Interview Behavioral Bonus!! No need to draw curves, do mental math, or recall your physics first principles here. For engineering interviews, one of the primary purposes of behavioral questions is to assess how effectively you can communicate technical topics that may be unfamiliar to your audience.
In industry, it would be almost impossible to find a role that does not have you routinely speaking about technical details to an audience that consists of either non-technical professionals or technical professionals who are not well versed in your specific work. Ironically, these situations often arise during the more critical presentations you’ll give, as the audience may be a collective of clients, higher-ups, or other forms of stakeholders.
This behavioral question, “explain something very technical to me,” is a fantastic interview question to assess your communication skills and in particular, your ability to convey technical content in a digestible fashion.
In responding to a question like this, keep in mind that choosing a topic to talk about is not the most important piece. Don’t try to guess a topic that the interviewer will be most interested in or choose one that makes you sound the smartest. Focus on a technical topic that you are entirely confident in your understanding of, and then direct all your attention towards ensuring the interviewer will be able to appreciate the high-level technical details and remain engaged. Consider using analogies to simple, everyday concepts so that the interviewer can draw parallels. Fully explain any acronyms, technical phrases, or non-standard terminology, and have a heightened focus on talking slow and revieing social cues from your interviewer. Always keep in mind that although details may seem obvious to you, it is always better to under- rather than over-assume the level of background knowledge your interviewer came to the table with.
Especially in engineering interviews, behavioral questions are critical chances for you to impress and display your holistic abilities to communicate and articulate your thoughts, even when the focus of discussions are deeply technical topics. So, take a deep breath, talk slow, and have fun with it!
