Test

I am going for a control Engineer's job interview and I have been told that there will be an assesment test. Any one with ideas what could be in a test like this. Any help will be greatly apreciated.

It could be anything! I once interviewed for a Controls job and I was asked all kinds of irrelevant questions. Some of my favourites were:

1) I was given a Fluke multimeter and asked to show how I would meausure 5000VAC with it. I handed it back immediately and said its maximum rating was only 1000VAC. Very good the interviewer responded at which time I asked, do the controls guys at this plant often have to measure those types of voltages. His response was "Nope, we never meausure anything over 600VAC." So why then I asked, did you ask me this question?

2) Same interview I was given an electronic schematic and told to identify as many components on it as I could. I started to point out all the transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, zener diodes, etc and further elaborated on how a portion of the circuit works. Excellent replied the interviewer. So I then asked does this job require board level knowledge of circuit boards; I thought it was more of a PLC-related position? He answered, no we never do anything like that. Again, then why do you ask the question?

I'm sure the interviewer was just trying to get a general feel for what some of my experiences were but the main function of the job was PLC programming and I wasn't asked a single question about PLCs. So my point is, you never know what they are going to ask!

I've also had psych tests from HR managers during interviews to see if...you know, I'm all there or not! Those are hilarious! "If you were to pick another color for the sky other than blue, what would it be?"
Good luck with the interview.

You are in charge of a controls project, that is over budget and past due, what would you do?

Years ago I was given a test as a contract engineer at GM engineering up in Flint, MI. Part of the test was identifying and explaining symbols on schematics (electrical and pneumatics). They then sit me down in front of a PLC3 and the old AB Dos based software and told me to blink one of the outputs when a input switch was made. This tested my understanding of rack layouts and basic programming. I had the programming done in less than 5 minutes and got the job. You would not believe how many others could not complete this part of the test.

Ken Moore said:

You are in charge of a controls project, that is over budget and past due, what would you do?

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1. Blame the purchasing dept. for not negotiating better prices and better delivery.

2. Blame the contractor for job delays.

3. Blame your management because you originally told them it would cost $xxx dollars and take ttt time and they arbitrarily cut 10% of the budget and shortened the schedule (called rush-up) by 15% without letting you know.

4. Blame the production department because they did not give you all the information needed when you designed the job (oh didn't I tell you I wanted a robot to pick and place the product?).

5. Blame the supplier of the equipment because the salesman promised that the capabilities of what you were buying were more than adequate (Our new motor starter has builtin ethernet/plc logic and a PC for controls and it's only $100).

6. Take vacation.

7. Study interview questions and start looking for another job.

brucechase said:

1. Blame the purchasing dept. for not negotiating better prices and better delivery.

2. Blame the contractor for job delays.

3. Blame your management because you originally told them it would cost $xxx dollars and take ttt time and they arbitrarily cut 10% of the budget and shortened the schedule (called rush-up) by 15% without letting you know.

4. Blame the production department because they did not give you all the information needed when you designed the job (oh didn't I tell you I wanted a robot to pick and place the product?).

5. Blame the supplier of the equipment because the salesman promised that the capabilities of what you were buying were more than adequate (Our new motor starter has builtin ethernet/plc logic and a PC for controls and it's only $100).

6. Take vacation.

7. Study interview questions and start looking for another job.

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You're hired.

1. You have a P to I Transducer 0-100 PSI in, 4-20 mA out. Your pressure is 10 PSI, what is the mA output?

2. You have a load cell rated at 3.3 mV/V with 10 Volts DC Excitation applied. What is the maximum signal value to be expected from this device? What are the sense leads for?

3. Define Inductive Reactance? Resonance? What is the formula for Xc?

4. Can you apply (explain) Ohms Law? Kirchoffs Law?

5. Can you explain (illustrate) a half wave rectifier? Full wave? Draw it correctly to have a positive or negative output? What are the advantages of a full wave bridge over a full wave rectifier?

6. Can you convert binary to hex to decimal? Do you know your basic logic gates? Flip flop types?
What I've found is that most companies look for someone that has very strong basics. If you remember the little stuff, you can very probably solve the big problems.

That can not be an engineering test.

DJM said:

1. You have a P to I Transducer 0-100 PSI in, 4-20 mA out. Your pressure is 10 PSI, what is the mA output?
5.6ma

2. You have a load cell rated at 3.3 mV/V with 10 Volts DC Excitation applied. What is the maximum signal value to be expected from this device? What are the sense leads for?
33mV. Regulation of power supply.

3. Define Inductive Reactance? Resonance? What is the formula for Xc?
Reactance is an opposition to current change in an AC ckt.
Resonance is when the natural frequency of a ckt matches the frequency of the signal applied.
Xc = 1/2pifC

4. Can you apply (explain) Ohms Law? Kirchoffs Law?
One amp flowing in one ohm resistance will create a one volt potential difference.
The algebraic sum of all voltages in a loop must equal zero.

5. Can you explain (illustrate) a half wave rectifier? Full wave? Draw it correctly to have a positive or negative output? What are the advantages of a full wave bridge over a full wave rectifier?
Half wave rectifier obtains a wave every half cycle.
A Full wave rectifier obtains a wave on both halves of the AC cycle, there is less ripple.

6. Can you convert binary to hex to decimal? Do you know your basic logic gates? Flip flop types?
Have to think about converting, yes.
AND, NAND, OR, NOR, Exclusive OR.......
Flip-flops? You mean multivibrators? Which ones? S-R, J-K, ...

What I've found is that most companies look for someone that has very strong basics. If you remember the little stuff, you can very probably solve the big problems.

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Had to think about resonance and gave basic answers but there would have to be more to a test for an engineer. If I had been drawing the rectifier ckts it would have explained more.

rsdoran said:

Had to think about resonance and gave basic answers but there would have to be more to a test for an engineer. If I had been drawing the rectifier ckts it would have explained more.

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In the original question, he said he was applying as a "Controls Engineer". This could be akin to a "Maintenance Engineer" which is usually more of a seasoned E/I Tech than an Engineer. It wasn't my intent to post an Engineering test, my intent was to give him some sample questions to think about before he interviews. This is the sort of knowledge that a good Tech (in my opinion) should posess. If he is a degreed Engineer applying for a real engineering position, he doesn't need me or my little post!

Often the interview can range from "What is your favorite color?" to "Calculate the number of furlongs for one light/year!"

You passed, by the way!

rsdoran wrote:"Resonance is when the natural frequency of a ckt matches the frequency of the signal applied."

Although true, to explain further:

Resonance is when the frequency applied to a circuit is opposed by an equal amount of Xc and Xl. The equal and opposite capacitive and inductive reactance cancels and leaves a purely resistive circuit. This is the most basic principle of radio tuning.

Well guys thanks for all the answers. My test was for an engineer with at least a Bachelors degree. It was very simple and had some logic questions and some hardware related and code questions. Thanks again.

Care to share those with us?

I was given a pic of two robots with a base 152cm apart and a conveyer down the center how far from R1 is the conveyor chain?
Hmmm....
Remember those conversion factors! I couldn't but I did remember that 9.8 m/s Squared is the same as 32 F/sec Squared. So I used that.

Exchange the values in N7:0 and N7:1 without using any memory address, (including S registers) besides N7:0 and N7:1.

I had a test emailed to me that consisted of three questions with I/O lists applicable to the industry I was interviewing. It was a scaled down pneumatic conveying system and basically they wanted to see how I would organize and start the equipment. The next was turning off and on conveyors, and the third was an incomplete process but wanted to see how I interpreted the functionality. Also I had one day to complete the exercise. After all was said and done they low balled the offer and I did all that work for nothing. Good way to see if there is a better way to build the mouse trap.