Chemical engineers are highly sought-after professionals and find employment opportunities in the petrochemical industry, plastics, or medicinal plants. Being one of the most paid professions in the world, a chemical engineer gets a lucrative salary along with some additional benefits and incentives. The interview process of a chemical engineer is quite tricky and comprises questions related to:
- Core concepts testing your domain knowledge
- Behavior-based questions, assessing your personality and
- Situational questions assessing your approach and attitude
Prepare sincerely for the interview and read lots of frequently asked interview questions. Below is a set of twenty-one best questions that you must prepare for your upcoming interview sessions.
21 Best Interview Questions To Study
1. Explain The Composition Of Gun Powder.
This question tests your knowledge and understanding of the core concepts related to Gun powder, which is an important industrial raw material.
Sample Answer
Sure, sir, A Gun powder consists of:
| Name of Chemical | Optimal Percentage |
| Potassium Nitrate | 75% |
| Sulfur | 10% |
| Charcoal | 15% |
2. What Do You Mean By Aqua Regia?
This question tests your domain knowledge.
Sample Answer
Sir, Aqua regia is a very strong acid, which is formed by the combination of Hydrochloric acid and Nitric acid in the ratio of 3:1. Since it is highly effective and possesses great strength, it is widely used by goldsmiths to melt gold.
3. Explain The Industrial Use Of Any Four Metalliods.
Metalloids are semi-metals, known as semiconductors. These exhibit a few properties of both metals and non-metals and are thus widely regarded in between them. They are widely used in industries as raw materials. Hence, there are high chances that an interviewer will test your knowledge in regard to the same.
Sample Answer
Sure, sir, These are:
| Name of the Metalloid | Industrial Use |
| Silicon | Widely used in the information technology industry, as it is used in the manufacturing of various computer parts. |
| Germanium | Used in the manufacturing of optical fibers, and acts as an oxide. |
| Arsenic | Amalgamated and alloyed with Lead. It is used in the manufacturing of car batteries. |
| Antimony | It is used as a fire retardant and is widely used in the fire industry. |
4. We Consume Acids When We Eat Fruits and Other Foods. Comment On This Statement.
This question checks your knowledge and understanding of the acids present in our foods.
Sample Answer
Sir, this statement is absolutely true. There are different acids present in the different fruits that we consume. For example,
| Name of Food | Acids Contained |
| Citrus fruits, like lemon, orange, etc. | Citric acid |
| Apple | Mallic acid |
| Grapes, Pineapples, Carrots, etc. | Tartaric acid |
| Butter | Butyric acid |
| Tea, Coffee, Pepper | Oxalic acid |
| Proteins | Amino acid |
5. Are You Aware Of Chlorine As A Chemical. If Yes, Please Share A Few Of Its Industrial Uses.
This question tests your practical knowledge of the industrial use of certain chemicals.
Sample Answer
Sir, chlorine is an important industrial chemical and is used in several industries due to its multiple characteristics. It is used as:
- Disinfectant, and kills bacterias that are present in drinking water. It is also used widely in swimming pools.
- Bleaching agent
- Raw material in the manufacturing of Polymer PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) and CFC (Chlorofluoro carbon),
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6. What Are The Consequences Of Ineffective Planning Of Raw Material Purchase In An Industry?
This question tests whether or not you are aware of material planning, which is an important role performed by chemical engineers.
Sample Answer
Sir, raw materials are required to produce finished goods that are ultimately sold to the consumers. With a shortage or untimely replenishment of the raw materials, an industry could sustain several losses. IT could lead to the following issues:
- There will be an increase in the idle labor costs, as the workers would sit idle and will be non-productive.
- The company can lose its clients due to failed time utility.
- Reduced or restricted production would deplete the profit margins and the company would suffer from loss of revenue
7. Explain The Usage Of Iodine In The Context Of Humans?
This question tests your practical knowledge of the industrial use of certain chemicals.
Sample Answer
Sir, Iodine is widely used as an antiseptic agent. Usually, iodine is combined with alcohol or ethanol, to prepare a tincture, known as Tincture of Iodine. This tincture is applied to the wounds and acts as an antiseptic, that kills bacterias and germs.
8. What Is Vulcanisation Of Rubber?
This question checks your practical knowledge and understanding of the various chemical procedures.
Sample Answer
Sir, vulcanization is an industrial process, in which natural rubber is heated with sulfur. This is because natural rubber in its raw form is quite soft and can not be used industrially in such a state. Thus, it is necessary that it becomes hard. By heating with sulfur, natural rubber achieves hardness.
9. What Is Heavy Water and What Are Its Uses?
This question tests your practical knowledge of the industrial use of certain chemicals.
Sample Answer
Sir, heavy water is formed by combining two molecules of Deuterium and one molecule of Oxygen. This is widely used in the industries that use nuclear reactors and perform nuclear reactions. Heavy water can be used as both:
- Coolant: To absorb excess heat arising out of the nuclear reaction and
- Moderator: To slow down the speed of the neutrons, that are formed in nuclear reactions.
10. Describe About A Time When You Took Initiative At Your Workplace.
This is a situation-based interview question that requires you to give a practical answer and narrate any real experience that you have sustained during your professional tenure. Taking initiatives at your workplace is a sought-after quality that displays your seriousness, commitment, and leadership abilities. As an ideal response, share any event in which you performed a tough task voluntarily or accepted a challenge that otherwise could have been avoided.
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11. Share A Practical Time, When You Worked Upon A Task Of Which You Had No Previous Knowledge.
In the corporate world, you will certainly face a few tough situations in which you will be required to perform a few tasks of which you have no knowledge or are different from your domain. This is a common requirement from employers and you must answer this question positively. In an ideal response, just narrate any real event that happened with you.
12. Maintaining “Quality” In Business Operations Is Key To Success. How Do You Interpret The Term “Quality”?
This is a word-based interview question and you are required to interpret the term “quality”. There could be several interpretations of this word, and everyone deciphers it as per his own attitude, perception, and approach. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know your understanding of this term and your own version of interpretation.
13. Working As A Chemical Engineer Is Stressful. How Do You Manage Your Stress Levels?
Business organizations operate amid a lot of competition and pressure from different factors, such as political, legal, and socio-economic factors. This pressure gets transferred onto the employees of the company and they have to operate under stress. Stress management is a common expectation from business organizations, and through this question, an interviewer wants to know your strategies and techniques using which you can manage your stress levels. This is a common expectation and you must answer this question positively.
14. Failures Affect Our Profitability, And Needs To Be Handled. How Do You Manage Your Workplace Failures?
No person in this world can only bask in the glory of success and fame. As per the law of nature, one has to face failure at some point in time. It is just unavoidable. Further, failure always poses a devastating impact upon the human mind and affects his performance at the workplace. Thus, an interviewer wants to know about your strategies and techniques using which you handle and cope with your workplace-related failures.
15. What Can You Offer Us That Someone Else Cannot?
This is a tricky interview question, and is an improved version of the question “What are your strengths?” Through this question, an interviewer wants to know about your unique qualities and propositions that separate you from the rest of the candidates. To give a perfect reply to this question, just read your job description and understand it comprehensively. Post this, find out the major qualities required and base your answer on them.
16. Multi-tasking Is An Important Attribute. How Do You Prioritize?
Through this question, an interviewer wants to know about the prioritization technique using which you are able to rank and arrange your tasks. Commonly, employees prefer to order their tasks on the basis of their difficulty level, time consumption, or on a yield basis. Whatever suits you, just share it with your interviewer.
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17. Performing Repititive Tasks and Coming To The Workplace On A Daily Basis Is Boring. How Do You Keep Yourself Fresh, Energetic and Enthusiastic?
Being a chemical engineer, there is a high possibility that you will be required to follow a monotonous routine and perform tasks that are repetitive in nature. This monotony can crush you and affect your overall performance at your workplace. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know what are the various strategies that you adopt to keep yourself fresh and energetic at the workplace.
18. We Hire Motivated Employees. What Motivates You To Work?
We all are motivated by a few factors that prompt us to work hard and achieve our goals and objectives in a time-bound manner. These factors are personal in nature and are influenced by the financial situations, circumstances, and living conditions of an individual. AN interviewer is interested in knowing these factors so as to precisely assess your personality and behavior.
19. What Are Your Salary Expectations?
It is common for the interviewers to ask about your salary expectations during an interview session itself. Prepmycareer recommends that you share a salary figure, that is based upon deep, and diligent market research. This is because quoting any salary figure that is either too high or too low from the mean salary can affect your selection chances negatively.
20. When Can You Start Working With Us?
This question requires you to share a time frame or a date, on or after which you can start working for the business organization. This question in no way guarantees your selection and you are only required to share your expected start. Further, it is true that immediate starters are always preferred, but you are requested to share a genuine date to avoid any future issues and hiccups.
21. Do You Have Any Questions For Us?
An interview session concludes with this question. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know what are the various apprehensions and doubts that you might be having in regards to the business organization. Skipping this question will certainly prove fatal to your selection chances. Hence, always ask a few relevant counter-questions from your interviewer based on the model questions mentioned below:
Model Questions
- Please share a list of all the incentives and allowances that are offered by the company to its employees.
- Is it the policy of the company to extend accidental insurance to its employees that cover all the workplace mishappenings?
- What are the various work timings that are adopted by the company in the various shifts?
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (for Chemical Engineer interviews):
References
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-021-06944-w
- https://www.lifescied.org/doi/abs/10.1187/cbe.20-12-0276
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