# A Short Engineering Interview



## Shalifon (Dec 7, 2021)

Hello! I am a high school student interested in conducting a short interview related to the general engineering career of any volunteering individual(s) in this community. I am enrolled in an engineering course in my school, and am requesting this interview as part of gathering research and exploring the field of general engineering and the work-life of those employed in this field or any other engineering field! I would sincerely appreciate it if anyone could please answer these questions (they're only a few, and the whole thing might take about 7 minutes to fill out).

Background:
1. What is your name?
2. What is your specific degree?
3. What is your place of employment?
4. What is your email address? (A general work email address is preferred, not personal)

Interview Questions:

1. Please describe your engineering field.
2. What is your current job title?
3. Please describe your particular job and duties.
4. What is your average work schedule (hours)?
5. Starting with high school, describe your educational background chronologically.
6. If you had to do it over, related to your career or education, would you do anything differently?
7. What advice would you give to me as someone interested in pursuing a career path similar to yours?


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## RBHeadge PE (Dec 8, 2021)

I doubt you'll find many people on this board willing to give up personally identifiable information for your background questions. But the other questions are easy enough. I'll send a PM with answers to those last seven questions shortly.


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## Shalifon (Dec 8, 2021)

I see. Thank you very much for responding and for your feedback.
I just want to mention that the purpose of the background questions is to maintain authenticity for the report (absolutely none of this information will be disclosed to those that should not be seeing it). 

Although it's a bit tougher to obtain, and contrary to anonymous surveys, this survey needs a touch of individuality to reflect on a real experience(s). If you are comfortable, you can PM me the background info. so that that kind of valuable private information isn't in the eye of the public (this applies to anyone else who wishes to help and partake in the survey). Thank you once again for your response.


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## steel (Dec 22, 2021)

Shalifon said:


> I see. Thank you very much for responding and for your feedback.
> I just want to mention that the purpose of the background questions is to maintain authenticity for the report (absolutely none of this information will be disclosed to those that should not be seeing it).


Just because you say this doesn't make it true. I'd honestly wager that it's unprofessional to ask for someone's name, employer, and specifically their company email address. 

You don't need that info to make their answers to the other questions any less authentic. The fact that they're giving you those answers is what makes it authentic, not giving you the ability to spam their company.


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## steel (Dec 27, 2021)

As for your other questions, I’ll help you out.

1) Structural engineering, where I design structures for oil and natural gas clients, such as equipment foundations, pre-engineered metal building foundations, and building design for light industrial structures.
2) Structural Engineer I
3) See answer 1.
4) Typical 40-hour week. Flexible hours at my company allow us to start anytime before 9 am and end anytime after 3 P.m. I usually opt for a 7:30-4 schedule with a half hour lunch break.
5) My high school is irrelevant. Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (2015).
6) I would have taken my graduate school education afterwards more seriously. Perhaps only 2 courses instead of 3 the first (and only) semester. Left after that to get a full time position.
7) I would advise you to get your general engineering and math/science courses done as quickly as you can. Think Calculus 1, 2, 3, Physics 1, 2, etc. Most upper-division (junior and senior) engineering courses are only offered once a year, so it limits when you can take them, and you’d even more limited if you can’t take one when it’s offered because you don’t have the prerequisite.


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