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--lawrence

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean H. Breheny" <shb7@CORNELL.EDU>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [OT]: Job Interviews


> At 02:53 PM 4/25/02 -0500, you wrote:
> >All very true in every respect.  Also all a bit much to ask of a two-year
> >undergrad intern candidate, who will probably be a little awestruck and
> >probably pretty nervous is it is when you ask the question.  The OP is
> >looking for a college student (read "lab grunt"), not a chief of
> >engineering.  And the poor grunt is 99% likely not going to know anything
> >about post office loops, shunt testers or any of the rest.  That comes
> >with experience, which said starry-eyed applicant will lack.
>
> Unless, of course, said starry-eyed applicant has been reading the PICLIST
> for a while :-)
>
>
>
> >Just my own humble opinion.
> >
> >Dale
> >--
> >"Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that
> >curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly."
> >           - Arnold Edinborough
> >
> >
> >On Thu, 25 Apr 2002, Peter L. Peres wrote:
> >
> > > The electrically correct answer was given by Ray Gardiner but the
purpose
> > > of the question is to find out what the candidate would do. Asking for
a
> > > ruler is legit. Assumption that the mV scale is not accurate can be
made.
> > > You could ask for a ruler and just measure 60 mm of wire and crimp
with
> > > +/-0.75 mm precision. You could say that you need a 4 wire shunt for
this
> > > (you don't really) and show how to do it. You could ask whether there
is a
> > > more accurate ohmmeter available. You could ask whether there is a
lower
> > > value precision resistor available. You could notice that the current
must
> > > be switched for short times in the 10W resistor to avoid creep and
that it
> > > should be checked before and after since it is used at max spec power.
> > >
> > > You could say that this job is best done by buying a $5000
shunt-testing
> > > instrument or a $5 'post office loop' (this is an old shunt used by
> > > British phone technicians I think - I got it from a book, not sure
about
> > > the name). You could ask how many shunts will eventually be needed,
and
> > > whether they could be outsourced if many (and why).
> > >
> > > The question is not a math skills test, in that there may be several
> > > answers, and maybe giving the elaborate and correct electrical
solution is
> > > not the answer that will give the highest mark. Seeing 'sideways' and
a
> > > certain amount of nonlinear thinking is the kind of skill that makes
> > > co-workers co-workers and not co-drags imho.
> >
> >--
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