Interview Question Ideas?

[cardosocea]

In the old modicons, would see a word XOR on itself as a way to clear the word.

as far as the base to the power of the position thing, any programmer should be able to immediately determine that 2# 1010 = decimal 10.

Yes... that wasn't a problem. However, say number 91, if you want to send it over a serial port in ASCII, you convert it to 91 with a function like itoa() in C, and put it in an array with 3 positions and then send.
However, if you have the first four bits of a byte with a 9 (1001) and the other four bits with a 1 (0001) and you ask for that to be sent over in hexadecimal, you'll get 91 transmitted on your serial port.
It's just a peculiarity of bits and bytes, but left the guy blown away. But again, as far as I know (unless you're using some really old OMRON's) this isn't that interesting as BCD isn't that used anymore.

 

[ganutenator]

why do programmers confuse halloween and christmas?

 

[Dirt]

Because Oct 31 = Dec 25

 

[ganutenator]

Because Oct 31 = Dec 25

you're hired.

 

[ganutenator]

i think finding out if they have a sense of humor could be important.
ever work w/ someone w/ no sense of humor?
scary!

 

[kwade]

Ask 'Who is Ron Beaufort?'

 

[Bob O]

+100 kwade

 

[Toine]

i think finding out if they have a sense of humor could be important.
ever work w/ someone w/ no sense of humor?
scary!

Over the past few months we had a student on the engineering department on an internship. Friday was his last day. Upon leaving he said he would surely remember his internship with us, as he found us quite a remarkable company. We asked why he thought we were special. He hesitated, asked if he could be honest with us. Sure, fire ahead. He had never before worked with such a bunch of crazy weirdos. Loved every bit of it.

 

[ganutenator]

- ask him what he/she knows
- tell him/her what the job entails
- ask a basic question
- tell a corny dry humor joke
- white board time. draw a simple motor start ckt in ladder and name the variables for their true state or 1 state.
- ask them to give an example of a troubleshooting problem they fixed and their thought process along the way.
- tell another joke
- white board again.
- try to find their button. aka, try to p them off.
- .....
then the written test?

then try to get them to write a dollar amount down.
tell pot drug test joke

 

[rupej]

Good stuff! Got any pot drug test joke examples for future use?

 

[gas]

More thought from a Geezer

ganutenator
Back in the days when I knew it all I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect hire.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-bookbinder/how-to-find-a-purple-squi_b_9873464.html

Someone said earlier about their crazy coworkers. My best employees snuck in under the wire. They were hired because I was desperate and brought them on as temps planning to get rid of them when someone else came along.
Folks that are detail oriented, programmers, toolmakers, etc, are obsessive compulsive (remember that is what makes them good at what they do) tend to look for the perfect employee. As the above article says they are missing revenue opportunities.
A missed revenue opportunity is like bowling...if you miss that spare you never get the chance to get it back.

 

[ganutenator]

ganutenator
Back in the days when I knew it all I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect hire.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-bookbinder/how-to-find-a-purple-squi_b_9873464.html

Someone said earlier about their crazy coworkers. My best employees snuck in under the wire. They were hired because I was desperate and brought them on as temps planning to get rid of them when someone else came along.
Folks that are detail oriented, programmers, toolmakers, etc, are obsessive compulsive (remember that is what makes them good at what they do) tend to look for the perfect employee. As the above article says they are missing revenue opportunities.
A missed revenue opportunity is like bowling...if you miss that spare you never get the chance to get it back.

true that, i've been that dude.

this situation kinda unique, as i'm interviewing my replacement.

 

[AustralIan]

Have you put up posters in the EE lounge of local universities saying "car washers wanted?"

 

[JamieRDennis]

how many times do you turn it on and off before stating its broken?
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4

 

[JerryH]

How do you spell PLC?

It seems as though I run across a LOT of people who would have failed that question...

We asked in an interview if he had any PLC experience. Yes, he replied, plenty. After further questioning he explained the PLC as a Personal Laptop Computer. He had no idea otherwise.

Jerry