As I had mentioned above in my first post, The purpose of the question, as explained in the article (To see if the person freaks out was not mentioned) was to evaluate the applicants problems solving ability. There is no right or wrong answer. So, to reiterate, the purpose of the question was for problem solving skills of the applicant, after all, what is engineering if not finding solutions to solve a problem?Unless the job requires a applicant keeps cool under pressure, the employer might be bypassing a productive worker. Not all jobs are stressful. Or perhaps the employer likes to see people squirm and suffer. Someone say sadistic?
Ratch
Very true. Schedules often create stress. Crunch time is the norm in the engineering field.Anyway, measuring people's ability to handle stress is pretty important for an engineer.
I found this while reading up on some low noise LDO appnotes by Jim WIlliams. How would you answer these questions and be honest
The first one still has me puzzled.
I was interviewed by Jim in 1990, when he asked "Tell me five ways you would measure the height of a multi-story building in the daytime, using an oscilloscope, a 100 ft extension cord and a yardstick?"
I was interviewed by Bob Pease the same month, and he asked "If you are driving while holding a helium balloon on a string, what happens when you apply the brakes? Why?" (Hint: He told me later that a helium balloon is a very sensitive density meter.)
Oh wait, I got an answer for question 1. Use the scope as a weight on the extension cord, lower the cord over the bldg until it hits the ground, mark the cord measurement, now use the yard stick to measure how long the cord is. Okay, that is only 1 way. Hmm, good question. The article mentions, the reason for the question is to determine your problem solving skills, not your ability to do math. Have fun coming up with your answers, and please do post.
No I never met those guysYou met Jim Williams and Bob Pease- WOW
What your impression of them?
spec
I found this while reading up on some low noise LDO appnotes by Jim WIlliams. How would you answer these questions and be honest
The first one still has me puzzled.
I was interviewed by Jim in 1990, when he asked "Tell me five ways you would measure the height of a multi-story building in the daytime, using an oscilloscope, a 100 ft extension cord and a yardstick?"
"If you are driving while holding a helium balloon on a string, what happens when you apply the brakes?
A space ship can not go the speed of light because it has mass.If you are in a space ship that is traveling at the speed of light, and you turn on the headlights, does anything happen?
Steven Wright
Disagrees are totally uncalled for here. If they are not removed for everybody, I will at a minimum disagree with all of your posts in this thread..
So re-ask the question.If you are in a space ship that is traveling at the speed of light, and you turn on the headlights, does anything happen?
You haven't been in the business long enough and done enough interviews to know the psychology of the process. Most of the people you will interview as an engineer don't want to be doing the interview and consider it a waste of their time....... seriously. They will have "canned" questions to get it over with. In one interview of mine, two consecutive interviewers asked the same question. I really impressed guy #2 whipping off the answer without doing any work at all. Most engineers are incompetent at interviewing it's not in their skill set.
And yes, some are "sadistic" and intentionally ask questions which either have no clear answer or are intended to be way over the head of the applicant to gauge his ability to absorb abuse. Having a thick skin is a pretty essential trait for an engineer. Bob Pease once wrote an article titled "Hollerin'" in which he justified yelling at people at work since he had gotten in trouble for doing it at some point. Anyway, measuring people's ability to handle stress is pretty important for an engineer.
I asked Alice
when she was just small
Sorry, a misunderstanding on my part. What is the significance of a "disagree" then?Disagrees have been removed from both parties.
Sorry, a misunderstanding on my part. What is the significance of a "disagree" then?
Funny. Of the many dozens of interviews I did over the past decades, the one that was so bad I remember it clearly was one guy who had a very thick accent and was VISIBLY agitated about being forced to do the interview. He also mumbled and talked into the floor which made it impossible to hear or understand a word he said. Whenever I said "Excuse me, I didn't understand what you asked" he would get very angry and scream a few unintelligible words and then go back to mumbling. Wonderful experience.It was disgraceful how many interviewees were treated.
Before they ignited the first atomic bomb in New Mexico, there was a big debate as to whether it would ignite the atmosphere and end life on the planet. There was even some large wagers placed which always struck me as the height of stupidity..... if you bet the world was going to end and you won, you would never be able to collect the wager.One discussion point was, 'When scientists first built a rocket capable of rising above the earths atmosphere they were worried about setting the world ablaze by igniting the hydrogen layer which would be at the atmospheres extremities as hydrogen is the lightest gas'
It's about drug use. For a number of years, the song was banned from commercial radio broadcast here primarily because the last lines of the song are:A favorite tune- I never knew what it was about for years Jefferson Airplane/Starship is an underrated group in my opinion.
spec
But they did it anyway.Before they ignited the first atomic bomb in New Mexico, there was a big debate as to whether it would ignite the atmosphere and end life on the planet.
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