be a competent and safe mechanical engineer. You need effective

  • technical skills that are relevant to your field of engineering, including the ability

  • to dedicate the time to continually improve and keep up-to-date with industry developments.

  • You also need analytical and problem-solving capabilities and accurate written communication

  • skills. You will need concise and clear verbal communication skills, especially when speaking

  • to non-technical individuals. Having the ability to work under pressure

  • is also vital, as well as having great teamworking skills whereby you are entirely focused on

  • achieving the company objectives. Finally, a level of commercial awareness is an advantage,

  • because decisions have to be made from a financial and business perspective in order for the

  • company to continually thrive and develop.” So, you give a large number of skills that

  • are very important to be a mechanical engineer. I like in particular, the fact that you put

  • safety and complianceas the first most important skill, which as you and I know,

  • it is. And then finally, you talk aboutcommercial awareness’, which is a skill that most people

  • don't have. But as a mechanical engineer, it is important to have a level of understanding

  • in respect of commercial and business awareness. I've got a few more questions to run through,

  • but let's answer another common question that I get asked in relation to people who are

  • preparing for a mechanical engineer interview. And that is: what questions should I ask in

  • a mechanical engineering interview? So, at some stage during your interview, probably

  • at the end, they will say to you: do you have any questions you would like to ask us? It

  • is good to ask some questions. Don't say… “No. I've got no questions to ask. You've

  • answered everything.” I think if you ask some relevant and appropriate questions, they

  • can work in your favor, because it can show that you are keen and enthusiastic to work

  • to work for their company as a mechanical engineer. The first question is: “If I'm

  • successful, what would you need me to concentrate on in the first few weeks of starting?”

  • This question demonstrates that you are keen and enthusiastic to get started, but also

  • that you want to know what you would be doing in advance, so that you can prepare fully.

  • Question two: “What engineering challenges do you envisage the company facing over the

  • next 12 to 24 months?” So again, that shows that you care about their organization. But

  • also, and this is what I like about this question, you are talking about a 12 to 24 month period;

  • so you are planning on staying with them for a long period of time. Let's move on to our

  • next mechanical engineering interview question. What steps would you follow during the mechanical

  • engineering design process? Here is my suggested answer. “I would start out by DEFINING THE

  • EXACT PROBLEM. This is one of the most important steps, because it’s quite easy to misinterpret

  • information and data and you need to make sure you don’t jump to any conclusions.

  • I would then carry out IN-DEPTH RESEARCH to find out what the objectives were, and this

  • would also assist me in establishing the SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS for the engineering task or project.

  • I would then CONSULT with my colleagues and experts from within the organization to brainstorm

  • ideas, EVALUATE THE OPTIONS and come up with the right SOLUTION to the problem or issue.

  • The next step would be to develop and DESIGN A PROTOTYPE before running a comprehensive

  • TESTING STAGE to make sure our proposals MEET THE REQUIREMENTS. The final stage would be

  • to COMMUNICATE the outcome following an EXTENISIVE TESTING PERIOD, to make sure the design was

  • fit for purpose." That shows a concise and logical process that you would follow during

  • the mechanical engineering design stage. Next question: How would you describe a technical

  • engineering problem to a non-technical person? This comes up an awful lot during mechanical

  • engineering interviews, so we need to think carefully about how we would answer it. Here's

  • my suggested answer. “This is a good question and one that I envisage having to tackle many

  • times as a mechanical engineer. I would first of all decide what the objective was in respect

  • of the message I wanted to communicate. I would then quickly assess the level of knowledge

  • or expertise the person I am communicating with has. I would then utilize simple, relatable

  • drawings, diagrams or explanations to explain the engineering problem we were facing. For

  • example, most people can relate to the simple function of a car moving forward by the rotation

  • of an axle that is powered by an engine. So, I could use the basic principle of how a car

  • gets from point A to B to describe the problem I am trying to define. Regardless of the situation

  • I was in, I would keep communicating clearly, simply and concisely until the person confirmed

  • they fully understood my objective.” I've got some more questions to go through still,

  • so please do stick around. But another question that I get asked by mechanical engineer’s:

  • What should a mechanical engineer wear to an interview? Well, my advice is to wear a

  • smart, formal outfit to your mechanical engineering interview, because this shows you take pride

  • in your appearance and your work and also that you care as a mechanical engineer. You

  • have to have high standards. Although you wouldn't wear a suit or a formal outfit during

  • your day-to-day work as a mechanical engineer, my advice is to go all-out and wear something

  • smart and formal. Now, that does not mean to say that you have to go out and buy an

  • expensive suit. Far from it. You can still buy a relatively cheap or cost effective suit

  • and look smart. My advice is to wear something smart for your interview, for sure. The next

  • mechanical engineer and interview question: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Now,

  • this question may be divided into two questions. What are your strengths, and then what are

  • your weaknesses? But I will answer it in one go. Here we go. “My biggest strength is

  • my ability to collaborate and work with other people to create innovative and safe mechanical

  • engineering solutions.

  • Another key strength of mine is that I am able to work quickly, whilst following strict

  • rules, procedures and safety guidelines. In respect of my weaknesses, I only feel I have

  • one which I have been working on to improve. That weakness is my inability to say no to

  • new work or projects, simply because I don’t like to let people down. As a mechanical engineer,

  • it is important to take on as much work as possible, but you have to make sure the work

  • you do is safe, compliant, effective and reliable.” So, I believe that's a really strong answer

  • to that question: What are your strengths, and also what are your weaknesses? Because

  • that is a good weakness to give. It doesn't damage or harm your chances of passing the

  • interview. It's essentially a ‘safeweakness to give, in my opinion. If you would like

  • more of my mechanical engineering interview questions and top-scoring answers, there is

  • a link that’s appeared in the top-right hand corner of this video. If you click that,

  • it will take you through to my website PassMyInterview.com, and you can download my full set of 21 Mechanical

  • Engineering Interview Questions and Answers, including the ones that I've just run through

  • right now! I hope you enjoyed that. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE. Thank you very much.

  • And please do give the video a LIKE (thanks!). As I said at the beginning, I very much appreciate

  • your support on this channel. Thank you for watching. And I wish you all the best in passing

  • your mechanical engineering interview. Have a brilliant day.

Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.

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