The Interview

So I had a job interview today, which was an interesting experience :)

I started by leaving about 25 minutes early, which should have given me plenty of time to make the 5 miles or so necessary to get to the place. I had completely forgotten about the road construction that is going on around Sangre however (which was where I needed to go) and when I got out to the highway and saw it, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. I recalled Matt (the person who was interviewing me) saying to make it to 19th and Sangre, then head north. So I decided I'd come back and try going down Western and hitting 19th. No problem.

Well, when I got down to 19th, I saw that was closed due to construction as well! I tried to bypass it by going into a little residential area but though I went all around back there, there were no outlets other than the one I had come in by. So I had to worm my way all the way back through these little residential streets back to 19th and the road block. I seriously contemplated just zooming past all of the machinery that was there because by this time I was getting a bit nervous.

I made it back to Western and went up north figuring I'd circle all the way around to the west side of Sangre (I was on the east) and get to it that way. On the way I saw 9th and 8th street and tried both to see if I could cut across like that. It was a bad idea, both were dead ends. It was like a bad dream, one where you're trying everything you can possibly do to get to the job interview and no matter how hard you try, you're blocked off every way! I made it back to the highway and went out west of Meridian and then weaved back to Sangre and found the place. By now I was ten minutes late and so I ran to the door, rather embarrassed.

Matt was very pleasant though and said it was completely understandable, with all the construction that was going on around the place. He took me in and showed me the lab where they work and then we went to a small conference room where he proceeded to grill me. The first question was what to do when you have a box that is outputting five volts and you need something less than three volts on the input of the next box. I suggested a voltage regulator in the circuit (which would have worked) or I said the simplest thing I could think of would be a voltage divider. He said that is essentially what they did, a voltage divider.

Next, he asked me what I would do if I had something that was sending and something that was receiving from an antenna. I suggested diodes to limit the flow to only one direction but he said at high frequencies, diodes would act like shorts because of their capacitance (which I didn't know) so I just said you needed some kind of module that would allow incoming signals to go one way and outgoing signals to go another way. He said that was correct and they use RF switches for that.

Lastly, he had a transceiver (which both sent and received) and wanted to get a gain on it. I suggested an opamp for that and he asked "but what about returning signals?" I thought you might have to step them back down but he said that incoming signals were usually weak anyway. So they would just go straight to the transceiver. So again, you'd have an RF switch and out of that, a gain of 1000 and coming back in you'd just have the straight wire. He asked what to do to get the maximum gain and would all the power be dissipated through the antenna (which was 75 ohms and the transceiver was 50 ohms). I said some would be dissipated through the circuitry and then he asked well, what are the conditions for max power then? I said "Oh! The antenna would have to be 50 ohms, or the transceiver would have to be 75 ohms." He said yes, usually they adjusted it with a potentiometer or something, and that was largely what he did.

"Okay, you did well. Very well actually!" And he sort of laughed. "I had a grad student in here yesterday who just stared blankly at me."

I have to say that most of what he was saying was new to me and it was only after we had worked through them that he found out that I hadn't taken fields or devices yet. But he said he'd get back in touch with me next week and I may come in for another interview then.

"What's your phone number so I can get in contact with you?"
"Actually, I don't have a phone number so my e-mail is the best way."
"What? No phone? Oh, you and Rob would get along great."

As we went back into the lab, he said "Hey Rob, there's another person in the world who doesn't have a phone." Rob looked up from the work bench and said "All right! Hi, I'm Rob." And I introduced myself.

Matt showed me some of the things they were working on and how they were used. A large plastic capsule was used to house some of the circuitry which would go into the stomach of large animals, like cattle. They could then identify it and monitor its temperature etc. He had an antenna that he said was stronger and had a range of 11 miles. "That could be used to help prevent rustling!" I said, remembering the Covington's bulls. He said "Yeah, I guess so." He said some of this stuff worked with an implant in the ear. I explained that I'd helped to put in the implants before at a ranch I worked at a couple of summers ago. "Hmm! So you actually put them in?" He thought that was interesting and said they didn't really have any interaction with the animals so they didn't know about that. They just make the components.

So I think it went well. I was thankful that they are at least considering me. If I'm going up against grad students then it's nice that they'd even consider someone who is as low as I am. The good thing is that Matt said he was just about where I was in his education when he began this job, he's graduating and going to work for Garmin.

And now a couple of things I thought really neat from Henry that I meant to post a while ago but wasn't able to:

A couple of things from Henry on relationship between Sampson's mother and father:

First, when the angel appears to Manoah's wife:

"Manoah is not disgusted that the angel did not this second time appear to him, but very willingly goes after his wife to the man of God. To atone (as it were) for the first fatal miscarriage, when Eve earnestly pressed Adam to that which was evil, and he too easily yielded to her, let yoke-fellows excite one another to love and good works; and, if the wife will lead, let not the husband think it any disparagement to him to follow her in that which is virtuous and praiseworthy."

And then again, when the angel ascends and Manoah says they shall surely die:

"In his wife's reflection upon it there is great faith, Jdg_13:23. Here the weaker vessel was the stronger believer, which perhaps was the reason why the angel chose once and again to appear to her. Manoah's heart began to fail him, but his wife, as a help meet for him, encouraged him. Two are better than one, for, if one fall into dejections and despondencies, the other will help to raise him up. Yoke-fellows should piously assist each other's faith and joy as there is occasion."