Interview for Electircal Inspector

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j9DuBois

j9DuBois

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What kinds of questions should someone anticipate for an interview as an electrical inspector? Any help is appreciated :)
 
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j9DuBois said:
What kinds of questions should I anticipate? :)
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I imagine it will depend on what kind of inspecting you will be doing and who is actually interviewing you. If they are not an inspector themselves then code issues are probably not going to surface during the interview. If private home inspector your experience and qualifications are likely more important than code issues also. If interviewing for a position with an AHJ you could possibly be asked your opinion on code issues or about laws of the jurisdiction. Most AHJ will probably want some certification as an electrical inspector but may not require you have certification at application/interview time. Some may even provide or send you to training at their expense, as well as continuing education for all their inspectors so all have same training.
 
For the most part, your application and resume tells the story of your experience and qualifications. The interview determines your personality and demeanor. So, I would expect you to get alot of questions on how you resolve conflict, stress, deadlines, etc. They will also probably want to know how well you know the community and local comtractors.

Let us know how it goes and if your get any suprise / weird questions...
 
bphgravity said:
For the most part, your application and resume tells the story of your experience and qualifications. The interview determines your personality and demeanor. So, I would expect you to get alot of questions on how you resolve conflict, stress, deadlines, etc. They will also probably want to know how well you know the community and local comtractors.

Let us know how it goes and if your get any suprise / weird questions...
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I agree. The jurisdiction I work for and the one I previously worked for both were more concerned with how I would deal with stressfull situations than they were with any code expertise.

This is especially true if you are interviewing for a municipality, county, etc...

Pete
 
Experience

Experience

I like the quote.
I know there were many applicants, probably some that even have had past experience working for the department.
So, I have some handy answers for stressful situations. I have been in construction for many years, when conflicts were resolved with clubs, it has become much more civil now.
Ok, how do you resolve conflicts btw a contractor and the AHJ?
 
j9DuBois said:
Ok, how do you resolve conflicts btw a contractor and the AHJ?
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Be aware of the possibility that the conflict may be nothing more than a mis-communication. Deal with it using the following sequence:
(1) OK, I think that this is what you are saying, XXX.
(2) And here is what I am saying, XXX.
(3) So before we go any further, am I correctly summarizing the disagreement?

The next step is to pull out the book, and read it together.
 
All the info above, is, IMHO, excellent.
I might add, with most every municipal government job that I have encountered in terms of conflict, they love the answer "let's discuss with my supervisor" (I think it helps them support the redundancy of supervision
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("get my gun" is only acceptable in certain southern towns
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In Chicago, the only important question is "who is your clout"?

Not too long ago, the city hired a 19 YO kid to be an inspector with no relevant experience whatsoever.

IIRC, it only came to light when he asked for a bigger bribe than the contractor was willing to pay.

There is kind of a point to this comment. Often getting any job with localities is dependant as much on who you know as what you know.

In one municpality I am aware of local to me, it was the common practice of the building department that union contractor jobs were almost never inspected (or it was a pass by type inspection), while non-union contractors were very closely inspected.

Find out ahead of time just how things really work there if you can.
 
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