BKF Engineers Civil / Structural Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I first met the HR Rep at a career fair and we connected. He told me he'd reach out for an interview, so I sent a follow-up email to show my interest. About two weeks later, I got the call for the first interview at HQ to learn about BKF. This interview was with the HR Rep and an HR Coordinator. We went over my resume, and they asked me easy questions about my past experiences and what I learned from them. They also gave a quick overview of BKF's work, which was brief because I already knew a lot about them. This first interview was under an hour. Around two weeks after that, the HR Rep called to invite me for an interview the next day with an engineer. They told me to be ready to talk about Pavement Design. This second interview was with the HR Rep and a Project Manager. We started by reviewing my resume again, with the PM asking me questions. He was very friendly and made me feel at ease. After the resume review, the technical part started. The PM put a big topography map on the table and asked analysis-type questions about the site. These were mostly easy, and if I didn't know an answer, he'd rephrase the question to help me out. After assessing my analysis skills, we moved on to design. He asked general questions about pavement and highway design using the same map. These were a bit tougher because my design experience is limited, but they were manageable. I found reading the AASHTO Highway Design Manual very helpful for this part. This interview lasted three hours. Unfortunately, I didn't get an offer from BFK. After the technical interview, I never heard back. Salary was never brought up in any of our meetings.

I was initially offered an intern position for the summer of 2020, but unfortunately, Covid led to the cancellation of the entire program. I interviewed again a year later and after months past the application deadline, I found out the PM I would have worked with had already hired someone else. I was then rejected from a different team for "lack of experience", even though I highlighted my design software experience. They didn't ask about it on my resume.

I had an initial phone call with HR. It was a 30-minute screening to see which teams might be a good fit. The HR person was really friendly and asked me questions to get to know me better. After that, I had a face-to-face interview with a Project Engineer, and the Project Manager joined by phone. This part was more technical, focusing on my specific skills.