amusing phone call

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480sparky said:
Isn't it an "A" or "B" on a GB bender?
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I hate those stinking benders. Give them to the rebar guys. They're 45 degrees with the handle straight up, so that alone gripes me. I can multiply by 2 pretty easily, but I'm not really up on my 1.47 times tables.
 
My employer uses a 25 question electrical test to help determine if the guy will be a ditch digger, pipe bender or foreman. A lot of the foreman applications come in with no answer to the pipe bending, wire nut, or box fill questions.

At least were not the only ones struggling for good help.
 
this is only a test

this is only a test

I used to work with a guy who could stand on the ground, look 20 feet up at some crazy offset+turn, then bend it, we would take it up and it would fit like a glove. I have just never been that good. I can get close but I'll usually need at least one tweak or two (sometimes I just throw the thing away in disgust...like when I bend it backwards!).

I don't know how much grilling I could take as an expert bender could probably trap me into saying something stupid. For that matter, I say stupid stuff all the time without being trapped.

As for a quiz: I remember talking to a builder in Atlanta who built multi-story buildings. He said he interviewed a guy one time and started giving him the "competency test". He asked the guy if he had his own plumb bob. The guy said "of course" and showed him a nice new one. He then asked the guy when it was last calibrated...."um, I'm not sure but I can have it checked". That was the end of the interview. The builder laughed and told me he just uses a brick and string!
 
mivey said:
I used to work with a guy who could stand on the ground, look 20 feet up at some crazy offset+turn, then bend it, we would take it up and it would fit like a glove. I have just never been that good. I can get close but I'll usually need at least one tweak or two (sometimes I just throw the thing away in disgust...like when I bend it backwards!).

I don't know how much grilling I could take as an expert bender could probably trap me into saying something stupid. For that matter, I say stupid stuff all the time without being trapped.

As for a quiz: I remember talking to a builder in Atlanta who built multi-story buildings. He said he interviewed a guy one time and started giving him the "competency test". He asked the guy if he had his own plumb bob. The guy said "of course" and showed him a nice new one. He then asked the guy when it was last calibrated...."um, I'm not sure but I can have it checked". That was the end of the interview. The builder laughed and told me he just uses a brick and string!
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That's to funny!! I worked with an old Jamaican electrician who was the same way... funny thing is that he couldn't see anything (barely) I would drive him everywhere, couldnt find tools or misc. materials but that joker could bend pipe for ya over the phone, he would just listen to it and know what it needed
 
Ohms Law

Ohms Law

Ohms law says the amount of current in a circuit depends on how much pressure is pushing upon how much resitence. IMHO every electrician should understand this concept inside, outside, upside down. It is the fundemental physics of what we do.
 
hardworkingstiff said:
I got the call. Starts out with pleasantries. During the intro, he says he worked for the union for 8 years. I asked him if he was an electrician or an electricians helper. Answer, electrician!
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If a guy calls up and tells you he has done electrical work for 8 years this really has no meaning. The electrical field is very broad. I worked with a guy that could do all sorts of control work but couldn't bend a piece of conduit.

I don't have any employees at the present but I have run many crews.

What I alway liked to do is ask the prospective electricain is what type of work he had been doing and just what his job title and function was on those particular jobs. ( beware the material man or tool room guy unless you need one).

A guy can be a job foreman running a crew for residential work and know very little about commercial or industrial work. Doesn't mean he's stupid just ignorant ( untrained ). But, if he has been on a residential crew for 8 years it is reasonable to expect him to know everything about residential work. If he has learned all about residential it's also reasonable to think he can learn other types of work. If he has spent 8 years on a residential crew and still doesn't know residential the odds of him ever becomming a good commercial or industrial electrican are very, repeat, very slim.

It's good to have a well rounded background in electrical but many people only know what they have been taught on past jobs. I have always believed that a person that becomes proficient at one job can learn another.

I know some Union electricians that have not touched a power cable in years. The company they work for has two departments , one for power and another for low voltage ( data, fire alarms, fiber optics and so on). Some others have worked maintenance at a local mall for years ( I think these guys have forgotten how to do electrical work ). :confused:
 
Expierience in the trade and time in the trade are often not the same thing.around here if a guy has spent his time wiring condos then you can figure all he knows is ,nail a box, drill a hole .pull a wire then repeat.
 
iaov said:
Ohms law says the amount of current in a circuit depends on how much pressure is pushing upon how much resitence. IMHO every electrician should understand this concept inside, outside, upside down. It is the fundemental physics of what we do.
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I'm not sure if he said he did not get the concept:

LawnGuyLandSparky said:
I wouldn't know what answer you were looking for if you asked me what ohm's law was. I'd give you the formula.
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It seems to me he didn't necessarily know how to quote the technical definition. While there is nothing wrong with knowing the technical definition, I don't think you need to know it to be an electrician. Engineers are the ones who are supposed to get all worked up about the technical definitions and the finer details of the concepts. Electricians live in a more practical world:grin:

[edit: typo]
 
I recall a story that came from Fr. Theodore Hesburgh?s book, ?God, Country, and Notre Dame.? If you don?t know the name, he is president emeritus of that fine school. I won?t get this story completely right, but I?ll get it close enough to be on topic with this thread.

One of his earliest acts, upon taking on the presidency, was to fire the Athletic Director. The man objected, citing among other things the fact that he had 20+ years of experience. Fr. Hesburgh replied, ?No you don?t. You have one year of experience, and you have repeated it 19 times.?
 
charlie b said:
One of his earliest acts, upon taking on the presidency, was to fire the Athletic Director. The man objected, citing among other things the fact that he had 20+ years of experience. Fr. Hesburgh replied, ?No you don?t. You have one year of experience, and you have repeated it 19 times.?
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:grin: I like that story.

Charlie, I like the new avatar too. :)
 
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