As an interviewer you ought to be asking many of the same questions you
will likely be fielding from the candidate:

1.  What do you understand our company does?
2.  Describe your ideal position.
3.  What do you believe you'll be doing if you are hired here (ie, what
position are you trying to get hired for)
4.  What skills do you have which apply to this position?
5.  Do you have all the skills you feel are necessary to fulfill the
positon, and if not what do you think you'll need to learn?
6.  Do you enjoy learning?
7.  What makes you ideal for this position?
8.  Name two or three skills you fell inadequate in, and what you have
done/are doing to improve them.

And /most/ important:

9.  Do you have any questions for me?

The interviews I've attended have been more of a good, thorough, and
frank discussion.  For this purpose it's best to avoid yes/no questions
(unless you don't want details - but most yes/no's ought to be on the
application)  It is important to put the interviewee at ease, and answer
these own questions for yourself:

1. How does the candidate express themselves (succint answers,
expressive, meandering, etc).
2. Is the candidate focussed on the discussion at hand (eyes wandering,
frequent pauses or requests to repeat a question)
3. How much thought are they putting into their answers.
4. Do they appear genuinely interested in the work and/or the company?
5. What kinds of questions are they asking?
6. If you didn't offer or give a tour previously, do they ask for one now?
7. If they toured the company how do they introduce/present themselves
to others?

-Adam

Lawrence Lile wrote:

>Well it is time to turn the tables.  I've been on the hat-in-hand , small
>end of the microscope end of job interviews for years.  But I've never had
>to be on the big end of the microscope.  Frankly, in most of the job
>interviews I have had, the interviewer was not very good at it.  Many of
>them, the interviewer talked the whole time, and I got the job by being a
>good listener.  Others, the interviewer focused on irrelevant information,
>or asked dumb questions.
>
>So what do you folks ask a prospective candididate for an electronics job?
>(Don't get too excited, it's just a part-time summer internship, and my boss
>hasn't approved it yet, and it's in the middle of nowhere in Missouri.
>Fortunately there is an engineering college in town where we will look for
>candidates.)
>
>I am thinking about open ended questions like:
>    What hobby electronics projects have you designed or built?
>    How did you decide to go into electronics?
>    What computer languages have you studied?
>    Do you have any familiarity with microcontrollers?  PICs?
>    Which of the following software packages have you used?
>        Excel
>        Word
>         PC board layout CAD
>         Compilers
>        MPLAB
>        AutoCad
>        Pro-Engineer
>        Other CAD, electronics, compiler, computer languages?
>    What are your long-term goals?
>    Have you held any electronics related jobs before?
>    Have you done any large projects, senior projects or extracurricular
>projects in college that relate to engineering?
>
>The problem is, the qualities that will make an intern a good one are:
>    Patience with detailed work
>    Interpersonal skills
>    Ability to concentrate and focus
>    Manual dexterity and fine motor skills (surface mount soldering)
>    Ability to learn a variety of mental and manual skills quickly
>    Creativity
>
>None of these are easy to measure, nor are any of them measured with my
>admittedly lame list of questions.
>
>Also , toungue in-cheek:
>    Here are 32 pens and pencils.  How many of them does it take to do your
>job? (Answer: All of them)
>    What is the advantage of wearing natural fabrics?  (Answer: Trick
>question! If the candidate knows the answer, he/she is not an engineer)
>    Have you ever tried to fix a $5 radio, toy or clock?
>    Do you have more than two computers?  How many of them are routinely
>operated with the case off?  How many of them are taken apart or in need of
>repair? How many run on Linux?
>    Have you ever repaired anything with duct tape?  Do you consider duct
>tape to be as essential as bailing wire, sheet rock screws, solder,
>plumber's epoxy or electrical tape?
>    Are you overweight, unkempt and have a scraggly beard?
>
>
>-- Lawrence Lile
>Sr. Project Engineer
>Salton inc. Toastmaster Div.
>573-446-5661 Voice
>573-446-5676 Fax
>
>--
>http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic:
>[PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads
>
>
>
>
>

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic:
[PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads