Interview question

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heimjrh

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I recently asked the following question at an interview for an electrical position. I did not understand the point of the question and asked for clarification. My interviewers seems surprised at my hesitation to answer. Is it me or is this question ambiguous? Here is the question:

How many circuits can be hooked up to a 20 amp breaker?

This is exactly how the question was worded.
 
The question stinks but I would go with the simplest answer which would be 1. Technically it could be 1, 2, or 3 if you had a 1 pole, 2 pole or 3 pole CB.

Welcome to the forum.
 
I went to a new job and the first thing the foreman asks me is "what color is number 10?". Thinking he meant #10 wire I said "any color you want." "Wrong! it's red" he said. Oh, obviously (now) he meant the 10 position in a breaker panel. Before I could explain my confusion (or his lack of context) he decided I was not lead man material and relegated me to grunt work.
 
I was being interviewed by a panel once and it was going very well. I was relaxed and joking a little with them, until a woman who had been silent the whole time spoke up and said, " I have a bit of a strange question to ask you."

I grinned at her and said, "You're not going to ask me what kind of animal I would be, are you?"

Her face fell. I didn't get the job.
 
ggunn said:
I was being interviewed by a panel once and it was going very well. I was relaxed and joking a little with them, until a woman who had been silent the whole time spoke up and said, " I have a bit of a strange question to ask you."

I grinned at her and said, "You're not going to ask me what kind of animal I would be, are you?"

Her face fell. I didn't get the job.
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so the animal would be dead duck?
 
ggunn said:
I was being interviewed by a panel once and it was going very well. I was relaxed and joking a little with them, until a woman who had been silent the whole time spoke up and said, " I have a bit of a strange question to ask you."

I grinned at her and said, "You're not going to ask me what kind of animal I would be, are you?"

Her face fell. I didn't get the job.
Click to expand...
LOL
 
heimjrh said:
I recently asked the following question at an interview for an electrical position. I did not understand the point of the question and asked for clarification. My interviewers seems surprised at my hesitation to answer. Is it me or is this question ambiguous? Here is the question:

How many circuits can be hooked up to a 20 amp breaker?

This is exactly how the question was worded.
Click to expand...
Well, that depends how smaller or bigger your circuit is. It can be one to multiple circuits based on your circuit loads.
 
I would go with 1, since everything that would be turned off by the breaker would be on the same circuit, by definition. It doesn't matter if it's a 20 or a 15 amp breaker. Even if you have a 2 pole breaker with a shared neutral, it's still a single branch circuit.
 
Z3R0 said:
Well, that depends how smaller or bigger your circuit is. It can be one to multiple circuits based on your circuit loads.
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If it's a single pole circuit breaker it's only one circuit. The loads connected do not matter.
 
K8MHZ said:
I would go with 1, since everything that would be turned off by the breaker would be on the same circuit, by definition. It doesn't matter if it's a 20 or a 15 amp breaker. Even if you have a 2 pole breaker with a shared neutral, it's still a single branch circuit.
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What if—and it is an extreme what if—the 20A breaker supplies a feeder... say a motor feeder for several [undetermined number of] small motors that have separate SC/GFP breakers and controllers? :D

Otherwise +1 :happyyes:
 
Smart $ said:
What if—and it is an extreme what if—the 20A breaker supplies a feeder... say a motor feeder for several [undetermined number of] small motors that have separate SC/GFP breakers and controllers? :D

Otherwise +1 :happyyes:
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That should be enough to account for the OP's hesitation. He should have got the job!

What if you had a sub panel with a back fed 20 amp main and a couple 15 amp branch circuits?
 
A multi-wire branch circuit on a 2 pole CB can also be 2 circuits. If I run a three wire cable (MWBC) to the kitchen counter and feed two different receptacles I would have met the minimum 2 circuit requirement.
 
Welcome to the forum here as well.
infinity said:
The question stinks but I would go with the simplest answer which would be 1. Technically it could be 1, 2, or 3 if you had a 1 pole, 2 pole or 3 pole CB.

Welcome to the forum.
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Agree.

Coppersmith said:
I went to a new job and the first thing the foreman asks me is "what color is number 10?". Thinking he meant #10 wire I said "any color you want." "Wrong! it's red" he said. Oh, obviously (now) he meant the 10 position in a breaker panel. Before I could explain my confusion (or his lack of context) he decided I was not lead man material and relegated me to grunt work.
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What? There are numerous panels where #10 would be red, as would most all other breakers (original FPE), or grey, as would all other breakers (color of the panel paint), or tan (CH CH breakers), or black, or...

based on the feeder wire position, it could be red (B leg), assuming it's 3ph and not a high leg or a 480V panel (which would be orange)

given the lack of context, he could have been asking what color #10 is on a roulette wheel (can be red or black) or a dart board (which is always red afaik). Newer 10/x NM is orange jacketed.

That is seriously one of the dumbest, most useless questions to ask to determine ability or knowledge.

http://s89.photobucket.com/user/cableman651/media/ScreenHunter_01Apr291945.jpg.html

whoop-de-do.

In data com, the color of #10 is red/slate in 25 pair color code.
 
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JFletcher said:
That is seriously one of the dumbest, most useless questions to ask to determine ability or knowledge.
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Anyone that asks this kind of question is usually not worth my time. I'd probably answer "How many poles? What's downstream? Usually one branch circuit, but it depends on what you haven't told me."

Another one is "How many elephants can you put in a refrigerator?" First off, it depends on the sizes of the 'fridge and of the elephants.

"What color is #10?"
"Number 10 what?" (loose wire, wire inside a jacket, the UK PM's residence, position in a panel, etc)
- any is allowed
- probably orange or yellow with a black tracer
- blue brick
- depends on the panel
- etc

(sorry, it's been a long day)
 
ggunn said:
I was being interviewed by a panel once and it was going very well. I was relaxed and joking a little with them, until a woman who had been silent the whole time spoke up and said, " I have a bit of a strange question to ask you."

I grinned at her and said, "You're not going to ask me what kind of animal I would be, are you?"

Her face fell. I didn't get the job.
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Not surprised.
 
The question is tricky because a multipole CB could be just one circuit (like a 3Ø load) or multiple circuits (like a MWBC).
 
zbang said:
Anyone that asks this kind of question is usually not worth my time.
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That's my gut reaction as well. The interviewer did you a huge favor by letting you know up front that you really didn't want to work for that company.
 
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