bp Mechanical Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I applied through my university's internship website and was one of 25 candidates. The interview was with HR and a staff engineer who would be my supervisor. It had two parts: first, a standard interview with typical questions like greatest asset/weakness and time management. Then, a technical part with three engineering scenarios where I had to diagnose customer-reported apparatus problems using my engineering knowledge. The questions were open-ended, requiring different perspectives for diagnosis.

I applied through my school's career website and also directly on the BP website. BP people actually came to our career fair, and I got invited to interview with them even before speaking to them there. I went to all their info sessions to learn more about the company. The interview happened about a week after the career fair and info sessions. It included an interpersonal section, a technical questions part, and a Q&A. The interpersonal part was what I expected. The technical questions were all qualitative, without any calculations. They seemed more interested in my thought process than the exact right answer. It was my first time interviewing with technical questions. Overall, it was a good experience and I'm sure it'll help me in future interviews.

So the whole interview process had 5 parts. First, I filled out an application form, which asked for usual stuff like experiences related to teamwork, excellence, and challenges that BP looks for. Then came online tests, a verbal reasoning part where you read passages and say if a statement is true, and a numerical part focusing on interpreting graphs and calculating percentages. BP gives links to practice these, and there are tons of other websites too. After that, it was a telephone interview, which is competency-based, like 'tell me about a time you worked in a team'. A really friendly HR person called, explained the whole process super clearly, let me ask questions, and then we had a short chat before diving into the questions. Next up was the technical interview at Sunbury. I met with a senior engineer and we chatted about why I wanted the role and my academic background. Then we talked about my university project, and she asked me some standard technical questions. They were mainly about mechanical statics and basic engineering stuff from first year – a bit tough to recall, but I managed! There was also a question about gearboxes and power transfer, also covered in the early years of an engineering degree. The interview felt relaxed; they encourage you to ask for clarification if you're stuck and will even nudge you in the right direction if you're confused. It felt like they cared more about how you think through a problem than getting the 'right' answer. The last stage was an assessment centre, half a day long, with other intern and grad applicants. It had 3 exercises and some time to reflect. The first task was to look at a bunch of info, make a decision, and write a press release. The next two were a group discussion and a group meeting, observed by assessors. In the group meeting, someone from BP asked us to defend our group's decision. Standard group task advice applies: contribute without dominating, argue clearly, listen to others, and if you disagree, explain why and try to persuade them. Don't just go with the flow; try to stand out, but for the right reasons.