Ace Your Lab Engineer Interview: The Top 30 Questions You Should Prepare For

Landing a job as a lab engineer requires strong technical skills and expertise. But it also requires being able to present those abilities confidently in an interview.

To help you prepare, we’ve compiled a list of the top 30 lab engineer interview questions you’re likely to encounter along with tips for crafting winning answers.

Questions About Your Background and Experience

Hiring managers want to understand your education, training, and hands-on skills. Expect interview questions like:

• What lab equipment do you have experience using? Discuss your proficiency with chromatography systems, spectrophotometers, autoclaves, and other tools of the trade Highlight specialized equipment and your ability to quickly learn new technologies.

• What steps do you take to avoid contamination? Demonstrate your meticulousness by explaining your contamination prevention protocols such as wearing PPE, sterilizing equipment, using laminar flow hoods, and maintaining separate reagent areas.

• What were your previous responsibilities in a lab setting? Share specific examples of experiments you conducted, measurements you performed, equipment you operated, and products you tested. Quantify your contributions to showcase your capabilities.

• What sterilization methods are you familiar with? Discuss techniques like autoclaving UV radiation alcohol wipes, and filtration that you’ve used to ensure aseptic conditions in the lab. Emphasize safety precautions taken.

• What is your approach to working with large sets of data? Highlight your ability to organize, validate, analyze, interpret, and report scientific data using statistical software, coding languages, visualization tools, and other methods.

Questions About Your Technical Expertise

Hiring managers want to assess your hard skills and how you apply scientific concepts. Common questions include:

• Can you explain gel electrophoresis and its applications? Demonstrate your biology expertise by accurately describing how this technique separates macromolecules like DNA based on size and charge when current is applied. Discuss uses in genotyping, DNA sequencing, and other areas.

• How do you ensure accuracy when preparing chemical solutions? Emphasize precise calculations, using analytical balances, preparing proper dilutions, and verifying concentrations. You may reference quality control methods like replicate testing.

• What experience do you have with titration? Share examples of acid-base, redox, precipitation, and complexometric titrations you have performed. Discuss indicators used, how you determined endpoints, and safety measures taken.

• What is HPLC and how does it work? Describe high performance liquid chromatography, explaining how it separates, identifies, and quantifies compounds based on time taken to pass through column. Discuss your experience with setup, operation, and troubleshooting.

• How do you calibrate analytical instruments? Discuss basic calibration principles and use of standards. Share examples like calibrating balances with test weights or testing wavelength accuracy of spectrophotometers with holmium filters.

Questions About Processes and Procedures

Interviewers want to understand your approach to core lab tasks. Expect questions like:

• Walk me through your method for preparing reagents. Demonstrate your meticulousness by outlining processes like calculating quantities needed, using proper PPE, labeling storage containers, mixing using good lab techniques, and testing concentrations.

• What quality control procedures do you implement in the lab? Discuss checking equipment calibrations, testing samples in replicates, including standards and controls, conducting proficiency testing, tracking quality metrics, and troubleshooting issues.

• How do you ensure accurate record keeping? Emphasize consistently documenting procedures, data, observations, calculations, instrument outputs, and compliance activities through lab notebooks, LIMS, and shared drives. Discuss organizational strategies.

• What is your sample storage protocol? Discuss principles like labeling, dating, organizing, and separating samples. Explain proper storage conditions needed like temperature and light protection to maintain integrity.

• How do you dispose of chemical waste? Demonstrate understanding of waste segregation, inventory, and documentation. Outline use of proper containers, spill protocols, and regulated disposal through approved channels.

Questions About Safety Practices

In a lab, safety is paramount. Interviewers want to probe your understanding of protocols and ability to exercise caution. Example questions include:

• What PPE do you utilize in the lab? Discuss selecting proper eye protection, gloves, lab coats/gowns, closed-toe shoes, and other gear needed for specific hazards like chemical splash or flame. Demonstrate understanding of techniques like double gloving.

• How do you handle flammable chemicals? Emphasize specialized storage in flammable cabinets, use of spark-free tools, avoiding open flames, maintaining ventilation, and proper waste disposal. Discuss emergency response preparedness.

• What would you do in the event of a chemical spill? Discuss raising alarms, cordoning off area, utilizing spill kit supplies, proper PPE, waste disposal, decontamination, incident documentation, and reviewing prevention measures.

• Can you explain your biosafety level training? Discuss the levels, appropriate lab facilities/equipment, PPE, waste and entry/exit procedures for each. Share any specific BSL experience in areas like medical labs.

• What emergency preparedness measures do you implement? Discuss steps like safety inspections, eyewash/shower testing, fire extinguisher checks, PPE audits, emergency contact lists, incident response training, and fume hood maintenance.

Questions That Test Critical Thinking

Employers want to assess your problem-solving skills and ability to think on your feet. Example questions include:

• Your experiment produced unexpected results. What do you do? Discuss verifying procedures were followed correctly, checking equipment calibration, reviewing raw data for anomalies, and considering environmental factors. Emphasize troubleshooting rigorously before drawing conclusions.

• You notice an unsafe practice in the lab. How do you respond? Discuss politely intervening and reminding others of safety protocols. Emphasize reporting serious recurring issues to the safety manager and proposing refresher training.

• A deadline is approaching. How do you prioritize completing the work? Share strategies like breaking down activities, estimating times, identifying dependencies, focusing on critical path items first, and seeking help or advice if needed to avoid delays.

• You are assigned to lead people you used to work alongside as peers. What is your approach? Discuss open communication, mutual respect, collaboration, and understanding different working styles. Share ideas for assigning tasks equitably based on team members’ strengths.

• A key equipment malfunctions during an experiment. What do you do? Discuss immediate temporary workarounds like using backup equipment. Emphasize resolving the root cause through troubleshooting or manufacturer intervention before the next experiment.

Questions About Your Work Style and Ethics

Hiring managers want to determine if you’ll be a good cultural fit. Example questions:

• How would you describe your work style? Share that you are meticulous, driven by quality and safety, willing to take initiative, and able to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team.

• What is your approach when you disagree with a supervisor? Emphasize respectfully expressing your viewpoint while understanding you may need to carry out instructions. Discuss determining if a further dialogue would be appropriate.

• How do you stay current on developments in your field? Discuss reading academic journals, attending conferences, taking continuing education courses, and networking with peers. Share examples of recent knowledge gained.

• Have you completed any laboratory management or leadership training? Discuss any formal training and highlight transferable skills gained from managing projects, mentoring junior scientists, overseeing vendors, maintaining equipment inventories, and optimizing lab processes.

• How would you handle suspected research misconduct? Emphasize following proper protocols and immediately reporting any fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism issues as per institutional policy rather than confronting the person yourself.

Questions to Ask the Interviewer

In addition to preparing your own answers, you should prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer which demonstrate your interest in and understanding of the role. Examples include:

• How will my performance be measured and reviewed? Shows interest in expectations and professional growth.

• What opportunities are there for advancement? Demonstrates your long-term outlook and aspirations.

• What are the biggest upcoming projects or initiatives for this lab? Reveals your enthusiasm about making contributions.

• What is the work culture like here? Provides insight into team dynamics and values.

• Are there opportunities for continuing education or conference participation? Shows commitment to staying updated with latest developments.

By mastering answers to questions like these, you’ll demonstrate the perfect blend of technical expertise and soft skills needed to ace your lab engineer interview. Be sure to practice your responses out loud until you can convey key points smoothly and confidently. With thorough preparation, you’ll give yourself the best possible chance at landing your dream lab role.