EGR 402 Suggested/Modified Interview Questions
Below are some possible interview questions from the class (plus a few more). Some were modified to make them flow better. You are free to use any of these you like and make up your own. Try to have at least a 15-30 minute interview.
- Do you think that most employees are ethical?
- Have you ever felt pressured by your current or a previous employer to violate your sense of ethics?
- Under what circumstances, if any, do you think an employee should break the chain-of-command to report something they think is wrong?
- Do you currently operate under a policy that enforces work place ethics and insures the safety of employees (and customers?)?
- Have you ever experienced a moral dilemma that involved human lives or put your career at risk?
- What do you think is appropriate disciplinary action for employees that practice unethical behavior (such as signing other employee’s names on documents or revealing confidential information)?
- Should individuals within a corporate structure be help criminally liable for safety related catastrophes they are partly responsible for? (e.g., Challenger disaster, Hyatt Regency walkway collapse).
- If you were in a position to be a “whistleblower”, how would you go about protecting yourself from ruining your reputation completely?
- What is a higher priority (for you? for your company?): making profits or the safety and satisfaction of the consumer?
- Do you think that your company has a certain value they place on human life when they are making decisions regarding safety?
- Should an engineer sign off on a design they have not 100% checked personally?
- Should the chip from Nintendo 64 be sold to Middle Eastern Countries if they could use the chip to make a missile? (there are many variations of this question that present moral dilemmas)
- Knowing everything that goes on in your job, are you satisfied with the way moral and ethical situations are handled? Why or Why not.
- What is the hardest ethical decision you have ever made related to your engineering career.
- What is your opinion about how an employee should go about reporting something illegal or unsafe they see going on within a company?
- Where do you draw the line regarding how much to spend on safety?
- Is it OK to dump waste into the environment even if it is within standards or not against the law?
- Do you agree with the idea of confidential employee assistance programs for such things as substance abuse and alcoholism?
- Suppose your engineers have designed a product that has a small, but real, probability of injuring someone, but will meet regulatory requirements. How would you handle a situation like that.
- As an executive, how do you ever have to reconcile your personal moral convictions with those of your company, associates and/or employees? If so, how do you handle it?
- What advice would you give to a young professional about dating people at work or within the organization?
- What importance does your employer place on integrity and ethical behavior in evaluating new employees?
- How does your company evaluate applicants to assess their integrity?
- Do you think it is OK for a Professional Engineer to be a member of a union? Why or why not?
- What advice would you give to a young professional about how to handle a situation where they believe they are asked to do something they feel is immoral, unsafe, or illegal?