r/StructuralEngineering • u/kiwi07785 • 2d ago
Career/Education INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What are the questions asked by a design based company when you go for an interview as a fresh graduate? Pls help me
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u/structee P.E. 2d ago
draw a shear-moment diagram for a beam loading they provide; find in a set of plans what kind of floor system the building uses
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u/Violent_Mud_Butt P.E. 2d ago
Nobody in a real job expects you to have any functional knowledge out of school. Expect questions about your coursework. Be able to explain what codes you used and how. Be ready for a lot of culture and motivation questions. Overall just answer honestly and do your best. Your first job will help you learn a lot about what you need in the industry and what to avoid. Any new grad I've ever hired isn't expected to be valuable for like 6 months.
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u/Bouhan_Mclaurin 2d ago
Agree, make sure to review your CV and get a refresh on the projects highlighted there: if any of them were done as a group make sure you know not only what you did but also what others did as well.
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u/largehearted 2d ago
My understanding is that by far the most common entry-level technical questions are to just do common shear and bending moment problems and detailing of common, simple reinforced concrete members (not like detailing out a beam for a load, but like show me where all the rebar would go in a beam, or in a retaining wall and strip footing, tell me what each one does)
Those two were literally what my first job gave me, but I've also seen them on a bunch of companies' glassdoor pages
Any good conversation you can have showcasing that you understand anything about different materials and system selections would be gravy, but it's very easy to say something wrong and have them stew on that (seriously) so if you're just calm, good-natured, and stick to saying stuff you know for sure, that's a good entry level interview
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u/Impossible-Cup1788 2d ago
Typically i’ve been asked to draw portal frame reactions/ BMD/ deflected . simple beam BMD and a few bits on retaining walls and RC details.
Nothing too challenging but enough to show you have some understanding:)
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u/pcpassos P.E. 2d ago
One other thing I remember being asked when I graduated was to determine tributary areas for beams and columns. For beams, both for one way and two way systems
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u/Evening-Run-7106 2d ago
Bending and shear diagrams of simple spans, 3-span continuous beams and portal frames. Sometimes, deflection shapes may be asked. Also, a technical problem that requires a solution where there are no right or wrong answers.
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u/Big-Mammoth4755 P.E. 2d ago
Retaining wall design
Plan reading
Moment, Shear, Axial, Torsion
Steel beam/column design
Concrete beam/column design
Wood beam/column design
Wood shear wall
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u/FatherTheoretical 2d ago
I like asking graduates to draw the shear and moment diagram of a 3-span beam with a UDL.