<p>Technical interviews are becoming more and more common nowadays, so actually knowing your stuff is very important. At my company, a candidates performance on the technical interview (basically a writtin quiz on engineering fundamentals) is weighed very heavily. A new hire from Arizona State beat out candidates from Princeton and Stanford for a job because he crushed them (badly) on the tech. interview.</p>
<p>idk why but i'm always glad to hear when kids from third tier unis beat out kids from Ivy League or Ivy-caliber schools... maybe it's just because i like to root for the underdog or hate it when people think that Ivy League kids are so tight just because they went to the Ivy League...</p>
<p>Jason, what industry?</p>
<p>Aerospace, (I work for Lockheed).</p>
<p>At LM,the tech. interview is not SOP yet, so whether you get one or not will depend upon the business unit and the particular supervisor &/or manager. However, the tech. interview is being used more and more in the hiring process at LM to separate the wheat from the chaff so it may become mandatory (in some business units) very soon.</p>
<p>Some GE, Johnson & Johnson, and Boeing business units have already made tech. interviews mandatory.</p>
<p>Many factors come into play here: Geography, your major, the current need and the "power players" of your geographic location.</p>
<p>I am in I.T. and work in the DC area. This means the federal "gubment" rules here. There are certain areas of I.T. that will have recruiters calling you all day long offering jobs. If you luck up and get a security clearance (like having a gold brick in DC) then recruiters will call you at 3am in the morning.</p>
<p>Boston is the same...but the power-players are the investment/financial firms.</p>
<p>Depends on many factors.</p>
<p>Oof. Any industry, WRT technical interviews. I was totally put through the ringer for a couple of hours in several instances... One hostilely grilled me on my research and my knowledge of the nuances of engineering codes for two hours. It was basically an extended oral exam, and it was brutal. Got the job, though.</p>
<p>Anyhoo. Those three things aren't the only things that influence whether or not you're hired. Anything can influence your chances. I got my internship because the two principals of the small firm were big college football fans, and they thought that the Rice Band was just a hoot. When I mentioned that I was in the band, and that I was actually drum major, they gleefully asked when I could start work. So, you never know...!</p>
<p>I've heard about some structural engineering firms giving candidates a test on fundamentals as well.</p>
<p>"Technical interviews are becoming more and more common nowadays, so actually knowing your stuff is very important. At my company, a candidates performance on the technical interview (basically a writtin quiz on engineering fundamentals) is weighed very heavily. A new hire from Arizona State beat out candidates from Princeton and Stanford for a job because he crushed them (badly) on the tech. interview."</p>
<p>if a person is looking for an intrnship during or after the junior year, are these tech questions related to the things learned for the first 3 years?</p>
<p>The technical interviews were less for internships and more for long-term, full-time career interviews. When they hire an entry-level engineer, a firm makes a pretty massive investment in your future. You're nowhere near done learning, and they're going to drop 50K-ish a year on teaching you what you need to know. Interns are just a short-term investment, so they don't really have to run you through the paces as much. </p>
<p>Hiring full-time employees : buying a car :: hiring interns : renting a car</p>
<p>Technical interviews are just a way of letting the employer walk around you and kick your tires a couple of times.</p>
<p>Ditto on the technical interviews, seems to be more common with more prominent firms, i.e. my interviews with National Instruments and Nvidia were brutal.</p>