Aeronautical, astronautical, and aerospace engineering are all careers with a strong and rising level of demand. These are the professional experts involved in every stage of design and development for aircraft and spacecraft systems. And while entry into this field can be challenging, the rewards for the most talented employees can be comparatively high.

Most employers in the astronautical and aerospace engineering industry expect at least a bachelor’s degree from new engineers at the junior level. Those who intend to advance to a senior level or management position should be willing to pursue a PE, or Professional Engineering license.  This means practicing under a licensed PE for four years and then passing a series of exams covering aerospace engineering principles and practice.

At either of these levels, a job interview for an aerospace engineering position usually won’t involve direct questions about engineering fundamentals (though you should be ready to answer these types of questions, just in case.) By the time you’re called in for an interview, your resume, degree and other credentials should provide your interviewer with enough information to know that you have the basic skills necessary for the job.

Instead, your job interview may consist of series of questions about your long term career plans, your practical experience, and the roles you tend to adopt when working with others. Be ready to respond to questions like the following.

 Mock Interview Questions for Aerospace Engineering Candidates

Describe your experience with….

The modeling of flexible dynamics? Systems testing? Spacecraft mission design? Navigation control systems? Defense policies? Artificial intelligence? These are just a just a few possible areas of emphasis that may be essential to a given aerospace engineering position. And though the question may sound broad, it’s designed to give you an opportunity to provide an open ended description of your experience.

If you’re asked a question like this, pause for two full seconds before you answer, so you can assemble your thoughts. Then clearly describe your most relevant exposure to the subject at hand. Speak with confidence.

How would you describe your preferred role when working with a team?

This question is designed to provide insight into your personality. Are you a leader or a follower? Do you prefer to take instructions or give them? If you have to choose between accuracy and a deadline, which matters more to you? When you answer, be honest. Don’t assume you know what kind of personality the interviewer is looking for. Just describe the role that feels most comfortable to you.

What aspects of this industry are most interesting to you?

If you’re fascinated by the commercialization of space, or you’ve always dreamed of working with satellites, lasers, avionics, or strategic defense, now is the time to describe your long term ambitions. Again, be honest when you discuss where you’d like the future to take you. Don’t assume you know what the interviewer wants to hear. She will be listening for signs of passion in your voice, a clear sense of direction, and long term goals that align with those of the company.

Before the day of your job interview, practice speaking on these subjects with a friend. Focus on the pace of your speech and your body language. For additional guidance with interview preparation and other aspects of your job search, contact CSS and speak to our staffing experts. We can help you find a job you love and keep your career on track.

Any great staffing strategy starts with an effort to recruit top performers. Your job posting, your application review process, your interviews and your onboarding procedure are all part of an overarching plan to attract and obtain the most valuable form of capital: human capital. Especially highly talented human capital.  But many companies, even those with excellent hiring strategies, seem to drop the ball once great candidates are officially signed on. They draw in top performers, and then they seem to forget all about them. And this does not bode well for a company’s bottom line.

So what steps can you take to retain great workers once you’ve found them? How can you follow through after the hiring process and get the most out of your talented employees for the duration of your (ideally long-term) relationship? Here are a few key considerations.

Retaining Top Performers: Know Who They Are

Not all top performers are apparent on day one. Sometimes an employee begins to polish her skills only after a few months or years on the job. So in order to recognize, reward, and retain excellent workers, you need to know how to identify them in a crowd. Make sure your annual review process provides managers with a close and accurate look at key employee performance metrics. These metrics should be meaningful, measurable, and clear. Employees within the top 3 to 5 percent across all relevant criteria should stand out immediately. Investigate software options that can allow you to compare the performance of multiple employees, cross-reference performance metrics with other data, and identify high productivity as well as growth over time.

Retaining Top Performers: Coach and Mentor Them

Both employees and mentors benefit from a profitable one-on-one relationship. Encourage top performers to find mentors on their own, or pair them with willing senior employees who can provide them with meaningful, personal feedback. Coaching and advice from a mentor can often have a more powerful impact than the same guidance provided by a boss. Once these relationships are established, step back and let the participants navigate the details.

Recognize the Value of Appreciation

If you can afford to reward your top performers with higher compensation, by all means do so. But many employers don’t have this liberty and have to find other ways to make top performers feel recognized and valued. Be creative as you do this. (And of course, be fair.) If contests seem well suited to your workplace culture, come up with clever ways to cultivate your employees’ competitive instincts. If your workplace is more collaborative, distribute praise among teams. Meanwhile, make sure you notice and acknowledge the employees who push a little harder and care a little more. Even a simple verbal “thank you” can have a powerful impact on employee satisfaction.

Keep Your Door Open

If you maintain open communication channels, you’ll be better poised to act when top performers have a need, a great idea, a problem, or a concern. Be ready if talented employees come to you with requests for educational support, new training, transfers or better resources. You can only accommodate them if you know what they need, and this can only happen if you stay in touch.

For more guidance on retaining great employees and keeping top performers on-board, contact the experts at CSS and arrange a consultation.