I need to do job interviews for an Instrument Man position. We currently don't have a Rodman position, so this is considered entry level for us. I work for a County government and have to come up with questions to ask of the applicants, so the interview committee (3 people) can quantitatively rank the candidates. What questions would you suggest for such a position?
Interview questions can be Googled. For the search term "interview questions for surveying instrument man", some examples that pop up are:
https://www.mockquestions.com/position/Survey+Technician/ which to this layman seems pretty good.
This one shows what you're probably trying to avoid:?ÿ https://www.glassdoor.com/Interview/Weisser-Engineering-Instrument-Man-Interview-Questions-EI_IE301735.0,19_KO20,34.htm
Certainly not exhaustive, but these may spur some thought among your interview committee members.
For data analyst and GIS analysts, some sort of hands-on test is often required?ÿ It may have a database and a problem or a database and an exploration. Something for entry level may be harder to design, but you might have some idea of the knowledge that you want a candidate to bring with him or her, maybe some math skills or computer skills that you can assess economically.
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Here is what you CAN'T ask.
http://hhstaffingservices.com/jobs-in-florida-illegal-interview-questions-you-need-to-know/
http://www.businessinsider.com/11-illegal-interview-questions-2013-7
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If the candidate claims to be experienced I'd have him (or her) set up an instrument.
What do you do for fun?
That is one of my favorite questions to ask an applicant at an interview after discussing their work history, back story and objectives for seeking employment.
As far as an instrument operator, one can teach the fundamentals quite easily and quickly, if you believe the person has the right stuff. If you can't train then that says a lot about something.
Can you swing a hammer??ÿ ( Not Legal, but truly a skill you need to have as an Instrument(ROD) person. or Just a RPLS too.?ÿ 😉
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Just hire someone that is smart and especially someone not "mentored" in the ancient arts. My goal is to enjoy my job working with these people and if you are educated and can think abstractly there is no limit to the success you can accomplish. Maybe I am just a good judge of character, but, I have had success with the people I choose to hire that way.
I have worked with masters of the ancient surveying techniques and all did their best to slow down progressive thinking. One constantly quizzed me on whether I could tie a survey slip knot in a plumb bob and other ancient knowledge. Sorry, but I do not think ancient techniques are important information anymore except as a short history lesson. As far as I can tell anyone who has been around a surveyor long enough has learned a multitude of useless lessons.?ÿ
Can you swing a hammer??ÿ ( Not Legal, but truly a skill you need to have as an Instrument(ROD) person. or Just a RPLS too.?ÿ 😉
Can't you legally put that in the job requirements??ÿ If not there, maybe you can't ask, but real physical requirements for a job have to be allowed for.
Just hire someone that is smart and especially someone not "mentored" in the ancient arts.?ÿ ...?ÿ I do not think ancient techniques are important information anymore except as a short history lesson.
It would depend on the type of work being done, but someone working boundary can benefit a lot from knowing about historical methods, in order to understand what is more likely to be reliable in old descriptions.?ÿ And doesn't construction work sometimes need a plumb bob??ÿ
We struggle with identifying the right people for this position and retaining them for any length of time. Our current thinking is to look for someone bright, enthusiastic, and with not too much experience (or bad habits) recognizing that we may cycle through a lot of them over time. Here are the questions from our last set of interviews:
Tell us about your experience and education as you believe it relates to this position.?ÿ Highlight survey and math courses taken, certifications obtained, software abilities, and special training you??ve received.?ÿ
Tell us about your strengths and your weaknesses.?ÿ
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with an idea your coworker wanted to pursue. How did you approach the disagreement??ÿ
If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for??ÿ?ÿ
What attracted you to this job and the prospect of working for the City of Denver?
Discuss your personal career goals.
Do you have any questions for us?
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Can you swing a hammer??ÿ ( Not Legal, but truly a skill you need to have as an Instrument(ROD) person. or Just a RPLS too.?ÿ 😉
Can't you legally put that in the job requirements??ÿ If not there, maybe you can't ask, but real physical requirements for a job have to be allowed for.
You can describe the job as being required to use all limbs and appendages to " feel, touch, adjust, etc etc etc, " But you cannot ask someone if they have a "bad Back".?ÿ You can ask: "Are you physically fit to perform the duties of this job within reasonable limits, as described in the job posting?"?ÿ There's a;ways someone willing to try to game the system, and word of mouth can be both a savior, and a huge dilemma too.
If you can't use a Gammon reel or set a property pin, you probably should just stick to drafting only.?ÿ Nothing about clearing line is important because you can hire that out, but I actually enjoyed the 2737' of line we got to clear across the Rio Grande a few years ago to do " Real Survey" work, and nothing progressive about technology could have done anything better.?ÿ Good Times.
Can you swing a hammer??ÿ ( Not Legal, but truly a skill you need to have as an Instrument(ROD) person. or Just a RPLS too.?ÿ 😉
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Reword it to, "Are you proficient in the use and operation of a 5 lb least square adjustment tool?"
I always held favor to someone that not only knew how to use the tools of our profession, they could handle them with care and keep them in top working order by causing no harm.
That comes from knowing some excellent surveyors who had a repair budget that was eating away the profit because the reason they were always being introduced to new tech was because their equipment was constantly breaking down or being lost or damaged
Your beer and the instrument start to tip at the same time, do you?
A) Try to save your beer and let the instrument fall
B) Try to save the instrument and let the beer fall
C) Try to save both your beer and the instrument because to do otherwise is wasterful
"How many ways do you know to set a back sight?"
Was actually asked this question in an interview for an instrument man position.
Let's see, hmmm... a natural, a cross arm lath nailed head height to tree with sharpie tick on line, a lath with a nail center in the top using the optical plummet, plumb bob string, target in a pole, on a wall, a nail on top of a post, yada, yada, yada.
I was nearly done going down the list in my head when they said, "Okay that's enough! The job's yours if you want it.
There certainly are folks who will burn the clock demonstrating or describing nostalgic techniques. There are also grey-haired old men around that can crank out double the work of a solid hand with limited experience. I look at one in the mirror every morning.?ÿ
I use all of the tools in my box. Some are ancient, others bleeding edge. If you reject either out of hand you are missing the boat.
"What kind of things do you do or look for to confirm that the data you are collecting or the points you are staking are actually correct? If you suspect there is an issue, what kind of things to you do to confirm things are correct, or determine what is wrong?"
Obviously this is a line of questioning I'm using to try to weed out the blind data collector followers.
Hey Bill, I guess that plumb bob thing would have to be my "greatest weakness" answer in the interview. 🙂
Here's a tact; If you don't know enough of the right questions to ask, why not turn the interview over to the candidate?
Hand that person a brief (no one likes a bunch of corporate speak) synopsis of the position, and let them ask the questions. If you feel a topic has been overlooked or not addressed, introduce that. Be prepared to write down the questions and answers, and turn that over to the committee.
Your best candidate will have already listed their qualifying experience (subjective) and asked the correct questions. ?ÿno ?
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I have hired a lot of people over the years, and almost all of them have been successful. The ones that weren't for reasons outside of performance, like family issues or the need to move for their spouse. You have gotten some good suggestions here. I always looked at it as a character assessment, more than a skill assessment, unless I needed someone to hit the ground running, then it was both. If I was looking for an entry level person, my objective was to find the most energetic, intellectual, able bodied "lump of clay" in the bunch and show them a career path and how to get it with their investment. I have provided many references to sit for the Professional Land Surveyors exam as a result.?ÿ
Craft the questions to get them to talk, to reveal something beyond the answer to the question. Again, there have been several great suggestions along those lines in this thread. One of the best tactics I ever heard was from a friend who was hiring for an inspector position that worked almost completely alone. They were inspecting flood protection structures, so it was literally a matter of life and death, so he had to be able to trust them. He would ask a totally bogus question, like "Tell me about the Aaronson's Factor of expansive clay soils?" There is no such thing. If they answered with BS, they were immediately eliminated. If they answered honestly, they were still in the running. The HR people hated it, but I thought it was brilliant.
Regarding questions you can't ask: Yes, be aware of those. It's like being called to provide a reference check. You have to be very careful. When I got a reference check call about a less than stellar employee, or former employee, my favorite answer was "You would very fortunate to have him/her work for you." Without saying "because I could never get them to work for me!!!"
Good thread.
