This could be an interesting topic to keep going... Many companies are in the same boat, and finding qualified people is definately a shot in the dark.
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I've worked for a few companies over the years, and strangely, time and time again, the very best 'job search hires' that any of them has had, as been hiring people that had a mechanical or electrical hobby. Not school, but a hobby they enjoyed and were passionate about.
Evaluating schooling, degrees, thesis papers, et al., never resulted in someone that could actually 'do stuff'.
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On a similar note, I have a feeling that the USA (Sorry, PLCS.net members from other countries) is falling far behind the rest of the world by insisting that nobody is useful unless they have some kind of degree from some college.... We (in the USA) need to bring back technical high schools, and technical secondary education. People actually become offended when they ask me 'What should my child study?' and I tell them 'Send them to Welding/Plumbing/Electrician/AutoBody schools'.
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So, for this industry, can we come up with some good, honest, make-em-think logic problems?
On interviews for example, I normally start with:
'Here's a piece of paper... Draw me a circuit, that has a Start Button, a Stop Button, a Safety interlock, and an Output Relay to remember the state'.
I also like to give the puzzles of:
'You have a tank that can hold liquid, a valve that lets liquid in that you can control, and a valve that lets liquid out that you can't control... How do you maintain a level in the tank? 'Black Boxes' are acceptable'.
Or:
'A center-winder motor that winds up string delivers 10 foot-pounds at 12" diameter, how many foot-pounds must it deliver at 24" diameter?'
I don't care if they get the answers right or wrong, but I do care how they think about the problem, and the questions they ask.