HEAT EXCHANGERS

Heat exchangers are devices used to transfer heat energy from one fluid to another. Typical heat exchangers experienced by us in our daily lives include condensers and evaporators used in air conditioning units and refrigerators.Boilers and condensers in thermal power plants are examples of large industrial heat exchangers. There are heat exchangers in our automobiles in the form of radiators and oil coolers. Heat exchangers are also abundant in chemical and process industries. There is a wide variety of heat exchangers for diverse kinds of uses, hence the construction also would differ widely. However, in spite of the variety, most heat exchangers can be classified into some common types based on some fundamental design concepts.

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

1. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

ØTensile, Compressive, Shear & Bulk Strength

ØDuctility

ØYield Strength

ØToughness

ØAnelasticity

ØViscoelasticity

ØHardness

ØCreep

ØFatigue

ØStress Relaxation

ØImpact Strength

TENSILE, COMPRESSIVE, SHEAR & BULK STRESS

ØUnder Tensile Stress, load increases length of material, whereas under Compressive Stress, load decreases length of material. In both cases, nature of stress-strain curve remains same

ØShear Stress is force per unit area parallel to surface area of specimen as shown in figure, which is measured in terms of angle of shear

ØShear stress (t) and shear strain (g) are related with each other by ‘Shear Modulus of Rigidity (G)’ 

   and given as t = G g

ØBulk Stress is force per unit area applied on material uniformly in all directions (hydrostatic pressure), so that material changes its volume without changing its shape

ØRatio of bulk stress to bulk strain is known as ‘Bulk Modulus’   [-dp / (dV/V)], where negative sign implies that as pressure increases, volume decreases

ØReciprocal of bulk modulus is known as ‘Compressibility’

ØPoisson’s Ratio is ratio of strains in x or y-directions to that of in z-direction, i.e. u = - (ex / ez) = - (ey / ez) (normally lies in range of 0.25 – 0.35 for metals)

ØElongation in one direction (z-direction) produces compression in other two directions (x and y-directions)

DUCTILITY

ØMaximum percentage elongation for a material or maximum percentage reduction in cross-sectional area (normal to tensile stress) for a material without fracture

ØDuctility = % EL = [(change in length / original length) * 100]

ØDuctility = [(change in diameter / original diameter) * 100]

ØPure metals generally have ductility in range of 35 – 50 %

YIELD STRENGTH

ØStrength of material after which it starts yielding plastically without any appreciable increase in applied stress (perfectly plastic material)

ØDue to strain hardening, yield strength / stress of material goes on increasing up to maximum tensile / compressive strength after which, necking and subsequently fracture takes place

GENERALISED GAS EQUATION

An ideal gas is defined as one in which all collisions between atoms or molecules are perfectly elastic and in which there are no intermolecular attractive forces.

Ideal gas law is a generalization containing both Boyle's law and Charles's law as special cases and states that:

In such a gas, all the internal energy is in the form of kinetic energy and any change in internal energy is accompanied by a change in temperature. An ideal gas can be characterized by three state variables:

absolute pressure (P), volume (V), and absolute temperature (T).

The relationship between them may be deduced from kinetic theory and is called the Ideal gas law.

PV = kT = nRT

where

n is the total number of moles, NA = Avogadro's Number = 6.02217 · 1023 molecules/mole, R = Universal gas constant = 8.314 J/K · mol , k = Boltzmann Constant = R/NA = 1.380622 · 10-23 J/K.

The ideal gas law can be viewed as arising from the kinetic pressure of gas molecules colliding with the walls of a container in accordance with Newton's laws. But there is also a statistical element in the determination of the average kinetic energy of those molecules. The temperature is taken to be proportional to this average kinetic energy; this invokes the idea of kinetic temperature.

ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE

Any body completely or partially submerged in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.

Everyone has experienced Archimedes' principle. As an example of a common experience, recall that it is relatively easy to lift someone if the person is in a swimming pool whereas lifting that same individual on dry land is much harder. Evidently, water provides partial support to any object placed in it. The upward force that the fluid exerts on an object submerged in it is called the buoyant force. According to the Archimedes' principle, The magnitude of the buoyant force always equals the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. The buoyant force acts vertically upward through what was the center of gravity of the displaced fluid.

B = W

Where B is the buoyant force and W is the weight of the displaced fluid. The units of the buoyant force and weight are newton ( N ) in SI and "pound force" ( lbf) in British Engineering units. The buoyant force acting on the steel is the same as the buoyant force acting on a cube of fluid of the same dimensions. This result applies for a submerged object of any shape, size, or density.

HOOK'S LAW OF STRESS & STRAIN

The generalized Hooke's Law can be used to predict the deformations caused in a given material by an arbitrary combination of stresses.

The linear relationship between stress and strain applies for   

where:

E is the Young's Modulus n is the Poisson Ratio

The generalized Hooke's Law also reveals that strain can exist without stress. For example, if the member is experiencing a load in the y-direction (which in turn causes a stress in the y-direction), the Hooke's Law shows that strain in the x-direction does not equal to zero. This is because as material is being pulled outward by the y-plane, the material in the x-plane moves inward to fill in the space once occupied, just like an elastic band becomes thinner as you try to pull it apart. In this situation, the x-plane does not have any external force acting on them but they experience a change in length. Therefore, it is valid to say that strain exist without stress in the x-plane.

NEWTON'S LAW OF COOLING

Newton's Law of Cooling states that the rate of change of the temperature of an object is proportional to the difference between its own temperature and the ambient temperature.

Where  is the rate of change of temperature of an object with respect to time t.  is the ambient temperature and K is the experimental constant  From intial condition,  ,  is obtained as follow

K can experimentally be found easily knowing that ,

VAPOUR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION CYCLE

Vapor Compression Refrigeration Cycle

One of the applications that involves thermodynamic principles is the refrigerator. The figure below is a schematic diagram of the components found in a typical refrigerator. The refrigerant enters the compressor as a slightly superheated vapor at a low pressure. It then leaves the compressor and enters the condenser as a vapor at some elevated pressure, where the refrigerant is condensed as a result of heat transfer to cooling water or to the surroundings. The refrigerant then leaves the condenser as a high-pressure liquid. The pressure of the liquid is decreased as it flows through the expansion valve and, as a result, some of the liquid flashes into vapor. The remaining liquid, now at a lower pressure, is vaporized in the evaporator as a result of heat transfer from the refrigerated space. This vapor then enters the compressor.

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS

Thermodynamics is the study of relationship between energy and entropy, which deals with heat and work. It is a set of theories that correlate macroscopic properties that we can measure (such as temperature, volume, and pressure) to energy and its capability to deliver work. A thermodynamic system is defined as a quantity of matter of fixed mass and identity. Everything external to the system is the surroundings and the system is separated from the surroundings by boundaries. Some thermodynamics applications include the design of:

air conditioners and refrigerators turbo chargers and superchargers in automobile engines steam turbines in power generation plants jet engines used in aircraft Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics The zeroth law of thermodynamics states that when two bodies have equality of temperature with a third body, they in turn have equality of temperature with each other. All three bodies share a common property, which is the temperature. For example: one block of copper is brought into contact with a thermometer until equality of temperature is established, and is then removed. A second block of copper is brought into contact with the same thermometer. If there is no change in the mercury level of the thermometer during this process, it can be said that both blocks are in thermal equilibrium with the given thermometer. First Law of Thermodynamics The first law of thermodynamics states that, as a system undergoes a change of state, energy may cross the boundary as either heat or work, and each may be positive or negative. The net change in the energy of the system will be equal to the net energy that crosses the boundary of the system, which may change in the form of internal energy, kinetic energy, or potential energy. The first law of thermodynamics can be summarized in the equation: Where:  is the heat transferred to the system during the process   is the change in internal energy  is the change in kinetic energy  is the change in potential energy  is the work done by the system during the process Second Law of Thermodynamics The second law defines the direction in which a specific thermal process can take place. The second law of thermodynamics states that it impossible to construct a device that operates in a cycle and produces no effect other than the transfer of heat from a cooler body to a hotter body. The second law of thermodynamics is sometimes called the law of entropy, as it introduces the important property called entropy. Entropy can be thought of as a measure of how close a system is to equilibrium; it can also be thought of as a measure of the disorder in the system. Reversibility A reversible process for a system is defined as a process that, once having taken place, can be reversed and leaves no change in either system or surroundings. The difference between a reversible and an irreversible process can be illustrated with the example below.Suppose a gas under pressure is contained in a cylinder fitted with a piston. The piston is locked in place with a pin. If the pin is removed, the piston is raised and forced abruptly against the stopper. Work is done by the system during this process because the piston has been raised by a certain amount. If the system has to be restored to its initial state, force has to be exerted on the piston until the pin can be reinserted. Since the pressure on the face of the piston is greater on the return stroke than on the initial stroke, the work done on the gas is greater on the return stroke than the work done by the gas in the initial process. This caused an amount of heat to be transferred from the gas to the surroundings in order that the system have the same internal energy. The fact that work was required to force the piston down and that heat was transferred to the surroundings during the reverse process makes the system an irreversible process.  Another system has a number of weights loaded on the piston at the initial state. The weights are removed from the piston one at a time, allowing gas to expand and do work in raising the weight remaining. If the process is reversed, the weight can be placed back onto the piston without any work requirement, as for each level of the piston there will be a small weight that is exactly at the level of the platform. Such a process is a reversible process. There are many factors that render a process irreversible, such as friction and unrestrained expansion.  Thus, to summarize, reversible systems occur in situations when the system is essentially in equilibrium during the transition and at each step, and only an infinitesimal amount of work would be necessary to truly restore equilibrium.

PASCAL'S LAW OF PRESSURE

Pascal's law : Developed by French mathematician Blaise Pascal states that when there is an increase in pressure at any point in a confined fluid, there is an equal increase at every other point in the container.

Definition of pressure: If F is the magnitude of the normal force on the piston and A is the surface area of a piston, then the pressure, P, of the fluid at the level to which the device has been submerged as the ratio of the force to area.

Since the pressure is force per unit area, it has units of N/m2 in the SI system. Another name for the SI unit of pressure is Pascal (Pa)

An important application of Pascal's law is the hydraulic press. A force F1 is applied to a small piston of area A1. The pressure is transmitted through a liquid to a larger piston of area A2. Since the pressure is the same on both sides, we see that P = F1/A1 = F2/A2. Therefore, the force F2 is larger than F1 by multiplying factor A2/A1. Hydraulic brakes, car lifts, hydraulic jacks, and forklifts all make use of this principle.

ONLINE MASTER'S DEGREE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

In the following table you will find statistics on several of the top online Master of Engineering programs being offered in the United States.
Many schools report their courses required in terms of credit hours. 

School Masters Programs Price Per Course Courses Required Student enrollment Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University Civil Engineering Computer Engineering Electrical Engineering Industrial Engineering Also offers Certificate Program in Six Sigma $3,300 11 courses 2,000 Colorado State University Systems Engineering Civil Engineering (Water Resource Management) Biomedical Engineering Mechanical Engineering (Engineering Management, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Materials Engineering) Also offers Certificate Program in Transportation Engineering $1,794 10 courses 126 Drexel University Computer Science Software Engineering - Computer Science and Information Science & Technology tracks available Electrical Engineering Engineering Management Also offers Certificate Programs in: Power Engineering Management Engineering Management Infrastructure Engineering Management $2,880 15 - 17 courses Not provided John Hopkins University, Engineering for Professionals Program Bioinformatics Environmental Planning and Management Computer Science Systems Engineering $2,885 10 courses 800 Kansas State University Chemical Civil Electrical Mechanical Operations Research Engineering Management Software Engineering $1,911 10 courses 120 NC State Graduate School Aerospace Engineering Civil Engineering Chemical Engineering Electrical Engineering Industrial Engineering Materials Science and Engineering Mechanical Engineering Nuclear Engineering Integrated Mfg Systems Engineering Environmental Engineering Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science $810 for NC residents $2,100 for non-residents 10 – 11 courses 900 Southern Methodist University, Lyle School of Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science Security Engineering Software Engineering Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering - Telecom Design Specialization Engineering Management Information Engineering and Management Operations Research Systems Engineering Civil Engineering Environmental Engineering Mechanical Engineering Manufacturing Systems Management $3,600 10 courses 1,000 Stevens Institute of Technology Mechanical Engineering Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Microelectronics and Photonics Network Information System Computer Engineering Engineering Management Security and Privacy Software Engineering Systems Engineering $3,300 10 courses 2,000 University of Alabama Aerospace Engineering $1,000 12 courses 40 University of Alabama Huntsville Engineering Management Systems Engineering Industrial Engineering Rotorcraft Systems Engineering Missile Systems Engineering Also offers Certificate Programs in: Engineering Management Theory Project Engineering Management Systems Engineering Applied Statistics $1,620 for AL residents $2,150 for non-residents 12 courses 676 University of North Dakota Environmental Engineering $1,730 for ND residents $2,560 for non-residents 10 courses 300

NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION

These force laws, together with the laws of motion, are the foundations of classical mechanics. They are based on experimental observations and were formulated more than three centuries ago by Isaac Newton (1642-1727).

1st Law of Motion:

An object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion will continue in motion with a constant velocity (that is, constant speed in a straight line) unless it experiences a net external force.

In other words, when the net force on a body is zero, its acceleration is zero. That is, when , then a = 0.

Where F is the force on a body and a is its acceleration.

Newton's first law is sometimes termed simply the "Law of Inertia". 2nd Law of Motion: Newton stated that the force on a particle is equal to the rate of change of its linear momentum, which is the product of its mass and velocity. In other words, the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. Mathematical statement of Newton's second law: Vector expression: Component equations Units of Force and Mass The SI unit of force is the newton, which is defined as the force that, when acting on a 1-kg mass, produces an acceleration of 1 m/s2. From this definition and Newton's second law, we see that the newton can be expressed in terms of the following fundamental units of mass, length, and time: Definition of dyne: 1 dyne = 1 g · cm/s2 In the British engineering system, the unit of force is the pound, defined as the force that, when acting on a 1-slug mass, produces an acceleration of 1 ft/s2: Definition of pound: 1 lb = 1 slug.ft/s2 Since 1 kg = 103 g and 1 m = 102 cm, it follows that 1 N = 105 dynes. It is left as a problem to show that 1 N = 0.225 lb. The slug is the unit mass in the British engineering system and is that system's counterpart of the SI kilogram. Units of force, Mass, and Acceleration System of Units Mass Acceleration Force SI kg m/s2 N = kg · m/s2 cgs  g cm/s2 dyne = g · cm/s2 British engineering slug ft/s2 lb = slug.ft/s2 Definition of newton: 1 N = 1 kg · m/s2 The unit of force in cgs system is called the dyne and is defined as the force that, when acting on a 1-g mass, produces an acceleration of 1 cm/s2: 3rd Law of Motion: Newton's third law states that if two bodies interact, the force exerted on body 1 by the body 2 is equal to and opposite the force exerted on the body 2 by body 1. F12 = - F21 In other words, forces always occur in pairs of that a single isolated force cannot exist. The body 1 exerts on body 2 is sometimes called action force; while the force body 2 exerts on body 1 is called the reaction force. In reality, either force can be labeled the action or reaction force. The action force is equal in magnitude to the reaction force and opposite in direction. In all cases, the action and reaction forces act on different objects.

BASIC FACTS : 2. NEWTON'S LAW OF GRAVITY

In 1686 Sir Isaac Newton published his work on the law of gravity in his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.

Newton's law of gravity states that every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with the force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.If the particles have masses m1 and m2 and are separated by a distance r, the magnitude of this gravitational force is

Where G is a universal constant called the universal gravitational constant, which has been measured experimentally. Its value in SI units is

Measurement of the gravitational constant The universal gravitational constant, G, was measured in an important experiment by Henry Cavendish in 1798. The Cavendish apparatus consists of two small spheres each of mass m fixed to the ends of a light horizontal rod suspended by a fine fiber or thin metal wire. Two large spheres each of mass M are then placed near the smaller spheres. The attractive force between the smaller and the larger spheres causes the rod to rotate and twist the wire suspension. If the system is oriented as shown, the rod rotates clockwise when viewed from above. The angle through which it rotates is measured by the deflection of a light beam reflected from a mirror attached to the vertical suspensions. The deflected spot of light is an effective technique for amplifying the motion. The experiment is carefully repeated with different masses at various separations. In addition to providing a value for G, the results show that the force is attractive, proportional to the product mM, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance r

BASIC FACTS : 1. TORQUE

The net force acting on a body accelerates it. But it takes something to give the body an angular acceleration. A force is needed, but it must be applied in a way that creates a twisting or turning action. Torque, τ is the rotational version of force, and results from the application of one or more forces. Torque is specified relative to a chosen rotation axis or pivot.

Torque is dependent upon

• The distance from the rotation axis to the force application point (Refer to first figure).
• The magnitude of the force, F.
• The orientation of the force relative to the displacement from the axis to force application point (refer to second figure).

Definition: The torque produced by a force is defined by:

τ = R x F → τ = R x F sinθ

The SI units of torque are Newton-metre (N.m).

F┴ is the perpendicular component of the force (also known as the tangential component) and is called the lever arm or moment arm of the force. It is the perpendicular distance from the rotation axis to the line of action of the force.

Test your understanding:

The figure shows the top view of a horizontal metre stick (pivoted at the 20 cm mark) on which five horizontal forces of the same magnitude act. Which forces produce no torque? Rank the forces according to the torque they produce.

STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAMS

STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAMS

Stress – Strain Relationships :

One basic ingredient in the study of the mechanics of deformable bodies is the resistive 

properties of materials. These properties relate the stresses to the strains and can only 

be determined by experiment. 

One of the simplest tests for determining mechanical properties of a material is the 

tensile test. In this test, a load is applied along the longitudinal axis of a circular test 

specimen. The applied load and the resulting elongation of the member are measured. 

In many cases, the process is repeated with increased load until the desired load levels 

are reached or the specimen breaks. 

Load-deformation data obtained from tensile and/or compressive tests do not give a 

direct indication of the material behavior, because they depend on the specimen 

geometry. 

However, using the relationships we previously discussed, loads and deformations may 

be converted to stresses and strains. 

σ = normal stress on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the specimen 

P = applied load 

A = original cross sectional area 

ε = normal strain in the longitudinal direction 

δ = change in the specimen’s gage length 

L = original gage length 

The resulting stress-strain curve or diagram gives a direct indication of the material 

properties. 

Note: Stress-strain diagrams are typically based upon the original cross sectional area 

and the initial gage length, even though these quantities change continuously during the 

test. These changes have a negligible effect except during the final stages of the test. 

20 HR Interview Questions & Answers

1. You seem to be drawing a good salary. Will you be OK in taking a salary cut?

I believe that at one point of time in career salary becomes secondary and self actualisation become more important. While taking up any new job, it will be my priority to ensure that the work culture, chances to contribute and grow are sufficient along with the money I am paid. I also believe that any good company who cares about its employees ensures that they are paid well.

2. What is your expected salary?

I believe that an ideal remuneration for any position recognises the ability, rewards the performance and provides the employee an opportunity to indulge in his hobbies and passions. I am sure that this company also takes care of these.

3. Would you like to ask us anything?

I would like to know about the career growth I can expect being with this company. I am quite an ambitious person and this information will be helpful.

4. Tell us something about yourself.

This is the first question, you can expect during any interview you face. This usually is a question to start the communication and set the ball rolling for the interview. You can answer this question by providing some information about your work experience, technologies you have worked upon, educational qualifications. If you are a fresh graduate, you can provide some information about your family also.
The trick is to put the full stop at the right place to provoke the next question you want. For e.g. “Recently I developed a website using Drupal. It was quite an interesting but challenging job which I enjoyed.”

5. Why do you consider yourself a suitable candidate for this position?

The answer to this question lies in the preparation you did before the interview. It is extremely important that you research the requirements of the position well and match them with your skills.
For e.g. if the position requires an Asp.net developer with good knowledge of health care domain, tell the interviewer about your technical skills and your domain knowledge.
Fresh graduates can talk about their technical skills, ability to learn and grasp things quickly.

6. Why do you want to leave your present job or company?

You may want to leave your present job for any reason but make sure that you do not talk bad about your manager, company or job. It reflects your complaining attitude.
Provide a sincere reason for e.g. “I think, I have grown up with my last employer as much as I could. I want to grow further and I believe that is possible with a new employer.”

7. You have stayed in your current job for quite a long time, why?

There are many people who do not change their jobs for years and when they go out looking for a new employer, this is one of the most important questions they are asked. Some people might look upon staying with the same employer for long as “lack of ambition”.
A good answer to this question can be something like, “Yes, you are right. I stayed with my last employer for almost 5 years but I was continuously growing in the company, doing new things, handling bigger challenges. So, I was quite happy working with them for these many years.” You can then talk about how you grew with your last employer.

8. What do you know about us?

Research the company and its business a bit before appearing for the interview. Also, find out a bit about the technologies they work upon. You don’t need to know everything inside out but having a fair idea about the company makes you appear interested in the position, to be taken seriously.
For e.g. I see that your company does a lot of projects based on OpenSource platforms like Joomla, Drupal, Magento which is quite interesting as I have a similar kind of experience.

9. What do you do to improve your knowledge?

The field of IT is very revolutionary. It is extremely important to keep yourself abreast with the new technological developments and this needs you to take some time out of your work schedule so that you can keep sharpening your saw.
To answer this question, you can tell the recruiter about the forums which you keep visiting, blogs which you keep reading. It will be an advantage if you are a member of some local user group.

10. Can you perform under pressure?

Most of the times, the job of software development is that of working under pressure. Sometimes, it will be the pressure of delivering on time while it can be that of a bug that has sprung all of a sudden in your code.
So, expect pressure in everything you do. It is important to maintain your performance and develop strategies to deliver under pressure. You can then go ahead an talk about your way of dealing with pressure and performing under it.

11. Tell us some of your strengths.

Again, it is important to study the requirements of the position before you appear for the interview. List out your strengths and offer the ones that this role demands.
For e.g. if you are appearing for the position of a Tech Lead – VB.net, talk about your VB.net skills, any extra knowledge which you have about coding with VB.net in comparison to other candidates, your team management skills etc.

12. Tell us some of your weaknesses.

You have to be careful while answering this question. Do not offer a weakness which will directly affect your selection but at the same time saying that you do not have any weakness will not be right too. Every human being has weaknesses, so it is perfectly OK for you to have some too.
The best way to answer this question will be to turn one of your strengths as a weakness and say that others accuse you of having this weakness but you think it is important to work in this manner. For e.g.: “My colleagues accuse me of paying to much attention to syntaxes but I believe it is important when you are writing the code to avoid spending too much time on finding and fixing the bugs later on.”
Another way to answer this question is to offer a totally un-related weakness for e.g. “I have been staying alone for so many years now but I still can’t cook independently.”

13. Are you comfortable working in a team?

The whole work of software development or IT is a team work. So, the only answer to this question can be: “Yes, I am comfortable working in a team.” If you have any problems in working as a team, it is important to work on them and develop yourself as a team player.

14. How do you rate your communication skills?

Again, IT is about dealing with people within and out of the company. So, it is important to have good communication skills. By good communication skills we mean, ability to understand and explain in a common language. So, if you believe that your communication skills are weaker, you need to work on them.
Anything less than average or good is not acceptable here.

15. You do not have all the experience we need for this position?

It is not possible for a candidate to have all the experience an employer requires. Even if you match yourself up to the expectations on technical front, there will be some difference in the work environment. And, it is absolutely fine.
The best way to deal with this question is to analyse the requirements of the position well and match your skills as close to them as possible. If something is still left untouched, offer your quick grasping power and ability to learn quickly as a solution & back it up with an example from the past.

16. How would you compensate for the lack of experience you have for this position?

As we discussed in the last question, your ability to understand and pick up new things quickly should be able to compensate for the lack of work experience you have.

17. If you were hiring for this position, what qualities would you look for in a potential candidate?

Closely understand the qualities and skills a person holding the position would need and match them with the qualities you have.
If you believe that you are missing a big quality required for the position under discussion, say that, “I understand that this is an important quality required in the person holding this position but given a chance, I will inculcate it in me.” Back it up with a confident body language.

18. Do you know anyone who works for us?

Offer some one’s name if they really know you well and can offer a positive feedback about you.

19. What is your style of management?

In today’s scenario, everything needs customization, so here also, one size can’t fit all i.e. one management style won’t work in all situations. So, offer “situational” as your style of management.

20. Have you ever fired anyone? How would you go about firing a person, if required?

The basic purpose of asking this question is to check your EQ and see if you have the guts to make tough decisions. If you have fired anyone in the past, discuss your experience and approach. If you have never done so in the past, discuss the approach you would take to make and implement such a decision. Keep the focus of your answer on the fact that you would try to do your best to ensure that your team performs to its best but if a particular member is not able to perform even after you taking all the steps to help him, you would make the tough decision to ensure that the project doesn’t suffer.

HR Interview Questions and Answers

1. Assuming that you are selected, what will be your strategy for next 60 days?

If I am selected for this position, I’ll use my initial 60 days in understanding my role carefully in terms of the contribution to the business and increasing the overall profitability. I’ll sit with my line manager and other juniors to understand what has already been done and what its impact has been. From there on, I’ll formulate my strategy to growth in close conjunction with managers and see that it is properly implemented.

2. How would you improve upon our product/ company?

Since I’d be coming from an altogether new environment, I am bound to possess a new perspective towards everything here including the company, product, customers, environment, strategy etc. This will enable me to constructively question things which anyone else here might not do. This will help in improving the things and making the product & company better.
Having worked closely with product development team I understand how the research for product development is carried out and how is customer requirement analysed; I’d be able to provide a value addition there too.

3. Don’t you think, you are overqualified for this position?

You might feel that I possess more degrees than you require for this position. But, I believe that I grow everyday when I talk to my staff, customers and superiors. So, basically the learning process continues through out the life – I don’t think I am over qualified.

4. Have you ever had a problem with your peer? Can you give us an example?

Yes, it happened once. I was quite friendly with a colleague of mine from the other department. While talking to him during the lunch hour, I casually told him about the new marketing strategy that the marketing team was thinking about. He mentioned it to his boss and that caused a lot of confusion between the two departments. This taught me a lesson that you must not discuss any departmental strategies with anyone from other department unless you have been authorised by your boss.

5. I see, there’s some gap in your work history. Why?

Yes, I was feeling exhausted after years of non-stop work. So, I decided to take a break and spend some time with my family on a rejuvenating vacation. I am happy to have returned fully recharged.

6. Can you tell us something about your previous boss?

All my bosses possessed some skills worth learning. I have always tried to learn something new from them including my previous boss.

7. Is there anything that you do not like about your last or current job?

I was quite enthusiastic while joining my last job. Towards the end, the number of challenges and opportunity to grow further started diminishing. A challenge loving and growth oriented person like me doesn’t enjoy this.

8.Have there been instances, when your decision was challenged by your colleague or manager?

Yes, there have been many such instances. I like people who challenge my decisions rather than following me blindly. This keeps me ensured that I am surrounded by thinking brains rather than just a set of dumb followers.
When someone challenges your decisions, you are bound to rethink over it and the chances of reaching the best option are brighter.

9. If you are allowed to change one thing about your last job, what would it be?

I have been working at a senior level since last many years. These roles have always needed me to make real time decisions. Sometimes the facts, figures and other information in real time cases are not complete & still we have to make a decision. In such cases, there exists a probability of making inaccurate decisions.

Knowing this, I usually run down my old decisions to see the outcome. It makes sure that I don’t repeat a mistake ever again in future. While carrying out one such exercise, I realised that the product promotion strategy that I recommended would have been different, if I had had the complete data and figures but there was no way to get them in real time.

10. How long can you commit to work with us?

I like new challenges and a chance to grow. As long I keeping getting these, I don’t think I’ll need to switch over. I’d like to believe that this relationship lasts for many years. However, I haven’t set a time limit as such.