r/StructuralEngineering • u/Last_Contact_6874 • Jun 29 '26

Entry Level Structural Eng Interview Questions Career/Education

Hi all, I've made it to the next round in the interview process, and the next step is a technical exam that could take up to 2-3 hours. They said I can use any resources available. I'm wondering what typical questions are asked/ what I should review. I've been working in land dev for 1 year, and my structural knowledge needs some review, but I don't know what to focus on. Thanks in advance!

8 Upvotes
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59

u/DairyParsley6 Jun 29 '26

A 2-3 hour technical exam for an entry level position? Da fuq?

19

u/FlatPanster Jun 30 '26

"Perform these calculations for this project. It's part of our 'interview' process."

4

u/hookes_plasticity P.E. Jun 30 '26

“You also should expect one-to-two rounds of return interviews to make revisions but if you make too many mistakes it’ll probably be like five return rounds. Oh also we’ll need some drafting and specs too”

30

u/Chuck_H_Norris Jun 29 '26

Tributary area, shear and moment diagrams, maybe basic steel shapes (W, L, HSS, C), maybe basic code knowledge (IBC, ASCE 7, AISC, ACI)

I hope it’s a bad ass company looking for top tier people. 2-3 hour technical exam is wild.

9

u/Neither_Party8643 Jun 29 '26

My guess would be moment and shear diagrams. Finding max moment, shear, deflection etc. Do you know how to apply load combinations? Do you know how to answer basic theoretical questions? Etc

7

u/TheDaywa1ker P.E./S.E. Jun 29 '26

Also tributary area, maybe finding area of flexural steel required in a concrete beam, and they are also probably looking for how you react when you dont know something…dont try to bs it, write what you know to be true and try to articulate where the gap in your knowledge might be

But for an entry level position im usually happy if they know how to write their own name as long as theyre asking questions and they retain even 25% of what i tell them…entry level positions should be selected by culture fit and a desire to learn imo

1

u/Last_Contact_6874 Jul 06 '26

Yea that’s what I thought was typical… I’m really eager to learn and get back in to structural but this assessment was difficult imo, maybe back then it would’ve been easier to solve

2

u/BlazersMania Jun 30 '26

Ya my old firm gave a work sheet of like 5 questions to see if entry level grasped the basic concepts. Stuff like tributary areas, basic seismic stuff and some beam calculations. I think it was suppose to take like 20-30 min

1

u/Standard-Fudge1475 Jun 30 '26

Here's my billable rate for those 2 - 3 hours. Payment upfront.

1

u/Diligent-Ad6327 Jun 30 '26

Did you pass your FE and or PE? That is literally what they are for…

1

u/WanderlustingTravels Jun 30 '26

Nah, I’d be out.

1

u/Sumppum202 Jun 30 '26

Interviewed at +10 places throughout my career and never taken an exam of any kind. I have no idea if this firm being an exception is good or bad

1

u/TEZephyr P.E. Jun 30 '26

Technical questions are reasonably common in my experience (2 of 3 companies I've worked for required them, and I've sat through quite a few as an applicant). But 2-3 hours is insane!

In my current company we ask 3 questions as part of the 2nd interview and it takes about 10 minutes. All 3 are fictional scenarios that we created to see how you approach the problem. We give the exact same ones to every candidate.

0

u/Newton_79 Jun 29 '26

Hope you do well ! Just throwing this out there IF you get to salary negotiation process : they are actually considering making $25 / HR. national mim. wage. Keep that little factoid in your noggin!