14 Electrical Engineering Interview Questions

Electrical engineering interview questions touch upon a wide range of topics, ranging from your educational background to technical knowledge.

Preparing for different types of interview questions ahead of time will help you stay calm and answer each question with precision. Practice your answers to these frequently asked questions in electrical engineering interviews. A confident, comprehensive response can help you secure your dream job.

Question 1: Why did you decide to become an electrical engineer? Or what made you want to study electrical engineering?

Objective: The interviewer is trying to gauge your passion for the subject matter, better understand your background, and figure out how they relate to each other. These basic electrical engineering interview questions come in many forms, but you should be ready to talk about your education, interest in engineering, and personal experiences in the field.

How to answer: The best answer will showcase your passion for electrical engineering, which can often be more valuable to interviewers than knowing the solution to technical questions. Avoid answers such as, “I knew engineers made good money” or “My parents wanted me to study it.”

Before your interview, review your resume and cover letter and create a short narrative that answers this question. If you’re still working on your application materials and need help in the resume and cover letter department, consider putting our Resume Templates and Cover Letter Templates to use.

Question 2: What classes did you excel in during school?

Objective: Your interviewer wants to know more than your favorite classes — they want to know how those classes prepared you for this position. Both parts of this question are essential, even though the second part won’t often be said aloud.

How to answer: Focus your answer on classes and learned skills that directly qualify you for this job. If you are applying for a position where coding will be an integral part of the role, emphasize your successes in coding-related classes.

Question 3: What do you find most exciting about our company?

Objective: This question is especially important in electrical engineering interviews. It gives you the chance to show your passion for electrical engineering and highlight your technical know-how.

How to answer: Use the job’s technical requirements to speak to your experience in that subfield. For example, an applicant for a position as a design engineer for a consulting company focused on building system design should relate their passion and knowledge of the company to their profound understanding of IEC standards, 3-phase power and lighting design, rather than focusing on their experience in microelectronics.

Question 4: How do you manage to get your work done on time when you’re on a strict deadline? Or, tell me about a time when you had to work in a group.

Objective: Keep in mind that an interviewer might ask you a variation of these entry-level electrical engineering interview questions. The interviewer wants to understand how you operate as a worker and what you do in stressful professional scenarios.

How to answer: Because collaboration and communication are pillars of the modern engineering workplace, use real-life scenarios to show you can solve problems. Overcoming challenges, such as a strict deadline in a group setting, is a crucial skill for an electrical engineer. Have examples ready.

Questions 5-14: Technical Questions

There are seemingly endless technical electrical engineering interview questions, and they generally aren’t too difficult if you have a background in the subject. The point of technical questions is to test how you go about answering the question, rather than if you get it correct. The position will largely influence the complexity of these questions. If you do not immediately know the answer, approach the problem methodically and logically.

Quiz yourself by practicing these simple questions that could appear in an interview for an electrical engineer position. The answers are below.

Here are ten common interview questions for electrical engineers:

1. What does FPGA stand for in microelectronics?
2. Describe when to use an ‘if’ statement and an ‘else’ statement.
3. What are some of the common logic gate names?
4. What is the square root of ‘-1’?
5. What is Ohms Law?
6. What is the difference between analog and digital signals?
7. If a transformer has more coils on the secondary circuit, what type of transformer is it?
8. How do you block electromagnetic fields?
9. What is your knowledge of IEC codes?
10. Describe best practices when working with electrostatic-sensitive devices.

Answers:

1. Field Programmable Gate Array
2. In sample code, when using the ‘if’ statement and the condition being tested is ‘true,’ use the information in the ‘if’ statement. ‘Else’ can be considered the ‘false’ condition and utilize different information as held in the ‘else’ statement.
3. AND, NAND, NOR, OR, XOR, XNOR, Buffer, NOT
4. ‘i’
5. V=I*R
6. Analog signals are infinite while digital is discrete (among many other differences).
7. Step up
8. A Faraday Cage
9. Open response (explain your understanding of IEC codes)
10. This answer will be specific to your specialty. ESD practices in aerospace are far different than in chip manufacturing or distribution, for example.

How to prepare for your entry-level electrical engineering interview

When preparing for your job interview, get comfortable saying your answers out loud. You don’t want to have a script for your interview, but you should be familiar with the general answers you’ll give for each question. Here are some other helpful resources to help you start your preparation for the interview process:

• How to dress for a successful interview
• Learn more ways to prepare for an interview
• Understanding phone interview etiquette
• Keys to a successful video job interview

Are you still trying to land your first job interview? Our Resume Builder and Cover Letter Builder can give you an edge over the other candidates.