Siemens embedded interview prep

Roles they hire for

• Industrial controller firmware engineer
• Industrial networking engineer

What they emphasise

• PLCs and industrial Ethernet
• IEC 61508 functional safety
• IEC 62443 security

Brush up on

PROFINETIEC 61508IEC 62443Real-time EthernetEmbedded Linux

How the rounds usually run

A typical regulated product loop for embedded roles. Companies vary by team and seniority.

Recruiter or hiring-manager screen

• Background in regulated or safety-critical work
• Role fit

Example: Have you worked under a formal development process? Which one?

Technical 1: C, RTOS and state machines

• Embedded C and RTOS fundamentals
• State machine design and implementation

Example: Implement a table-driven state machine in C and explain how you'd test every transition.

Technical 2: Safety and design

• Fault detection, safe states and recovery
• Risk analysis and software FMEA
• Verification and traceability

Example: How would you detect a stuck sensor reading?

Panel: cross-functional

• Working with systems, hardware and quality engineers
• Handling changes under change control

Example: A hardware change lands late. How do you assess its impact on certified firmware?

HR

• Motivation and values
• Logistics

Example: Why do you want to work on medical or industrial devices?

Practice questions

Original questions written for Siemens's focus areas, not leaked ones.

1. What makes industrial Ethernet real-time, compared with ordinary Ethernet?
2. How does IEC 61508 influence how you write and test firmware?
3. Design secure remote access for a PLC in a factory.
4. How would you update firmware on a running production line?
5. Explain watchdogs and safe states in a safety PLC.

Your prep playlist

Design rounds to practise

Themes are inferred from Siemens's public product lines.