mart360

Well i had my interview today, hmm not very well organised

I arrived early as I normally do, and the first question asked was .. had I spoken to the agency guy, nope i was driving and dont have hands free...

had I recieved my post this morning, nope it dont arrive till midday..

by now the suspicions were rising, and I was waiting for the we've cancelled routine, however it was to tell me that I would be doing some management/ graduate evaluation tests as part of my interview, ( i allready new that )

Anyway down to the interview...


Panel of three, two managers and a senior manager,

strange set up, one of the managers was my old manager, no problems there, the other was a manager I knew as an engineer, so again no probs

the senior manager was just that.

the questions were straight forward, and I answered them all well, no curve ***** or what makes you think your the best style questions..

My old manager was concerned that I wanted to leave my current position as i had only just gone there, I explained I was redundant, which surprised him,

and his next question was naturally

so you could start immidiatley...

I stalled for a few seconds, and then thought why not and pitched the salary issue, explaining that I wouldnt normally discuss this at this stage.

however providing the package is ok I wouldnt have a problem..

thats when it got very interesting....


the head honcho came in then, with the question what figure have you been given, even I dont know.... now thats not a very good answer given its her dept.

so I played cagey and asked was the figure quoted a start point or a ceiling,

the reply was it was a ceiling but based on candidate ability, so in effect the start was much much lower.

By this time I thought its sell or sink, so I explained what the general market pays for my position, adding that in essence they had amalgamated two positions into one, and as such it would command a more realistic figure.

They agreed the role was effectivly 2 into 1 and then I got some movement from head honcho, that the salary would within reason reflect the candidates ability etc. ( dontr know whether they,ll increase though)


so that was the interview, then onto the tests...


(interestingly enough, the tests were in the next room, and i could overhear some of the discussions going on it seems they were discussing my interview and abilities, only caught bits of it, but my old manager was singing my praises at certain aspects, makes me wonder why, given that financially I think i,m out of there league)

the tests, oh boy, if I didnt blow the interview, I rekon I pooped it on the tests.

what a load of BS is was a management & graduate paper.

the english wasnt too bad, but it was all brent speak!! eg. you have a pseudonomic capitulation in the office, does this affect your work life balance within the home life context

and another 30 similar questions...


and then the maths,

well if I did a degree in maths it would be fine, but what has knowing the gdp and power output of a thermonuclear reactor running at 43% power have to do with my role...

and another 30 of these to boot.


and just when we were finished, we were then told we had to write a paper on a customer concern, except she didnt have the samples.

I started straight away, as its what I do, and whilst she was getting the sample I kicked off the preamble and intro. ( the other person just sat there looking blank)

4 pages later id finished (phew)

although if they can read my spiders crawl they,ll be lucky, i think faster than i can write, so i rekon another strike against me

why is it in todays modern age, they ask you to hand write stuff??

thats why the pc / word processor was invented, why fanny around trying to work out huge formulae or targets when there is software available... it does make you wonder


anyway lets wait and see




oh and to cap it all when i got home..

there was a letter inviting me to interview today, and to be prepared for some questions. (on the ball to say the least)


Mart

R1916v

When I went for my current job I had a 15 minutes "chat" then they dropped in casually "we've got an aptitude test we'd like you to take..."

Front of the paper says you will be given 4 hours to answer all the questions, there were 4 questions. Then the guys say "yeah even though it says 4 hours we're only giving people 3", even better :/

I must have done terribly in that but luckily they liked me.

Leslie

Can't believe that Brent type question. What are they like?, Glad I never worked in an office.

Good luck anyway Mart.

Les

paulr

What do you do Mart?

MattW

The interview for my current job went along the lines of "why don't you come and work for us", "hang on, is that a pint of guinness you want , "yes please" etc

Interviews <shudder>

mart360

Quality Engineer


Mart

pauld37

What does a "Quality Engineer" do

Brendan Hughes

Screws up interviews?


Sorry mart, hope you can see the irony

Dracoro

Engineers quality Sounds like Brent speak job title to me

pslewis

Tell us 'proper Engineers' how to document our designs and have traceability

Good luck Mart

Pete

pauld37

What type of proper Engineer are you Pete?

Brendan Hughes

He's a High Blood Pressure Engineer

pauld37

With most of the stuff he comes out with I wondered what he thought "proper" was.

Ray_li

If you guys are Proper engineers WTF am I ?????

mart360

blimey thats close, thats the systems side of the role, the other is the hands on, putting the good bits in before you satrt production etc, surprising how many companys do one but not the other,


Mart

sti-04!!

A **** ???

mart360

depends,

i cover mech/ manufacturing/ and systems inc environmental, although the principles and techniques can be applied to any industry, thats why we can move around so much

so whats your application speciality then

Mart

_RIP_

If you dont mind me asking what sort of qualifications do you need for this sort of work?

Ray_li

I have a degree in Industrial product design but my job role and title is Design Engineer

I can't think of anything I've 'engineered' here. We just copy other peoples designs

mart360

The old route, was to do the IQA (Institute of Quality Assurance) course, it took roughly 5-6 years of part time work coupled with case study & written dissertations, then each module would culmulate? with a 3hr written paper, with a 12 question scenario.

to get the letters after your name, required a minimun of 2+ years attendance, and (min) 2 modules complete.

However they have changed the requirements now, and its condensed from 26 weeks to 15 for each module, and a 4 hr exam at the end of each,

you now have to choose 2 compulsary modules (one being statistics)

and 2 other modules + 1 elective module

then it tops out on a 10,000 word dissertation,

all subject to assesment and marking by the institute.

once you get that lot you get your diploma , and membership!!

because the course has changed so radically in the last couple of years, i hear they are going to introduce a foundation course, as the current standard is so high


once you have that lot under your belt, coupled with your normal day to day activitys, where your allready putting this into practice, you become a quality practitioner, capable of applying the tools & techniques into almost any industry.


you can if you wish stick to one industry, but it can be beneficial to move around. ( more experiance)

iI came in via the automotive route, and there heavilly into quality so it is / was a normal extension for me.



hope that helps


Mart

_RIP_

Cheers mart

pauld37

Thats not what I call a "proper" engineer

pslewis

I started life in Mechanical Engineering Design - weaponary and aircraft handling kit

Then I drifted into Electronics when that started taking off - again in weapons and guidance systems

I ended up in Electro-Mechanical Design - for numerous pieces of weaponary and test gear ........ the weapons I am involved in nowadays are the most lethal on the planet (and the most sophisticated and advanced)

We require the ABSOLUTE best Engineers and Scientists ...... no-one can match our workforce for quality and safety Engineering

Pete

Brendan Hughes

I must say, your humour and irony has caused a lot of fallout on SN in the last four years...

john banks

Weaponary?

Leslie

I still don't understand why a so called rocket scientist can't explain why the Doppler effect produces the effect that it does. We all learned that in early physics but he was unable to explain it. We all know about the good old train whistle-but why PSL?

Les

pslewis

As well you know, anyone can post up an explaination of the Doppler effect

Could you tell me, smart ****, what the re-entry angle is of the Trident Nuclear Warhead?? Answer that and I'll accept that you have 2 brain cells to rub together ............ failing that I think it will show you as the thicko you are!!

You even vote TORY!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ..................

Pete

pslewis

http://www.geocities.com/peacekeeper...GM-118A-RV.jpg

Pete

Dracoro

Lifting entry or Ballistic entry?

OllyK

Things have moved on a touch since the V2 Pete.