Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017)

Re:Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017) by WalterBright on Saturday April 11, 2020 @02:35PM (#22843243)

I was watching "Roadkill" the other day. On the show a couple of mechanics try to pass themselves off as bumpkin mechanics muddling through fixing cars. But every once in a while they'll slip up. For example, one of them said the engine was behaving in an adiabatic way. This is a term one only learns taking a college level thermodynamics course.

It's hard to fake having an engineering education, and if you have one it should show in an interview whether or not you have the degree.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017) by davidw on Saturday April 11, 2020 @02:57PM (#22843381)

The term also comes up in meterology, for instance Chinook winds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_wind

Which I learned because I'm curious, not because I have a degree in anything related.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017) by WalterBright on Saturday April 11, 2020 @03:31PM (#22843611)

I watch hot rod shows and read hot rod magazines and books. (What can I say, I'm a motorhead.) Not once before have I ever seen any reference to thermodynamic jargon, which is why that word jumped out at me.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017) by pdr2020 on Sunday April 12, 2020 @02:18AM (#22846397)

I watched Gordon Ramsay pretend to be a beginner chef on some TV series too. Despite slipping up numerous times, teaching chefs don't discover him.

Why? Because impressions matter and will frame you as "X", until you strongly challenge and overthrow that initial impression.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017) by sk5t on Saturday April 11, 2020 @03:14PM (#22843490)

Out of curiosity, do you recall any more context around referring to an engine (combustion engine?) in terms of adiabatic process? I'm just a bit puzzled how this might come up in relation to a car.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017) by WalterBright on Saturday April 11, 2020 @03:25PM (#22843562)

It was in the context of the radiator being clogged and unable to dump the heat.

"An adiabatic process occurs without transferring heat or mass between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings. Unlike an isothermal process, an adiabatic process transfers energy to the surroundings only as work."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiabatic_process

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Questions to ask at the end of a technical interview (2017) by sk5t on Sunday April 12, 2020 @07:56PM (#22851946)

Wasn't looking for the definition, having studied thermodynamics as an undergrad, just surprised that a nonfunctional cooling system might be cast in such terms. Like, you don't start by noticing the engine's increased thermal efficiency as a stepping stone to realizing the radiator isn't getting hot or the water pump is failing to pump.

[ Parent | on HN ]