Caltrans Interview Questions
Updated Jul 6, 2022
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Interviews at Caltrans
Interviews for Top Jobs at Caltrans
- Student Assistant (22)
- Transportation Engineer (15)
- Environmental Planner (14)
- Transportation Engineer, Civil (8)
- Transportation Planner (7)
- Associate Governmental Program Analyst (6)
- Intern (6)
- Highway Maintenance Worker (4)
- AGPA (3)
- Engineering Student Assistant (3)
- Engineer (3)
- Associate Environmental Planner (3)
- Public Information Officer (3)
- Environmental Planner (Archeology) (2)
- Project Engineer (2)
- Student Assistant - Engineer (2)
- Maintenance Worker (2)
- Associate Governmental Program Analyst (AGPA) (2)
- Engineering Technician (2)
- Budget Analyst (1)
- Internship (1)
- Transportaion Planner (1)
- Right of Way Agent (1)
- Student Graduate (1)
- Management Services Technician (1)
- Heavy Equipment Mechanic (1)
- Budget Analyst (AGPA) (1)
- Embedded Chipset Programmer (1)
- Landscape Designer Associate (1)
- Associate Analyst (1)

Anonymous Interview Candidate
I interviewed at Caltrans
The interview process was standard with self introduction, general project and what-if role questions. The interview was consisted of a panel with an HR personnel, the hiring manager and an assistant/associate engineer.
- Describe a project that you had a disagreement with a team member.

Anonymous Employee
I interviewed at Caltrans
Quick. Straight forward with few simple questions and a few picture questions. 3 persons are interviewing you, I also did mines through video call. So it was more comfortable. Lasted about 15 mins. All 3 will ask questions.
- How would you make a good fit?

Anonymous Interview Candidate
I applied online. I interviewed at Caltrans
Interviewed by three people using Cisco Webex. It went fine. They asked about 7 questions and it took about 45 to 60 minutes. They said they will take two to three months to answer.
- About my past project experiences

Anonymous Employee
I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Caltrans
Applied online through Calcareers.ca.gov. The time to get a response was about 3 months. I applied to several locations for the same job, i.e. Transportation Engineer (Civil). An email was sent to me saying that Caltrans would be hosting a Mass Hiring Event in Marysville, CA. I attended the event and was interviewed by 4 people, who asked general/basic questions as the job was entry level. I received a conditional offer the following week and started working a month after that.
- Q. Tell us about yourself.
- Q. Describe the project work you did during college.
- Q. What were your functions as an Engineering Intern?

Anonymous Interview Candidate
I interviewed at Caltrans
Interview was very short and duty statement didn’t match the job description I was asked about via interview questions. I felt like the duty statement did not actually describe the job per the way it was explained in the interview. The man who ran the interview speed read the instructions in a bizarre manner.
- Questions regarding cultural sites, biology, CEQA and NEPA.

Anonymous Employee
I interviewed at Caltrans
The interview was average and asked your usual questions like why you want to join the company and such. Dress nicely and answer every question with some thought and your experience
- Why do you want to join this company?

Anonymous Interview Candidate
I interviewed at Caltrans
7-8 questions related to experience and qualifications and then an Excel exercise. It's an online interview. Questions are not very hard, pretty reasonable, and straightforward questions related to the position.
- why do you want this position?

Anonymous Employee
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Caltrans in Feb 2022
Webex interview with a panel of three senior environmental planners at Caltrans. They all seemed to be very serious prior to the interview, so I felt a bit intimidated. After the interview was complete they opened up a bit.
- 1. Why do you want to work for Caltrans? 2. What is the duty statement? 3. There is a project that has the possibility to have significant impacts, what type of studies or environmental documentation will you prepare? 4. There is a project getting stalled by someone involved, how do you try to approach facilitating the project?

Anonymous Employee in Marysville, CA
I interviewed at Caltrans (Marysville, CA)
Division of Local Assistance - Easy going panel interview consisting of 1 Transportation Engineer and 1 Transporation Planner. Asked about prior experience with databases and general engineering experience. Overall moderate difficult questions as this was a student position.
- Why are databases useful in state work?

Anonymous Employee in Fresno, CA
I applied online. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at Caltrans (Fresno, CA)
Had my first interview 4 months after my application, my second interview a month after that, and then a job offer a month later. I started the job 6 months after the application. A combination of a written calculation based question, written response question, and formal interview questions with a panel of two senior engineers.
- Why do you want to work here?
- Technical question included working day and lad excavation calculations.
Caltrans Interviews FAQs
Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Caltrans as 68.0% positive with a difficulty rating score of 2.84 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty). Candidates interviewing for Transportation Engineer, Civil and Environmental Planner rated their interviews as the hardest, whereas interviews for Transportation Engineer and Student Assistant roles were rated as the easiest.
The hiring process at Caltrans takes an average of 60 days when considering 175 user submitted interviews across all job titles. Candidates applying for Transportation Engineer had the quickest hiring process (on average 38 days), whereas Student Assistant roles had the slowest hiring process (on average 55 days).
Common stages of the interview process at Caltrans according to 175 Glassdoor interviews include:
Group Panel Interview: 36.05%
Presentation: 15.99%
Skills Test: 9.52%
Drug Test: 9.52%
IQ Intelligence Test: 7.82%
Phone Interview: 6.12%
Background Check: 5.44%
One on One Interview: 4.42%
Other: 2.72%
Personality Test: 2.38%
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