One-Stop Interview Guide for a Mechanical Engineer

Are you a fresher in the field of Mechanical Engineering? If yes! This is the best guide for you!

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Few important tips

3. What to study?

   1. Quality control

   2. Heat transfer, Fluid mechanics and Thermodynamics

   3. Electrical, Electronics, and Robotics

   4. Mechanics, Design, and Metallurgy

   5. Non-Technical for HR round

4. Closing Remarks

Yes! We can feel you! The first interview! Panic attack! Anxiety! But don't worry have got you covered!

Hello, Mech n Flow family!! As promised we are providing you a question bank to help you prepare in a better way for the upcoming campus placement drives, here we are with the full article related to it.

Following are the questions which we have collected from different people who are working in different companies now, who have once, faced interviews like you. The questions are arranged subject-wise separately and that will help you prepare accordingly. Before we move towards the questions, we have some important tips for you.

Few important tips:

Know the organization

• The first thing you would want to do is visit the company website. You are supposed to know what the role is played by the company. For example, it manufactures some products or provides services or etc.

• Check out the latest news about the organization especially if it's a big one.

• Understanding the work culture and motto, vision, mission of the organization. This will not only help in the interview but also will help you to analyze the mindset of the interviewers.

• Read about the basic working about the products they offer. Refer to the questions below.

Know your role

• If you know which role you are being interviewed for then, you can make some changes in your CV to show them that how good a fit you are for that role.

• Read about the basic skills needed for your role. Study them, refer to the questions below.

Update your CV

• Updated CV is the most important factor in industrial interviews as the person who will ask questions will get the hint to form the questions using your CV. You should arrange the CV in such a way that the questions that will come out of it are very easy to answer for you.

What to study?

1. You should prepare one or two subjects well in-depth (one can be related to the organization), it has been observed in many interviews that the interviewer asks about the favorite subject and asks questions depending on them, so keep yourself prepared for it.

2. You should be well prepared about the project work that you have done. If it's a group project then they will ask you about your individual contribution and you should be able to explain it. Be prepared for talking on internships, courses, seminars basically anything on your CV.

3. Check out earlier interviews on Glassdoor based on your profile.

Let’s look at the questions in the subject wise format:

Here are some important questions related to Quality and Manufacturing, you can expect such questions from OEMs as they make their own products and require heavy manpower in manufacturing.

A. Quality Control

1. Explain 5s, their Japanese names, and English names with an example.

2. What is industry 4.0?

3. Comparison between the spur gear and cycloidal gear.

4. What is industrial engineering?

5. What is lean manufacturing technology?

6. What exactly last in first out means?

7. How did you assist in the 5s audit?

8. What are the 7 wastages during the production line?

9. What are the different types of kinematic pairs?

10. What are Quality management tools?

11. What is TQM?

12. What did you learn from quality audits?

13. What is SCM?

Here are some important questions related to the thermal engineering side. You can expect such questions from companies that are in the thermal management or energy sector.

B. Heat transfer, Fluid mechanics and Thermodynamics

1. Types of heat transfer?

2. What is a heat exchanger? Types of heat exchangers?

3. Which type of heat transfer takes place in a heat exchanger?

4. What is the effectiveness of a heat exchanger?

5. How is the heat exchanger affected by fouling?

6. What is a parallel-flow heat exchanger and cross-flow heat exchanger? Its characteristics?

7. What is the LMTD method?

8. What is the NTU method?

9. Basics of heat transfer particularly convection.

10. What are the Laws of thermodynamics?

11. Difference between Enthalpy and entropy.

12. What are the different types of boilers?

13. Derivation for convection formulae?

14. If I have a rod free at both ends and I heat at its center, is thermal stress developed in the rod?

15. Explain: Fluid Mechanics questions such as Navier stokes and methodological breakdown of a complex problem for analysis.

Here are some questions related to topics of robotics, such questions are expected from the companies which are in robotics or even in rapid prototyping.

C. Electrical, Electronics and Robotics

1. What are collaborative robots?

2. What is 3 phase supply?

Here are some basic questions from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics, these questions are generally asked and one can expect you to know about them as the basics of mechanical engineering.

D. Mechanics, Design, and Metallurgy

1. What are the torque ratings of cars, tractors?

2. Difference between stress and pressure.

3. Is there is any formula for velocity and discharge?

4. What is hardness?

5. What is the major difference between water in the form of liquid and in the form of gas?

6. What is bending, torsion?

7. Explain the iron and iron-carbon diagram.

8. What are different types of fits?

9. What is the difference between the first angle and third angle projection?

10. What is the factor of safety?

11. What is GD&T?

This is a very important part as after finishing the technical round, everyone has to face non-technical questions from the HR round. Listed are some sample questions for that round and you should be prepared and confident while answering them.

E. Non-Technical Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. What do you love apart from engineering?

3. What is your hobby?

4. Tell me what you understood about your job role?

5. Why do you want to work with us?

6. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

7. Which book did you read recently? Tell us about it?

8. If your life is related to bicycles then what is a break in your life?

9. What is your passion?

10. How would you rate your communications on a scale of 10? Why not 10 out of 10?

11. Tell us about your Leadership skills displayed prior.

12. Can you handle complex projects and breakdowns?

13. Are you a team player?

14. Questions related to the aptitude tests and puzzles.

So, if you have covered the majority of the questions related to your job description and role then there is no way one can stop you from succeeding. Be confident and be clear enough in your thoughts before you answer, the next question will arise from what you have answered previously. Most importantly, stay calm and smile.

No! They do not expect you to answer ALL questions. If you do not know the answer to any question, put forth your thought process and what you are thinking.

If you do not know the answer maybe ask for a hint or simply say I don't know depending upon the situation. Do not panic because the interview is not over yet! You still have time to prove yourself.

We hope for the best from our side and look forward to getting some good news from your side after you appear for your campus placement drive. May the Force be with you! Do comment on how these questions help you!!

Also, don't forget to add your interview experience here because we rise by lifting others!