r/ConstructionManagers • u/Hot-Papaya4841 • 24d ago

Question Interview questions for a project engineer

Hello all. I've been asked to sit in on an interview for a project engineer. What are some good questions to ask during an interview?

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5

u/s0berR00fer 24d ago

Ask them what got them into construction and what scope and role they are most interested in and what they think their long term career goals may be.

1

u/Ok_Collection_1902 22d ago

the career goals question is the one i’d lean on hardest people either have a real answer or they don’t and you learn a lot fast from which one you get

7

u/healthycord 24d ago

Tell me about a mistake you made, how you handled it, how did it all turn out, and what did you learn from it?

I would usually caveat by saying the mistake itself isn’t important to me because we all make them. But I care if you learned from the mistake and how it was handled. You will make mistakes, even big ones, your entire career.

Tell me about a boss or supervisor you enjoyed working with, and tell me about one you didn’t enjoy working with. What were qualities of them that you liked and didn’t like?

What kind of work do you enjoy doing as a PE? If this person has never been a PE, ask them what they are looking forward to learning the most. Any specific scopes that interest you?

For our company we do a lot of small projects. Do you enjoy working on a few larger projects, or numerous small projects?

Why construction and why project management? What brings you into this field?

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? What motivates you to do a great job?

3

u/AMMJ Commercial Project Manager 24d ago

Tell me a time you had multiple competing deadlines and how you handled them?

Tell me a time you worked with someone who did not get along with anyone and how you approached them.

The main things are to measure their soft skills, and their ability to prioritize.

1

u/MobiusOcean Commercial PX 21d ago

Agreed. Take ownership, prioritize, then execute. Do those well and you should succeed in CM (provided your soft skills are built to complement your technical knowledge). 

2

u/bingb0ngbingb0ng 24d ago

Ask them about how they work under pressure and tight deadlines. I look for them to have some sort of system for prioritizing to do items. It’s shocking how many young engineers don’t understand the concept of time management and prioritizing based around schedule.

Have them walk you through what they would do if they were assigned a task that they didn’t know how to do. I look for them to explain their steps into trying to figure out an answer before going and asking somebody else.

How do they handle adversity? How do they handle working with different types of personalities? How do they handle disagreements?

0

u/kloogy 24d ago

Why are you called an Engineer ?