That tells you something.
(media.patriots.win)
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Something about hard work that changes a person. Blue collar seems to bring about a different kind of personality. I always try to bring up guys that i know that have a work ethic. I no longer hire people with a college degree, unless they were prior military, or are people that worked first and went to college later. There are a few exceptions, but just out of college tends to be folks that can't get through my interview. The interview tells me a lot, some people think that going and getting a degree is the hard work and getting a good job is their reward. I believe that i can tell if someone is going to be a good worker or not. In my area, you have to have a thirst for knowledge. Electronics and electrical theory is a vast discipline. There are virtually infinite amounts of paths to follow, no one knows it all and we are all still learning. I've found that someone who just has an inquisitive mind and likes to explore tech seems to work out best. Even with just a HS diploma, some people just like the feeling of accomplishment of creating something or building something.
I teach the recent EE grads when they come to work here. I begin at basic electrical theory including ohms law, reactance, impedance, basic component theory. Out of over a 100 EE's from good universities, I have only had a handful that actually had a solid grasp of what i was teaching. That is not a positive sign. I have taken electronics technicians from the Navy, Coast Guard and avionics electronics guys from the Air Force and they do quite a bit better. The one advantage that the EE grads have is the Calculus. Out of the folks that I've trained, only about 10-15% go on to become great engineers. I think that college has become less focused on fundamental science and spread out to too much on the social sciences and humanities. I've never had a Cal Poly or MIT grad, but I'm willing to bet that they come out far stronger on fundamentals and teaching them would be a joy. At least I hope so. I'll take an enquiring mind over a formally educated cram and forget student any day.
Not interviews, these were hires. I don' t do the hiring. I get them after they have been here for 6mos to about 2-3 years. Depends on where they are at in their professional development and which dept they are in. I just teach a class. We have over 3500 employees at this location. Approximately 40% are EE's. Each class is approx. 8 to 10 people. I do two to three classes a year. I hit 20 years of service in two months. I've been teaching the class for the last 10 years.