dknguyen said:
They're not. THey're questions that you can't prepare for so that the interviewer can observe your thinking process and not just the facts you can spit out. Of course, there's the more traditional ones like if you had you had 3 balls that looked identical and two weighed this much and the third had some unknown weight, how would you figure out the weight of the unknown ball using a scale (or something like that).
Plus...how often can you get a seriously thought-out response to a question like that?
Those are mighty unorthodox questions to ask. Usually, I get two interviews from the same company: one from HR-they'll dig my human personality and social issues. and Two, from the guy I am mostly likely to work with-manager or mentor-they'd pick my brain on what hardware,software and theory I know.
Boeing asked me if a satellite was being attacked by jaming signals from a hostile enemy, what would be one thing to do? I was going to suggest EM shielding, frequency shifting/filtering but I realized a power limiter would be more precise to avoid electronics damage-the hardware would shut down if it sensed a current overload.
Raytheon asked me how did I feel about working on missle systems that might be used to kill people. I responded, weapons are also made for defense, such as the minuteman. But weapons in and of themselves are pieces of inert technology w/o any agenda. It is the individuals who control the means who are at responsibility. And god willing, we elect the ones who feel are best suited to care for the situation.
My boss at lexmark asked me about my hobbies and interests. Another engineer whom I worked with and interviewed me, asked me what facets of engineering I find dislikeful. I responded I enjoy design engineering very much. However, I would be willing to work on another project or discipline anytime-such as systems and test integration, which is a fancy name for writing/revising lab reports and grammar checking. I would see it as an opportunity to hone my skills and close the gaps on my weaknesses as well as learning something new.
Lockheed asked me strictly about my course and lab work concerning, radar cross section and budget links.
rubber balls and manhole covers are truly bizarre and irrelevant questions, imho. Are they trying to dig your subconscious mind? I thought that was usually taken care of by the background and security checks?
In my experience, I never had anyone question me like that. HR and true engineers are very busy people and don't have the time to monkey around with irrelevancies.
They need a MAN who's going to get the job DONE! They don't care about my favorite colors or who I think is going to win the superbowl. They'e in the business to make money and they need a guy who's gonna deliver. and in my case, there are desperate demands for american RF engineer grads, so the BS is kept at an absolute minimum.
If I were asked those questions, I'd hang up the phone or take back my resume.
I apologize if I came off brash. It just shocked me if someone asked me those questions. I guess it depends on what you do for a living as well as your personality.
btw, dknguyen, you're cute( if that's you).
I'll post my pics when I can get my hands on a digital camera.
