Difficult Interview Questions

Engineers who are preparing for GATE/IES/PSUs can take FREE Online tests/Questions for Practice/Materials download at www.GateIesPsu.com ***   To download this file in pdf format Click Here You may have to register yourself if you are NOT yet. ***  The most difficult questions you'll be asked on a job interview Being prepared is half the battle. The job interview is considered to be the most critical aspect of every expedition that brings you face-to- face with the future boss. One must prepare for it with the same tenacity and quickness as one does for a fencing tournament or a chess match. 1. Tell me about yourself. Since this is often the opening question in an interview, be extra careful that you don't run off at the mouth. Keep your answer to a minute or two at most. Cover four topics: early years, education, work history, and recent career experience. Emphasize this last subject. Remember that this is likely to be a warm-up question. Don't waste your best points on it. 2. What do you know about our organization? You should be able to discuss products or services, revenues, reputation, image, goals, problems, management style, people, history and philosophy. But don't act as if you know everything about the place. Let your answer show that you have taken the time to do some research, but don't overwhelm the interviewer, and make it clear that you wish to learn more. You might start your answer in this manner: "In my job search, I've investigated a number of companies. Yours is one of the few that interests me, for these reasons..." Give your answer a positive tone. Don't say, "Well, everyone tells me that you're in all sorts of trouble, and that's why I'm here", even if that is why you're there. 3. Why do you want to work for us? The deadliest answer you can give is "Because I like people." What else would you like-animals? Here, and throughout the interview, a good answer comes from having done your homework so that you can speak in terms of the company's needs. You might say that your research has shown that the company is doing things you would like to be involved with, and that it's doing them in ways that greatly interest you. For example, if the organization is known for strong management, your answer should mention that fact and show that you would like to be a part of that team. If the company places a great deal of emphasis on research and development, emphasize the fact that you want to create new things and that you know this is a place in which such activity is encouraged. If the organization stresses financial controls, your answer should mention a reverence for numbers. If you feel that you have to concoct an answer to this question - if, for example, the company stresses research, and you feel that you should mention it even though it really doesn't interest you- then you probably should not be taking that interview, because you probably shouldn't be considering a job with that organization. Your homework should include learning enough about the company to avoid approaching places where you wouldn't be able -or wouldn't want- to function. Since most of us are poor liars, it's difficult to con anyone in an interview. But even if you should succeed at it, your prize is a job you don't really want. 4. What can you do for us that someone else can't? Here you have every right, and perhaps an obligation, to toot your own horn and be a bit egotistical. Talk about your record of getting things done, and mention specifics from your resume or list of career accomplishments. Say that your skills and interests, combined with this history of getting results, make you valuable. Mention your ability to set priorities, identify problems, and use your experience and energy to solve them. 5. What do you find most attractive about this position? What seems least attractive about it? List three or four attractive factors of the job, and mention a single, minor, unattractive item. 6. Why should we hire you? Create your answer by thinking in terms of your ability, your experience, and your energy. (See question 4.) 7. What do you look for in a job? Keep your answer oriented to opportunities at this organization. Talk about your desire to perform and be recognized for your contributions. Make your answer oriented toward opportunity rather than personal security. 8. Please give me your defintion of [the position for which you are being interviewed]. Keep your answer brief and taskoriented. Think in in terms of responsibilities and accountability. Make sure that you really do understand what the position involves before you attempt an answer. If you are not certain. ask the interviewer; he or she may answer the question for you. 9. How long would it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our firm? Be realistic. Say that, while you would expect to meet pressing demands and pull your own weight from the first day, it might take six months to a year before you could expect to know the organization and its needs well enough to make a major contribution. 10. How long would you stay with us? Say that you are interested in a career with the organization, but admit that you would have to continue to feel challenged to remain with any organization. Think in terms of, "As long as we both feel achievement-oriented." 11. Your resume suggests that you may be over-qualified or too experienced for this position. What's Your opinion? Emphasize your interest in establishing a long-term association with the organization, and say that you assume that if you perform well in his job, new opportunities will open up for you. Mention that a strong company needs a strong staff. Observe that experienced executives are always at a premium. Suggest that since you are so wellqualified, the employer will get a fast return on his investment. Say that a growing, energetic company can never have too much talent. 12. What is your management style? You should know enough about the company's style to know that your management style will complement it. Possible styles include: task oriented (I'll enjoy problem-solving identifying what's wrong, choosing a solution and implementing it"), results-oriented ("Every management decision I make is determined by how it will affect the bottom line"), or even paternalistic ("I'm committed to taking care of my subordinates and pointing them in the right direction"). A participative style is currently quite popular: an open-door method of managing in which you get things done by motivating people and delegating responsibility. As you consider this question, think about whether your style will let you work hatppily and effectively within the organization. 13. Are you a good manager? Can you give me some examples? Do you feel that you have top managerial potential? Keep your answer achievement and ask-oriented. Rely on examples from your career to buttress your argument. Stress your experience and your energy. 14. What do you look for when You hire people? Think in terms of skills. initiative, and the adaptability to be able to work comfortably and effectively with others. Mention that you like to hire people who appear capable of moving up in the organization. 15. Have you ever had to fire people? What were the reasons, and how did you handle the situation? Admit that the situation was not easy, but say that it worked out well, both for the company and, you think, for the individual. Show that, like anyone else, you don't enjoy unpleasant tasks but that you can resolve them efficiently and -in the case of firing someone- humanely. 16. What do you think is the most difficult thing about being a manager or executive? Mention planning, execution, and cost-control. The most difficult task is to motivate and manage employees to get something planned and completed on time and within the budget. 17. What important trends do you see in our industry? Be prepared with two or three trends that illustrate how well you understand your industry. You might consider technological challenges or opportunities, economic conditions, or even regulatory demands as you collect your thoughts about the direction in which your business is heading. 18. Why are you leaving (did you leave) your present (last) job? Be brief, to the point, and as honest as you can without hurting yourself. Refer back to the planning phase of your job search. where you considered this topic as you set your reference statements. If you were laid off in an across-the-board cutback, say so; otherwise, indicate that the move was your decision, the result of your action. Do not mention personality conflicts. The interviewer may spend some time probing you on this issue, particularly if it is clear that you were terminated. The "We agreed to disagree" approach may be useful. Remember hat your references are likely to be checked, so don't concoct a story for an interview. 19. How do you feel about leaving all your benefits to find a new job? Mention that you are concerned, naturally, but not panicked. You are willing to accept some risk to find the right job for yourself. Don't suggest that security might interest you more than getting the job done successfully. 20. In your current (last) position, what features do (did) you like the most? The least? Be careful and be positive. Describe more features that you liked than disliked. Don't cite personality problems. If you make your last job sound terrible, an interviewer may wonder why you remained there until now. 21. What do you think of your boss? Be as positive as you can. A potential boss is likely to wonder if you might talk about him in similar terms at some point in the future. 22. Why aren't you earning more at your age? Say that this is one reason that you are conducting this job search. Don't be defensive. 23. What do you feel this position should pay? Salary is a delicate topic. We suggest that you defer tying yourself to a precise figure for as long as you can do so politely. You might say, "I understand that the range for this job is between Rs.______ and Rs.______. That seems appropriate for the job as I understand it." You might answer the question with a question: "Perhaps you can help me on this one. Can you tell me if there is a range for similar jobs in the organization?" If you are asked the question during an initial screening interview, you might say that you feel you need to know more about the position's responsibilities before you could give a meaningful answer to that question. Here, too, either by asking the interviewer or search executive (if one is involved), or in research done as part of your homework, you can try to find out whether there is a salary grade attached to the job. If there is, and if you can live with it, say that the range seems right to you. If the interviewer continues to probe, you might say, "You know that I'm making Rs.______ now. Like everyone else, I'd like to improve on that figure, but my major interest is with the job itself." Remember that the act of taking a new job does not, in and of itself, make you worth more money. If a search firm is involved, your contact there may be able to help with the salary question. He or she may even be able to run interference for you. If, for instance, he tells you what the position pays, and you tell him that you are earning that amount now and would Like to do a bit better, he might go back to the employer and propose that you be offered an additional 10%. If no price range is attached to the job, and the interviewer continues to press the subject, then you will have to respond with a number. You cannot leave the impression that it does not really matter, that you'll accept whatever is offered. If you've been making Rs. 8 lac a year, you can't say that a Rs. 5 lac figure would be fine without sounding as if you've given up on yourself. (If you are making a radical career change, however, this kind of disparity may be more reasonable and understandable.) Don't sell yourself short, but continue to stress the fact that the job itself is the most important thing in your mind. The interviewer may be trying to determine just how much you want the job. Don't leave the impression that money is the only thing that is important to you. Link questions of salary to the work itself. But whenever possible, say as little as you can about salary until you reach the "final" stage of the interview process. At that point, you know that the company is genuinely interested in you and that it is likely to be flexible in salary negotiations. 24. What are your long-range goals? Refer back to the planning phase of your job search. Don't answer, "I want the job you've advertised." Relate your goals to the company you are interviewing: 'in a firm like yours, I would like to..." 25. How successful do you you've been so far? Say that, all-in-all, you're happy with the way your career has progressed so far. Given the normal ups and downs of life, you feel that you've done quite well and have no complaints. Present a positive and confident picture of yourself, but don't overstate your case. An answer like, "Everything's wonderful! I can't think of a time when things were going better! I'm overjoyed!" is likely to make an interviewer wonder whether you're trying to fool him . . . or yourself. The most convincing confidence is usually quiet confidence.

Analysis of GATE 2004 conducted by IIT Delhi for GATE 2012

Dear All,

First let me say thanks to Praveen(Our Student in IES,Bangalore) who shared this with us.

Analysis of GATE 2004 conducted by IIT Delhi in Electronics and Communications Branch

Following is the subject level analysis.

 Communications  23 marks ie., 15.33% of weight-age -> We can expect 12 to 13 marks in GATE 2012

 Control Systems  21 marks ie., 14%  -> We can expect 10 to 11 marks

 Electronic Devices  20 marks ie., 13.33% -> We can expect around 10 marks from this subject

 Signals&Systems  16 marks ie., 10.66 % -> 8 marks

 Network Analysis  15 marks ie., 10% -> 7 to 8 marks

 Analog Electronics  15 marks ie., 9.33% -> 7 to 8 marks

 Digital Electronics  14 marks ie., 10% -> 7 to 8 marks

 Electromagnetic Theory  14 marks ie., 9.33% -> 6 to 7 marks

 Microprocessors  8 marks ie., 5.33% -> 4 marks from this subject.

We can draw handful conclusions from this.

1. They concentrate more on Communications, Controls, Devices which we should not leave at any cost.

2. Difficulty level also will be high in Communications, Analog and EDC.

3. We may get linked questions in EDC, Communications and Analog.

4. Those who are targeting IITs/IISc should concentrate equally on EMTheory.

All of you gear up your preparation NOW.

For regular updates from us join in here by clicking on the links Groups / Facebook or Google+

You can find discussion on this topic here. http://bit.ly/gate_2012
Thanks,

Rao.

How to prepare for ECIL Interview by ECIL working Engineer

Dear Aspirants,
This information has been shared by Ashok, presently working ECIL, Hyderabad. Thanking him for his feel of sharing to his juniors. They alone live who live for others. He live longer. This post is purely for ECE/EEE/IN department's aspirants. Hope its useful for all ECIL aspirants from IES,Bangalore.
Become a member in our groups here to get regular updates.
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Coming to point of interest,
ECIL interview panel may contain 7 to 8 members. Unfortunately we may get even DGM cadre guys also in panel. They may take interview for 30mins to 40mins. Interview is of pure technical.
Before entering into the interview, aspirant is advised to go through history of ECIL. About their major projects. Eg.,
1. They designed 32meter antenna in Bangalore which is Biggest in India for Chandrayan.
2. For Light Combat Aircraft, TEJAS they designed Stabilization unit.
3. Complete Security system for Common Wealth Games handled by ECIL
4. Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)
5. Almost all Nuclear plant's control panels
6. Security systems for all Govt., Organizations
7. Sub-systems for all most all Defence related like LAKSHYA aircraft, BRAHMOS, AKASH etc.,
This information is important when they ask "Why do you want to come to ECIL specifically". Answer for this may be like, ECIL is developing Indigenousness technology which is backbone for technology, and from job point of view, its a research oriented job. This answer may be very suitable for working guys.
Working guys may be asked about their work in depth, if they are working in Hardware/Electronics related. Guys with working exp of Software may not get queries much about their work. Working exp of Microwave will definitely fetch to aspirants. They should be of-course prepared for Microwave related questions
Coming to technical side, according to our Ashok,
They will ask first from Frequencies. Band of frequencies in Communications like L-band, C-band, S-band like that. They may ask about what is the range of Radio frequencies/Audio frequencies etc.,
Next level will go to Operational Amplifiers, then Control Systems the Microprocessors.
Questions may be expected from what is Line regulation? or What is Load regulation? or What is Zener drop down? What is Unipolar and what is Bipolar? Cut off frequencies of BJT/FET? Advantages of using FET with high frequencies?  etc.,
Electrical Guys along with previous topics may expect more questions from Power Electronics and Drives.
Instrumentation guys can expect questions from Transducers like how to measure temp., etc.,
Freshers should go through throughly about their B.tech/B.E. project. They may ask you to explain about the project with black board also. If they really did the project (sorry to say this... as present day projects are like that....) they can carry their project report with them to panel. Else donot carry but explain in your own words.
For Electrical and Instrumentation guys, we may have to give counter attack few times if they ask more about communications. We can say that communications is not part of our curricula.
For all suggestion is, If you really know then only tell them you know. Eg., everybody know MATLAB. But if you are not confident enough don't tell them that you are confident in that.
Hope its useful.
Discussions on these happen here. Aspirants are requested to update our forum in the following link after their interview. http://www.onlineies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=317
Thanks,
IES,Bangalore.
Coaching center with different Mind-set.
GATE coaching Bangalore, IES coaching Bangalore, JTO coaching Bangalore, PSU coaching in Bangalore
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How to prepare for Engineering Services Interview.

Dear All,
Here are the tips for Engg.Services Interview by Posubabu Alli, Present working IES officer in Indian Railways.
Thanks, Rao, Director, IES,Bangalore.

Engineering services Interview

Unlike CSE interview, ESE interview is quite simple and can be lead by the candidate to the right direction, if properly prepared. Board consists of four members. Chairman and 3 members.

Chairman of the board is from UPSC. Usually UPSC members head the interview boards. If there are multiple boards for a stream, there may be chances of disparities anoy multiple boards. Because marks pattern of one board differs from the other. In such case scaling should be done (But, I don’t know whether it happens or not). Multiple boards for one stream is usual in civil engineering because no. of candidates are more. Normally, one board interviews each candidate for twenty minutes at an average 6 to 7 candidates are interviewed by a board  in one session )i.e., either forenoon or afternoon session)

Normally chairman of the board starts the interview with questions related to bio –data like name, village, state, ongoing events in state etc. Deep knowledge in current affairs is not expected in this interview. Fair amount of knowledge regarding current events is sufficient. Reading news paper and magazines like India Today and Front line is sufficient you can simply skip political news in magazines and news papers concentrate on technological issues. Especially science and Tech. Colum in Thursday Hindu newspaper is very much useful. The question corner in this edition is very quite useful. Old questions can be had from the book. The Hindu speaks on scientific facts”.

You must project you self curious in knowing principles of operations of daily using gadgets etc.

In this area some previous questions asked were ¾

1.      Principle of working of bowling machine (incidentally this candidate written hobby as cricket in application)

2.      Working of spark plug in scooter

3.      Working of Xerox machine

4.      Working of air conditioner

So, the questions are more based on applications rather than theory.

 We can expect questions an

1.      Working of LCD, LED TV

2.      Internet telephony, IPTV

3.      3 G technology, wireless communication Bluetooth, wifi etc.

4.      Orgonic engines

5.      Indian space and Defence programs.

6.      Climate change adaptation etc.

 ∴ one must go deep into science and Technology topics. Science technology books of various publishers meant for CSE mains will be useful (like spectrum series, wizard series etc)

At least 20 to 30% of interview will be on present job / studies. The candidate should convincingly tell why he/she is willing to join Engg. services. There is every possibility that interviewers counter your arguments interms of pay, nature of job etc. please, keep in mind that the pay package in engg. services is less than that of PSU’s. But, you can talk about rapid promotions etc. Responsibility is no doubt high in engg. services. Job nature is less technical and more administrative. One should hare good interpersonal skills to get the job dare by subordinates. Such quality has  to be displayed during interview while you communicate.Don’t show case your present career / job as bad one. You speak about relative advantages in engg. services.

Be clean and true to yourself, regarding why you would like to join engg. services. Brush up basic theoretical principles. There are no questions seeking you to analyze technically too much (usually done in BARC interviews). Here, also concentrate more on applications. For eg:-what kind of motor is used in a mixer / grinder and why?

Have some idea regarding the sectors to which your engg. stream relates. For example – electrical engineers should know about per capita electrical energy consumption, proportion of varies kinds of electrical energy sources, national grids, HVDC links etc. similarly, civil engineers may be asked an interlinking  of rivers, urban planning etc.

Subject experts will be coming from varied fields. Depending on their fields their questions vary. One or two professors or vice chancellors will be there. You have to ensure that their questions should not be missed because; their questions will be in general nature. The questions by other experts are some times related to their field only for ex: if question like – “which kind of motor is used in Delhi metro trains?” are asked, it is …………………….. beyond some doubt about correctness.

The simplest solution to get rid of interview troubles is performing better in written exam. Having performed better in written, candidates confidence will be at peak and there by chances of getting good interview scores and hence getting top rank will be enhanced

                                                                                    Wising you good luck

                                                                                    Posu Babu Alli, IRSEE

                                                                                 Divisional Electrical Engineer

                                                                                    South central Railway   

Discussions related to this post should be here. http://www.onlineies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=302

Thanks,

IES,Bangalore.

No.1 GATE/IES coaching center in Bangalore

How to prepare for GATE with CSE Stream by IISc Post Gradute

The following doc is also shared by Chran tej who pursued his Masters from IISc,Bangalore. Thanks to Chran who worked for us.

SNo	Subject	Text-Book	Book for Each topic	Marks in GATE
1	Discreate Mathematics	1. Discrete Mathematics for computer science-MOTT & KANDEL ABRAHAM	l Mathematical Logic: Propositional Logic; First Order Logic.	10-12
		1. Discrete Mathematics for computer science-MOTT & KANDEL ABRAHAM 2. Discrete Mathematics- seymour lipschutz, marc lipson (schaum's series)	l Combinatorics: Permutations; Combinations; Counting; Summation; generating functions; recurrence relations; asymptotics.
		1. Discrete Mathematics and its application- Kenneth H. Rosen 2. Discrete Mathematics for computer science-MOTT & KANDEL ABRAHAM	l Graph Theory: Connectivity; spanning trees; Cut vertices & edges; covering; matching; independent sets; Colouring; Planarity; Isomorphism.
		1. Discrete Mathematics and its application- Kenneth H. Rosen	l Set Theory & Algebra: Sets; Relations; Functions; Groups; Partial Orders; Lattice; Boolean Algebra.
2	General Mathematics	1. Probabilty by Schaumseries 2. Probabulity by Gupta and kapoor	l Probability: Conditional Probability; Mean, Median, Mode and Standard Deviation; Random Variables; Distributions; uniform, normal, exponential, Poisson, Binomial.	6-8
		1. Numerical methods-Rajaraman 2. Numerical methods-Sastry	l Numerical Methods: LU decomposition for systems of linear equations; numerical solutions of non-linear algebraic equations by Secant, Bisection and Newton-Raphson Methods; Numerical integration by trapezoidal and Simpson’s rules.
		1. Calculus-Differential calculus by shanti narayan 1. 2. Integral calculus by Shanti narayan	l Calculus: Limit, Continuity & differentiability, Mean value Theorems, Theorems of integral calculus, evaluation of definite & improper integrals, Partial derivatives, Total derivatives, maxima & minima.
3	DBMS	1. Fundamentals of Database Systems – Elmasri & Navathe 2. Database Management System – Raghu ramakrishtnan	l ER-model, Relational model (relational algebra, tuple calculus)	10
		1. Database Systems: The Complete Book- Hector Garcia-Molina, Jeff Ullman, and Jennifer Widom 2. Fundamentals of Database Systems – Elmasri & Navathe	l Database design (integrity constraints, normal forms) l Transactions and concurrency control.
		1. Database Management System – Raghu ramakrishtnan 2. Fundamentals of Database-KORTH	l Query languages (SQL)
		1. DBMS-CJ Date 2. Database Management System – Raghu ramakrishtnan 3. Fundamentals of Database-KORTH	l File structures (sequential files, indexing, B and B+ trees)
4	C Language	1. Programming Language – Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie 2. Exploring C - Yashwant Kanitkar	l Programming in C, Functions	3-4
5	Algorithm analysis	1. Fundamentals of Computer Algorithms - Sartaj Sahni Ellis Horowitz 2. Introduction to Algorithms Thomas H. Cormen, E. Leiserson 3. Data Structures and Algorithms - Alfred V. Aho, John E. Hopcroft, Jeffrey D. Ullman	l Algorithms: Analysis, Asymptotic notation, Notions of space and time complexity, Worst and average case analysis; l Design: Greedy approach, Dynamic programming, Divide-and-conquer; l Tree and graph traversals, Connected components, Spanning trees, Shortest paths; l Hashing, Sorting, Searching.
5	Data structures	1. Data Structures andAlgorithm Analysis in C - Mark Allen Weiss 2. Data Structures and Algorithms - Alfred V. Aho, John E. Hopcroft, Jeffrey D. Ullman	l Recursion, Parameter passing, Scope, Binding; l Abstract data types, Arrays, Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists, Trees, Binary search trees, Binary heaps.	15-20
6	Theory of Computation	1. Introduction to Automata theory, Languages and Computation – john E Hopcroft, Jeffrey D Ullman 2. Introduction to the theory of computation – Michael sipser	l Theory of Computation: Regular languages and finite automata, Context free languages and Push-down automata, Recursively enumerable sets and Turing machines, Undecidability; NPcompleteness.	8-10
7	Language Processor or Compiler Design	1. Compilers principles, Techniques, & Tools- Alfred V Aho, Monica S. Lam, Ravi Sethi, Jeffrey D. Ullman 2. Basics of Compiler Design- Torben Mogensen	l Lexical analysis, Parsing, Syntax directed translation, Runtime environments, Intermediate and target code generation, Basics of code optimization.	4-6
8	Operating System	1. Operating System Concepts – Abraham Silberschatz, peter baer Galvin 2. Operating system design and implimentation - tanenbaum 3. PERATING SYSTEMS – William Stallings	l Processes, Threads, Inter-process communication, Concurrency, Synchronization, Deadlock, CPU scheduling, Memory management and virtual memory, File systems, I/O systems, Protection and security.	8-10
9	Computer Organization and Architecture	1. Computer Organization - Carl Hamacher 2. Computer Organization and Design – David A. Patterson 3. Computer Architecture and Organization - John P. Hayes	l Machine instructions and addressing modes, ALU and data-path, CPU control design, Memory interface, I/O interface (Interrupt and DMA mode), Instruction pipelining, Cache and main memory, Secondary storage.	6-8
10	Computer Network	1. Computer network – Tenenbaum 2. Computer Networking(Top-Down Approach) - Kruse ross 3. Data and computer communications - William stallings	l ISO/OSI stack, LAN technologies (Ethernet, Token ring), Flow and error control techniques, Routing algorithms, Congestion control, TCP/UDP and sockets, IP(v4), Application layer protocols (icmp, dns, smtp, pop, ftp, http); Basic concepts of hubs, switches, gateways, and routers.	8-10
11	Digital Logic	1. Fundamentals of logic design CHARLES ROTH 2. Digital Principles- ROGER L. TOKHEIM, M.S.(schaum's series) 3. Digital logic and computer design - MORRIS MANO	l Logic functions, Minimization, Design and synthesis of combinational and sequential circuits; Number representation and computer arithmetic (fixed and floating point).	4-6

Note: Preference of text books according to the order which are given for individual subject.

Thanks,

Rao, Director,

IES,Bangalore.

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