PSU and engineering interview preparation — GATE PSUs, ESE, ISRO & DRDO

Many Maharatna and Navratna public-sector undertakings, including NTPC, ONGC, IOCL, BHEL, PowerGrid, SAIL and BEL, recruit engineer and executive trainees using GATE scores. Shortlisted candidates then face a group discussion, a personal interview or both, and the final selection combines the GATE score with these rounds in proportions each company sets. UPSC’s Engineering Services Examination ends with a personality test of its own, and ISRO, DRDO and BARC select scientists and engineers through technical interviews where the subject panel carries most of the weight.

The panel usually includes senior engineers from your discipline and an HR member. Technical questions go back to fundamentals: a mechanical candidate may be asked to explain a Rankine cycle and then how a specific power plant improves its efficiency; an electrical candidate about transformer losses or protection relays; a civil engineer about concrete mix design. Your final-year project is examined closely — why you chose it, what you personally did, and what you would change. HR questions cover why a PSU, willingness to work at remote sites and shifts, and your understanding of the company.

Prepare by revising the core subjects of your branch from first principles, not just GATE shortcuts. Be able to sketch and explain your project in five minutes. Read the company’s annual report highlights and recent news, and know where its plants or fields are.

ExamPilot’s AI technical panels cover power, oil and gas, heavy engineering and mining, and defence PSUs, UPSC ESE and other technical boards, state engineering services, railway and metro technical posts, and scientist or engineer interviews at ISRO, DRDO and BARC. The subject expert follows up when an answer stays on the surface.