How to Gauge Company Culture as a Civil Engineer: Top Interview Tips

04 Nov How to Gauge Company Culture as a Civil Engineer: Top Interview Tips

When you’re a civil engineer interviewing for a new role, it can be tough to really get a sense of the company’s culture—especially since you haven’t worked there yet. But with the right questions, you can dig a little deeper.

When I begin working with a new client, doing a deep dive into the company culture is IMPERATIVE. Since civil engineering in many senses is commoditized, it is the people and the culture of the company that can be the real separators. That said, here are 5 key ways a civil engineer who is interviewing for a new job can get a clearer picture of what the environment is really like:

➡️𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭:
“𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩?”
A strong culture will invest in developing its people. If they can’t point to real examples, that might tell you something.

➡️𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤-𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞:
“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦?”
The response will reveal whether long hours and burnout are the norm or if they genuinely care about their team’s well-being.

➡️𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠:
“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴?”
This will give you insight into how collaborative or hierarchical the organization is and whether your voice will matter.

➡️𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬:
“𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴?”
Listen for signs of camaraderie or, conversely, if people work in silos. You’ll get a sense of how cohesive the workplace is.

➡️𝐆𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦?”
Open communication from leadership is a sign of a transparent culture, whereas vague or guarded responses might raise a red flag.

These questions will help you dig beyond the surface and get a real sense of whether the company’s culture aligns with your values and work style.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆?