How to hire mechanical engineers

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Confer with engineers or other personnel to implement operating procedures, resolve system malfunctions, or provide technical information.
• Investigate equipment failures or difficulties to diagnose faulty operation and recommend remedial actions.
• Provide technical customer service.
• Read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, or computer-generated reports.
• Recommend design modifications to eliminate machine or system malfunctions.
• Research and analyze customer design proposals, specifications, manuals, or other data to evaluate the feasibility, cost, or maintenance requirements of designs or applications.
• Research, design, evaluate, install, operate, or maintain mechanical products, equipment, systems or processes to meet requirements.
• Specify system components or direct modification of products to ensure conformance with engineering design, performance specifications, or environmental regulations.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Bachelor's degree]
• Strong critical thinking, reading comprehension, active listening, mathematics, speaking and writing skills
• Working knowledge of engineering and technology, design, physics and production and processing
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $50.05 an hour ($104,110 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for mechanical engineers

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to confer with engineers or other personnel to implement operating procedures, resolve system malfunctions, or provide technical information. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to investigate equipment failures or difficulties to diagnose faulty operation and recommend remedial actions. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to provide technical customer service. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, or computer-generated reports. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
6. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
7. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What mechanical engineers do

• Confer with engineers or other personnel to implement operating procedures, resolve system malfunctions, or provide technical information.
• Investigate equipment failures or difficulties to diagnose faulty operation and recommend remedial actions.
• Provide technical customer service.
• Read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, or computer-generated reports.
• Recommend design modifications to eliminate machine or system malfunctions.
• Research and analyze customer design proposals, specifications, manuals, or other data to evaluate the feasibility, cost, or maintenance requirements of designs or applications.
• Research, design, evaluate, install, operate, or maintain mechanical products, equipment, systems or processes to meet requirements.
• Specify system components or direct modification of products to ensure conformance with engineering design, performance specifications, or environmental regulations.

Skills that matter most

Critical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningMathematicsSpeakingWritingEngineering and TechnologyDesignPhysicsProduction and Processing

Education, experience and outlook for mechanical engineers

• Typical education to start: Bachelor's degree (BLS)
• Job outlook: +11.2% over ten years, much faster than average · about 17,800 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay mechanical engineers

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See mechanical engineers pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Aerospace Engineers
• Agricultural Engineers
• Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers
• Chemical Engineers
• Civil Engineers
• Computer Hardware Engineers
• Electrical Engineers
• Electronics Engineers, Except Computer
• Environmental Engineers
• Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.