What type of technical question to expect in an interview - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: tiofilo75
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 07:12:06 am
content: A while back on the amp hour someone mention that employers should ask simple technical question to weed out some of the applicants. What would be some possible question that a potential employer should ask an entry level electrical engineer/technician that are not too difficult but an applicant should know in order to be taken serious? It would be nice to have a couple of questions and answers so that job seekers can have a quick review. Thanks.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 09:34:32 am
content: I used to like asking about a series RC, step voltage input and monitor the junction between R and C.It's good to get the right shaped curveI'd be happy enough if they knew about five time constants to get 99% and so on.I'd be very happy if they could calculate how long it would take to rise to 35% or some other arbitrary value. Discussions about real capacitor types could occur.What was crucial to me as an employer is the interaction. Does the interviewee have a sense of humour, some common sense, body odour. These things are as important in the workplace as the ability to solve Greens Diadic functions, in fact they are usually more important than Laplace or a lot of other things taught at university.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 09:40:22 am
content: Almost impossible to say.I've been asked "what is a "74LS244" (and was offered the job by knowing it :->), derive the formula for a LED dropper, what value pullup resistor to use. Really basic stuff.I also ask interviewee's really basic stuff, like basic opamp stuff, or give them a board and ask them to tell me something about it, name parts and technology etc.

author: dfmischler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 10:27:59 am
content: I agree. It's not generally about specific technical knowledge. It's about, "Has he really been doing this stuff?", "Can he think about this stuff?", and, "Can we actually work with this guy?"

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 03:00:03 pm
content: I've been tested some times, the longest was 3 hour test, with C coding, buck converter, and stuff, together with an IQ test. they were always related to the stuff they make.

author: Abstr7ct
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 05:47:41 pm
content: And what kind of questions an entry level EE can expect?

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 05:53:40 pm
content: One of the nastiest tests I have seen was a special circuit from one of the designers in the company. It was possible to look at and get a broad understanding of what the circuit should do but in order to actually work out any detail you had to understand fundamentals of transistors at the silicone level. If they could work out what the circuit should do then they made it through to the next round.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 06:40:30 pm
content: I start by asking very simple questions, which aren't designed to really test a candidate's knowledge of electronics at all. They're intended to find out whether or not a candidate is capable of giving a straight answer to a straight question.For example, I might simply ask, "what is a capacitor?".I don't want a stream of consciousness, someone waffling on for hours about everything they think they know about capacitors - I just want to hear that it's a two terminal component, constructed from two conductors separated by an insulator, and which is used for storing electric charge. Simple question, simple answer... short, to the point, and correct.I can teach someone all I know about types of capacitors, and there's always Google. Gaps in knowledge can be filled as necessary, so I don't really care whether a junior engineer knows the difference between X5R and Y5V. Information like that can be taught, but the ability to give a confident, accurate, straight answer to a question is an important skill that a candidate needs to already have.

author: Alex
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 07:09:17 pm
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on November 02, 2013, 06:40:30 pmAnd how would you test if that is all they know or, even worse, if that is all they really care to learn? I'm assuming this is for at least diploma or uni graduate level. How adversely would it affect your opinion if they start going into more details?

author: Alex
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 07:19:10 pm
content: Quote from: tiofilo75 on November 02, 2013, 07:12:06 amIt is likely that the questions will be related to what the company/group/team you are applying for actually deals with. If they design boilers, a timer/thermostat circuit might appear. If they design silicon for motherboards a multi-phase CPU power supply might appear. If you are applying for a specific project (not typical with junior applicants), then the question will be equally specific. Optoelectronics for example will likely contain a transimpedance amplifier, a high speed tomography project VHDL etc.It is important to align your skills with the needs of your employer. It is also important to align your needs with the skills of the employer.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 07:46:40 pm
content: Quote from: Abstr7ct on November 02, 2013, 05:47:41 pmI was asked about the equipment (do I know what a scope, PSU, multimeter etc are and how to use them), given a board and asked to identify components, a quick schematic reading test, nothing too hard just identifying parts again, and then a questionnaire about board-level testing and what I'd do in a few given situations. Nothing too hard, for even non-experts like me who have just done a bit of tinkering at home. YMMV of course.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 07:49:03 pm
content: Quote from: Alex on November 02, 2013, 07:09:17 pmProvided what the candidate has to say is confident, articulate and to the point, I've no problem with going into detail; it's just not the real purpose of the question.Later in the interview I'll go on to discuss some topic or other in more detail - normally something which I know well, so I can be reasonably sure that I can find the limit of the candidate's knowledge, then explore how they learn when at the edge of their comfort zone. Again, it's not that I really care too much about their current knowledge, but about how they approach a question to which they don't already know all the answers.

author: Alex
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 08:02:32 pm
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on November 02, 2013, 07:49:03 pmIt all sounds reasonable - thanks for clarifying.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 10:01:06 pm
content: Are you talking about "weeding" questions, designed to tell whether an applicant's resume is a lie, or more "interview" questions designed to tell whether that applicant is among the better candidates for the job? There's a big difference - the latter would have to have something to do with the actual position, for instance.I like the "What's a capacitor?" suggestion (for the former); we could probably have a 12 page thread for that here. (It's a deeply philosophical question, and the first answer is probably very revealing. I bet you can tell the physics majors from the EE geeks right away!)Whenever I've interviewed people, I've been intensely aware that the interview is a two-way sales job. I want to hire someone - I NEED to hire someone. It's not productive for me to be a jerk showing off my "superiority" by coming up with horribly difficult interview questions. I WANT to hire someone that knows more than me! This is perhaps somewhat different if I was at the industries latest "darling" company (google, facebook, etc?) and I have local experts and a long line of applicants that want ANY job there. But I don't think that that is a typical case. So: "What's a capacitor?", "How would you approach this problem that I need to solve?", "How an I make you want to work here?" (that said, the last time I interviewed a group of students for "intern" positions was pretty depressing. Lots of "I need an intern position" people, rather than "I actually know something about what your company does.")(That said, I know someone (SW guy) that has been recently interviewing at those sorts of companies, and he says that the tests can get really intense and difficult. And how you behave when given a question you DON'T know the answer to is interesting too.http://www.thevoiceofreason.co.uk/WorldsFunniestJokes/BlondeLawyerGame.htm)

author: Alex
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 10:44:04 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on November 02, 2013, 10:01:06 pmOnly someone who has overcome their insecurities and cares about his job, working environment and success of his employer on a personal would level stand behind this. Very challenging to attract and then detect this type. But hey, they exist to surprise of the cynics!From my experience/in my opinion in the field of electronics the above type is most likely to be the guy that also has a lab at home (no matter how small) or is otherwise voluntarily engaged in the field. That's why a visit to the lab during an interview is an excellent filter.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 10:48:49 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on November 02, 2013, 10:01:06 pmThose companies focus on analytical skills, creativity, and hand on skills (coding, whatever). A question for a EE position may look like (making this up) you have N resistors that look the same, all but one have a 1K value. You also have a ohmmeter and a breadboard. Find the different resistor in minimum number of measurements. Then they will see how you approach the question ("can I assume that the ohmmeter has an arbitrary range and accuracy?"), your out of the box ideas (e.g. connecting the resistors in different configurations, using additional components such as capacitors, voltage sources, whatever) and how you improve your solution from the brute force to the optimal one. (this is all made up question, just to give the idea).The assumption is that you can teach technical details but not creativity and smarts. Having a PHD from a top tier engineering school also helps.

author: smashedProton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 10:53:31 pm
content: Quote from: zapta on November 02, 2013, 10:48:49 pmNo measurement required. Just look at the color code :p

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 11:28:33 pm
content: Quote from: smashedProton on November 02, 2013, 10:53:31 pmyou just failed the interview, the question stated that they all looked the same.There is a very big difference between interviewing an expert and a fresh grad. In one you're looking for potential, in the other you're looking for expertise. The key to both types of interview is to get them talking freely. Occasionally a visit to the pub for beer is necessary.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 11:44:46 pm
content: Quote from: smashedProton on November 02, 2013, 10:53:31 pmThis is not the out-of-the-box thinking they are looking forSent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

author: Alex
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2013, 11:47:49 pm
content: Quote from: KJDS on November 02, 2013, 11:28:33 pmI like your ethos. When is the next recruitment period?

author: smashedProton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 01:36:58 am
content: Quote from: zapta on November 02, 2013, 11:44:46 pmBubble sort then?

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 01:41:04 am
content: Quote from: smashedProton on November 03, 2013, 01:36:58 amAs I have said before, you can just climb out of the box; there's no need to dig a tunnel under it with a spoon

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 01:42:46 am
content: QuoteWell, thanks. It might be more of a desperate attempt to accomplish a pile of work that is obvious much larger than the current group of people can accomplish, regardless of how good they are :-)Although I have to say that one of the things that makes me proudest of the period I spent in "management", was the group of people I collected...

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 01:51:38 am
content: QuoteAnd when the person who was supposed to an EE starts talking about searching a binary tree in log N time, do you hire him or decide they're too much of a SW geek?Or do you accept the guy who claims that minimizing measurements in the wrong metric, and claims that he can just measure all of them in the time someone else is building an efficient algorithm?

author: smashedProton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 01:56:40 am
content: Conclusion: its a dumb question

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 05:32:43 am
content: I've worked in software, not hardware, but I've been on both sides of the interview desk plenty of times for engineering positions.There really are no "standard questions". Not a standard style, not a standard strategy. Different individuals and organizations develop different strategies and types of questions. Different organizations really do have different cultures, and part of the interview process is finding a matching culture where your strengths are most valued.Some will do a lot of technical drilling, others are more interested in communications skills or personality traits. Sometimes they'll ask what seem to be purely technical questions, but as they listen to your answer, they might pay more attention to your communications skills and/or personality traits than they do to the technical depth of your answers. But others may really care most about technical details.Some may ask really basic fundamental questions that you should have got down pat in your first circuits class, like, "What's a Norton equivalent?" Some may ask technically trivial details, but they might be the kind of details you would know if you had a particular type of experience, like "what's the voltage between the output and adjustment terminals of an LM317?" Some may not care at all whether you know the kind of details that can be looked up on a data sheet, and will be happy with a candidate who says, "I'd have to look that up" but they care about your ability to troubleshoot, divide and conquer, approach a technical problem with a strategy for solving it, etc.They might show you a schematic and say, "We've have had a bunch of reports from the field that these boards have been failing, and we've determined that on most of them, Q4 is blown. What would you suggest we do to fix the problem?" They might hope you'd be able to analyze the schematic and figure out possible causes, but they might also be interested in the types of questions you ask as you try and narrow down possibilities. They might also want someone who at least shows an interest in the economic impact of various options. Do you want to recall every board and redesign the whole thing to make it right? Do you want to leave everything in the field and just put a bodge resistor into the next run of boards? Do you defer that sort of decision to management? There's not necessarily a single right answer, though there might be some companies who really value the quick-and-dirty solution while other companies like the elegant solution that does the most to improve the company's reputation for quality.Some may ask you to explain details of a project you worked on, and quiz you on why you took the approach you did, or go over your schematic and ask you to explain how it works.One trait they may be looking for is how you behave when you really don't know the answer. One of the most important characteristics of a good engineer is knowing and freely admitting when he needs to look something up or ask for help. If you don't know the voltage between the output and adjustment terminal on a LM317, it's far better to say, "I'd have to see the data sheet" than to confidently but wrongly say, "It's 1.5V".There are no types of technical questions that are off limits. Any test that will probe the limits of good candidates will include some "stretch" questions that they don't expect most candidates to be able to answer. There really is no way to study the technical details for a good job interview. It's the ultimate comprehensive final exam, where they can ask any question, from any course, whether the professor said it would be on the test or not. If that makes you nervous, at least keep in mind that they're going through this process not to humiliate candidates, but to actually find someone they can hire. They're spending precious time and effort interviewing because they really need to hire someone to help them out. They want to be sure someone makes it through the interview process to get a job.One area where you CAN study up a bit is to do as much research on the company as you can, so that you can have a good answer to the question, "What can you contribute to our organization?", or "Why would you like to work here instead of somewhere else?"

author: M0BSW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 03:23:42 pm
content: Do you know how to put money in the coffee machine

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 03:48:02 pm
content: If the coffee machine requires money, then the interviewer has just failed the test.

author: M0BSW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 05:39:00 pm
content: We get free coffee, between 6:30 am & 7:30am the start time is 8:00am & again at 17:00 to 18:00 when the finish time is 16:30, their all heart

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2013, 06:21:28 pm
content: I am the one who goes out once a month and does the shopping. 60kg of sugar, tea, coffee and I do not drink sugar. Some days I only get a chance to have a cup at 5PM, and I have a fridge and a microwave in my office. If I am not busy there will be a cup every hour or so.2 spare kettles as well, I do not fix them when they break, just look if it is out of warranty and give a loaner or a new in box one then toss the out of warranty ones or take them in for replacement if it is under a year old ( love Consumer Protection Act that requires a 1 year warranty). Had one kettle last 5 years that way, though it was 1 repaired unit ( with a 1 year warranty as well) and units 2-7 were a straight exchange for another with a warranty as well. No 7 lasted 1 year 3 days...........