Thursday, July 28, 2005

50 COMMON INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Well the following entry or post is in the category of gems of
OURAeSI so enjoy the great stuff given by thamizh thaen.

Well all i can say is keep it up thamizh thaen!!!

Review these typical interview questions and think
about how you would answer them. Read the questions listed; you will also
find some strategy suggestions with it.

1. Tell me about yourself:

The most often asked question in interviews. You need to have a short statement prepared in your mind. Be careful that it does not sound rehearsed. Limit it to work-related items unless instructed otherwise. Talk about things you have done and jobs you have held that relate to the position you are interviewing for. Start with the item farthest back and work up to the present.


2. Why did you leave your last job?

Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co-workers or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an opportunity, a chance to do something special or other
forward-looking reasons.

3. What experience do you have in this field?

Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for. If you do not have specific experience, get as close as you can.

4. Do you consider yourself successful? You should always answer yes and briefly explain why.

A good explanation is that you have set goals, and you have met some and are on track to achieve the others.

5. What do co-workers say about you?

Be prepared with a quote or two from co-workers. Either a specific statement or a paraphrase will work. Jill Clark, a co-worker at Smith Company, always said I was the hardest workers she had ever known. It is as powerful as Jill having said it at the interview herself.

6. What do you know about this organization?

This question is one reason to do some research on the organization before the interview. Find out where they have been and where they are going. What are the current issues and who are the major players?

7. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?

Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job. A wide variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement. Have some good ones handy to mention.

8. Are you applying for other jobs?

Be honest but do not spend a lot of time in this area. Keep the focus on this job and what you can do for this organization. Anything else is a distraction.

9. Why do you want to work for this organization?

This may take some thought and certainly, should be based on the research you have done on the organization. Sincerity is extremely important here and will easily be sensed. Relate it to your long-term career goals.

10. Do you know anyone who works for us? Be aware of the policy on relatives working for the organization. This can affect your answer even though they asked about friends not relatives. Be careful to mention a friend only if they are well thought of.

11. What kind of salary do you need?

A loaded question. A nasty little game that you will probably lose if you answer first. So, do not answer it. Instead, say something like, That's a tough question. Can you tell me the range for this position? In most cases, the interviewer, taken off guard, will tell you. If not, say that it can depend on the details of the job. Then give a wide range.

12. Are you a team player?

You are, of course, a team player. Be sure to have examples ready. Specifics that show you often perform for the good of the team rather than for yourself are good evidence of your team attitude. Do not brag, just say it in a matter-of-fact tone. This is a key point.

13. How long would you expect to work for us if hired?

Specifics here are not good. Something like this should work: I'd like it to be a long time. Or As long as we both feel I'm doing a good job.

14. Have you ever had to fire anyone? How did you feel about that?

This is serious. Do not make light of it or in any way seem like you like to fire people. At the same time, you will do it when it is the right thing to do. When it comes to the organization versus the individual who has created a harmful situation, you will protect the organization. Remember firing is not the same as layoff or reduction in force.

15. What is your philosophy towards work?

The interviewer is not looking for a long or flowery dissertation here. Do you have strong feelings that the job gets done? Yes. That's the type of answer that works best here. Short and positive, showing a benefit to the organization.

16. If you had enough money to retire right now, would you?

Answer yes if you would. But since you need to work, this is the type of work you prefer. Do not say yes if you do not mean it.

17. Have you ever been asked to leave a position?

If you have not, say no. If you have, be honest, brief and avoid saying negative things about the people or organization involved.

18. Explain how you would be an asset to this organization

You should be anxious for this question. It gives you a chance to highlight your best points as they relate to the position being discussed. Give a little advance thought to this relationship.

19. Why should we hire you?

Point out how your assets meet what the organization needs. Do not mention any other candidates to make a comparison.

20. Tell me about a suggestion you have made

Have a good one ready. Be sure and use a suggestion that was accepted and was then considered successful. One related to the type of work applied for is a real plus.

21. What irritates you about co-workers?

This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get along with folks is great.

22. What is your greatest strength?

Numerous answers are good, just stay positive. A few good examples: Your ability to prioritize, Your problem-solving skills, Your ability to work under pressure, Your ability to focus on projects, Your professional expertise, Your leadership skills, Your positive attitude

23. Tell me about your dream job.

Stay away from a specific job. You cannot win. If you say the job you are contending for is it, you strain credibility. If you say another job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be dissatisfied with this position if hired. The best is to stay genetic and say something like: A job where I love the work, like the people,
can contribute and can't wait to get to work.

24. Why do you think you would do well at this job?
Give several reasons and include skills, experience and interest.

25. What are you looking for in a job?
See answer # 23

26. What kind of person would you refuse to work with?

Do not be trivial. It would take disloyalty to the organization, violence or lawbreaking to get you to object. Minor objections will label you as a whiner.

27. What is more important to you: the money or the work?

Money is always important, but the work is the most important. There is no better answer.

28. What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is?
There are numerous good possibilities: Loyalty, Energy, Positive attitude, Leadership, Team player, Expertise, Initiative, Patience, Hard work, Creativity, Problem solver

29. Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor

Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of your boss. If you fall for it and tell about a problem with a former boss, you may well below the interview right there. Stay positive and develop a poor memory about any trouble with a supervisor.

30. What has disappointed you about a job?

Don't get trivial or negative. Safe areas are few but can include: Not enough of a challenge. You were laid off in a reduction Company did not win a contract, which would have given you more responsibility.

31. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure.

You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an example that relates to the type of position applied for.

32. Do your skills match this job or another job more closely?

Probably this one. Do not give fuel to the suspicion that you may want another job more than this one.

33. What motivates you to do your best on the job?

This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are: Challenge, Achievement, Recognition

34. Are you willing to work overtime? Nights?Weekends?
This is up to you. Be totally honest.

35. How would you know you were successful on thisjob?

Several ways are good measures: You set high standards for yourself and meet them. Your outcomes are a success.Your boss tell you that you are successful

36. Would you be willing to relocate if required?

You should be clear on this with your family prior to the interview if you think there is a chance it may come up. Do not say yes just to get the job if the real answer is no. This can create a lot of problems later on in your career. Be honest at this point and save yourself future grief.

37. Are you willing to put the interests of theorganization ahead of your own?

This is a straight loyalty and dedication question. Do not worry about the deep ethical and philosophical implications. Just say yes.

38. Describe your management style.

Try to avoid labels. Some of the more common labels, like progressive, salesman or consensus, can have several meanings or descriptions depending on which management expert you listen to. The situational style is safe, because it says you will manage
according to the situation, instead of one size fits all.

39. What have you learned from mistakes on the job?

Here you have to come up with something or you strain credibility. Make it small, well intentioned mistake with a positive lesson learned. An example would be working too far ahead of colleagues on a project and thus throwing coordination off.

40. Do you have any blind spots?

Trick question. If you know about blind spots, they are no longer blind spots. Do not reveal any personal areas of concern here. Let them do their own discovery on your bad points. Do not hand it to them.

41. If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?

Be careful to mention traits that are needed and that you have.

42. Do you think you are overqualified for this position?

Regardless of your qualifications, state that you are very well qualified for the position.

43. How do you propose to compensate for your lack ofexperience?

First, if you have experience that the interviewer does not know about, bring that up: Then, point out (if true) that you are a hard working quick learner.

44. What qualities do you look for in a boss?
Be generic and positive. Safe qualities are knowledgeable, a sense of humor, fair, loyal to subordinates and holder of high standards. All bosses think they have these traits.

45. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others.

Pick a specific incident. Concentrate on your problem solving technique and not the dispute you settled.

46. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
Be honest. If you are comfortable in different roles, point that out.

47. Describe your work ethic.
Emphasize benefits to the organization. Things like, determination to get the job done and work hard but enjoy your work are good.

48. What has been your biggest professional disappointment?
Be sure that you refer to something that was beyond your control. Show acceptance and no negative feelings.

49. Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job.
Talk about having fun by accomplishing something for the organization.

50. Do you have any questions for me?

Always have some questions prepared. Questions prepared where you will be an asset to the organization are good. How soon will I be able to be productive? and What type of projects will I be able to assist on? are examples.

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Resume tips from Satyam!

What should you do about gaps in your resume?
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50 common interview questions?

Monday, July 25, 2005

Moon ride

Hi folks

In honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July
20, 1969, Google has added some NASA imagery to the Google Maps
interface to help you pay your own visit to "Chanda mama"

Goto http://moon.goole.com to view it.

Actually its nice. But then i think they could have done better.

well don't go for my words, do check it yourself

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

MATLAB

Hi folks

Last friday while tweaking with c program, i made this
filecataloger program. This program basically catalogs all the files
in my system and as i learned after using it, there were lots of gem
files that i had in my computer but long forgotten.

One of this file was and information on What MATLAB can do? I
don't know the exact source of the article from where i have saved
this, but then its an usefull info for anyone to know, so i am
posting it in this blog.

Why MATLAB?
Technical professionals worldwide rely on MATLAB to accelerate their
research, compact the time invested in analysis and development,
reduce project costs, and produce effective solutions. The MATLAB
environment encourages creativity and enables you to quickly test and
compare multiple alternatives. As a result, you produce better
solutions.

Users have found that the combination of the intuitive MATLAB
interface, language, and the built-in math and graphics functions make
MATLAB the preferred platform for technical computing compared to C,
Fortran, and other languages and applications.

MATLAB includes tools for:
Data acquisition
Data analysis and exploration
Visualization and image processing
Algorithm prototyping and development
Modeling and simulation
Programming and application development
Overview
MATLAB handles a range of computing tasks in engineering and science,
from data acquisition and analysis to application development. The
MATLAB environment integrates mathematical computing, visualization,
and a powerful technical language. Built-in interfaces let you quickly
access and import data from instruments, files, and external databases
and programs. In addition, MATLAB lets you integrate external routines
written in C, C++, Fortran, and Java with your MATLAB applications.

With a user community more than 500,000 strong spread throughout
industry, government, and academia, MATLAB is the recognized standard
worldwide for technical computing. MATLAB is used in a variety of
application areas, including signal and image processing, control
system design, earth and life sciences, finance and economics, and
instrumentation. The open architecture makes it easy to use MATLAB and
companion products to explore data and create custom tools that
provide early insights and competitive advantages.

Key Features

Numeric computing for quick and accurate results
Graphics to visualize and analyze your data
Interactive language and programming environment
Tools for building custom GUIs
Integrate with external applications comprised of C, C++, Fortran,
Java, COM components and Excel
Support for importing data from files and external devices and for
using low-level file I/O (plus access to databases and additional
hardware via add-on products)
Conversion of MATLAB applications to C and C++ with the Compiler
This broad set of capabilities makes MATLAB an ideal home base for
developing solutions to technical problems.
Trusted Mathematics and Numeric Computing Functions
With more than 600 mathematical, statistical, and engineering
functions, MATLAB gives you immediate access to high-performance
numeric computing. The numerical routines are fast, accurate, and
reliable. These algorithms, developed by experts in mathematics, are
the foundation of the MATLAB language. The core math engines
incorporate the well-respected LAPACK and BLAS linear algebra
subroutine libraries and FFTW signal processing library, embedding the
state-of-the-art in mathematical computation directly into MATLAB.

The math is optimized for matrix and vector operations, so you can use
it in place of low-level languages like C and C++, with equal
performance but less programming. With an extensive collection of
optimized math routines built right in, MATLAB frees engineers and
scientists to focus on their real work, avoiding the time-consuming
tasks of looking for, developing, debugging, and maintaining homegrown
codes.

MATLAB provides many functions for performing mathematical operations
and analyzing data, including functions for working with:
Matrices and linear algebra -matrix arithmetic, linear equations,
eigenvalues, singular values, and matrix factorizations
Polynomials and interpolation -- standard polynomial operations such
as polynomial roots, evaluation, differentiation, curve fitting and
partial fraction expansion Signal processing - digital filters, fast
Fourier transforms (FFTs), and convolution Data analysis and
statistics - descriptive statistics, data pre-processing, regression,
curve fitting, data filtering Function functions -- MATLAB functions
that work with mathematical functions instead of numeric arrays,
including plotting, optimization, zero finding, and numerical
integration (quadrature)
Differential equations - solving differential equation problems
including: initial value problems for ordinary differential equations
(ODEs) and differential-algebraic equations (DAEs), delay differential
equations, boundary value problems for ODEs, and initial-boundary
value problems for systems of parabolic and elliptic partial
differential equations (PDEs)
Sparse matrices - covering both specialized and general mathematical
operations, including iterative methods for sparse linear equations
Add-on toolboxes maximize the mathematical power of MATLAB
Add-on toolboxes - collections of MATLAB functions and interfaces -
allow you to apply even more mathematical computing power to your
technical problems. Available toolboxes address applications requiring
signal processing, optimization, statistics, symbolic math, partial
differential equation solving, curve fitting, and more.

Space story that began 25 years ago

Today is the silver jubilee of the country's first successful flight
of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3. At 08.03.45 a.m. on July 18, 1980, the
SLV-3 raced into the sky from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and put
the 38.5 kg Rohini satellite into orbit eight minutes later. The
four-stage SLV-3 was 22 metres tall and weighed 17 tonnes. The fourth
stage hurtled the satellite into orbit at 28,000 km an hour.

read this whole aricle from THE HINDU

http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/18/stories/2005071802711300.htm

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Advantages of Studying in Library!!

I remember when I was in standard II, my mom used to sit near me with her knitting, as I pretended to study. Then finding me day-dreaming and smiling at my imaginary adventures that I took while holding the book in my hand, she remarked. "Beta one hours of concentrated study is more than 6 hours of toil". Ignorant I was at that time, I came out of my reverie and mumbled the words on the book and within minutes was back with my plays in the imaginary world, plotting planning things I will do next on the playground. But Now as I began to write this I remember those words of mom and that is what a library gives you. A concentrated hour of study. So here are the advantages I got, saw as I spend my time in library last semester.


1. Its a silence zone. So no disturbance and everyone in and around the place knows that and keeps there conversations to minimum and low. So The greatest advantage of library is the silence that you may not get in your room. Sometime the room mates are talking, sometimes the CD player is on, sometime just conversations about movies or the opposite sex ( ;-) who can resist topics like that!) But in a library its silence Though not pin-drop silence as Mr. Modok, my chemistry lab assistant always wanted in his lab! But silent enough to hear the buzz of the overhead fan!

2. Second advantage is the studying atmosphere that you get there. Either they are empty or if filled everybody else will be studying and so you are always in the atmosphere of studies and this increases your concentration and even if you start getting distracted , a look at the next guy deeply immersed in the book in front of him gets you on track. And since minimum conversation is allowed there's none to comment on your "arre pata hai aaj wo dehi thi sarak par!!!" So you end up killing that damsel in your thoughts and come back to the book at hand.


3. In your room we stay half naked. [and in case of my roommate he is 90% naked and thank god he is not 100% :)] And when we sit to study, we give our legs and body the full freedom to loiter around while we struggle with the jet propulsion’s numerical or trying to grasp how a lathe works!!! So we always don't sit on proper chair and table and even if we start our studies there but eventually the pillow creeps under our head. So studying in library with its chair and table doesn't allow this and we have a concentrated and good postured study there.


4. What happens when you get some doubts in your room, You first check your notes, then maybe your book, and if all else fails you give a shout to your roommate [ though some lazy fellows like me use the last option first!! ;-)] And even then, if the problem is not solved you end up leaving that whole subject let alone the topic and maybe and most probably find yourself chatting with that friend of yours on that topic until you get out of it and get to other worldly things!! But in library, you have the vast reserves of books and if you don't find it in Anderson, get Caruthers, if not in Caruthers you can browse through Hutton etc. so The range of books increases your chances of clearing your doubts and even if someone is present to ask you being in library talk only the needful and it reduces the unnecessary talk that may start if it were not a library, so you have more effective study.

5. And being is library has one good advantage. If you feel bored or tired of one subject you can easily switch to the next subject. This is not always possible in rooms as once you get up, you loiter and converse more than that you will do in a library. Even if you get out of the library for a break It won't take as long as the break you might take at home. And in my experience, the rest period in library is 50%shorter and more effective than the room's.

Due to the presence of so many wide variety of books in the library, you may even relax with a non-subject book in which you have interest in. For myself I have relaxed myself so many times by reading model-building books in my library in between Andersons and Suttons!!!


So folks, library is not a rack of orderly kept books but much more and as mom would have said a single hour in library is worth 3 hours in room!! And what more, I know, my mom will be certainly happier reading this.

Secrets of AeSI.

What a topic. Someone will say are you mad? Are you crazy? Who knows about this?

It’s like answering what is love? And every person has his or her own opinion. Well true and I am not denying that but then also they write on that topic then why not write on this one.


Well without further delays lets get on.

AeSI secrets are not nuclear, nor are they atomic that you have to bring out a microscope to see them they are more common which sometimes we fail to notice.

First secret is believe that AeSI is not invincible. Remove any doubts you may have that you cannot clear AeSI that you may have. Many have cleared it and many more will. All you need is a focused, dedicated preparation and no-mistake uneventful exam and you are in the safe side of AeSI. First positive step you might take is to stay focused in your preparation and in exams stay concentrated.


More often than we care to think, it’s the exam fright; exam goof ups in the examination hall that cost us the ever-elusive 50% marks than our preparation.

So jot this point in your memory.

Second secret of AeSI is there is no tough subject, no easy subject. Every subject is as important as it can be. All that is required is preparation. "Yeah yeah what do you know?” you may say, but this is coming from a guy who gave flights 4 times before he finally cleared. It only experience in AeSI that I claim that for. All you need is right positive attitude and the right focused preparation. I have seen AeSI guys preparing for flights for the 5th time but they all have one thing in common they are all negative. They don't show confidence. Oh what will happen in flights, what will they ask? No one asks oh what have I left? But will ask what if he asks instruments. They hanker more on what they don't know than knowing and learning what they don't know.

Another common mistake is i didn’t have enough time in exam. Well exams are taken to see how resourceful and time punctual you are they are there to see other than your knowledge how do you manage a pressure situation.

Third secret of AeSI is that there is no such thing that ”This will come, this will not come!!!” I don’t know what and how the exam papers are set, but one thing I have and many of you must have noticed and learned from AeSI papers is that don’t predict the topic of question that may come and not come it never works in AeSI. Believe me. I have first hand experience as in case of P2 paper in my time when my paper was an exact 70% copy of the immediate previous semester’s question!!! And take the recent paper of VMD, when the paper setter completely ignored the governor, flywheel and went off-track thus shocking every VMD examinee.

So stay away from “this will come and that will come routine”, the further you are from this argument the better it will be for you and more pleasant will be your experience with AeSI!

And last of all, While in a 7 days site seeing visit at Rai Barrelli , we were introduced to an AMAeSI engineer who was some head in IGRUA. I don’t remember his name, but I do have clear picture in my head about the middle age boyish man, grinning at us, as we gathered around him. There with a smile he announced to us, “Complete this degree, and then sky is the limit!” I believed that guy that day and I still believe him and if you do believe him, so keep working hard!

Related links

Fulfill your dreams in Aeronautics with AeSI


Confessions of an AeSI guy from HAL

I am proud of AeSI

Procedure for obtaining Basic Aircraft Maintenance Engineer's Certificate and Aircraft Maintenance Engineer's Licence

http://dgca.nic.in/circular/aac2_1998.htm


CLick the above link to read more on this subject. Really good stuff for a person interested in this field.



http://dgca.nic.in/circular/aac2_1998.htm

Bhaiya how do I study propulsion 1?

He is a short guy, really short one, someone call him baccha. and whenever I meet him he always asks me "Bhaiya how do I study propulsion 1?" he has asked me a lot of times, the first time I said study as usual. But now his perpetual question has not been answered so I thought to pen all I know about this topic.


So how did I studied propulsion 1, joining class is a very good point to start. This not only helps in better preparation but gives you consistency and you are always in touch with the subject.

Propulsion I is divided into two sharp edges and that is numerical and theory and thank god the theory is simple and not like propulsion 3 where you have to think and give answer. Here the answers and theory is straight forward. Just give out what is being asked.

So as I said numerical are must in p1 and for that if you are studying in GIE and have access to Mathur and sharma is must. Most of the questions are based on this book and this books covers all the topics And if you are in Mr. Natarajan sir's class you will have ample opportunity in solving this numerical and that too with all of the class. Its nice doing that. One more perk of p1 class in my time was the whole night shift class!!! It was great!!!


Tips on p1:

1. Read all the topics. Bring out the syllabus book and do all the topics that had to be done. Don't leave a thing. One thing you don't get in propulsion 1 paper is lot of options. You have to do 5 out of the 6 questions and leaving a chapter or topic or two can be very risky and as a friend of mine learnt during the last semester when he did left a single chapter and it ruined his above 60 marks!!!

2. Read thoroughly. This will not only equip you to handle all the short type questions but will you better understanding of all the topics as you study them. Everything you will read from the first chapter on basics to the last chapter on lubrication has a link and reading thoroughly will help you understand the salient facts that may go unnoticed if you treat every chapter as an individual unit.

3. This is one of the most important thing that you should do while studying propulsion 1. and this also applies to all the other subjects. Use your imagination to see what you are learning. That is when reading about supercharger and the variables involved see how the variable affect, see how a bigger cylinder will cause more detonation and why air capacity is such and important variable. See it and I know you will have a better and lasting understanding of the subject and will have memorize less things !!

4. As you go through propulsion 1 , you will see there are so many variable as each one affect different parts and things differently and this could become hard to remember but if you imagine and understand the reasons behind the logic once. You can sale through.

5. Fortunately, the topics in propulsion 1 are inter woven and as you progress through your course on propulsion 1you will find it easy to go in chronological order. This will help in better memorization and understanding. For example studying the cc of IC engine is one such topic where a natural progression from detonation to design of SI engine head and then to the design and types of CI head, will be more efficiency than any other way. And this natural progression also has the advantage of quick revision.

6. My biggest mistake was not starting early, So at last I had to prepare some topics quickly and which brought my marks down, but you learn from my mistake. Start early. By this I don't mean not making notes, making notes is no study, memorizing and keeping the things in mind is what I referring to. Prop1 has so many topics and so for a firm grip on all the topics start early, and you won't have to ease through the last topics!!

7. Numerical. Well There are one way of solving the numerical ands that Mr. Natarajan sir teaches very well. Go to the basics and attack the problem. See what is given and what is asked. and answer it. Most of people I see is they refer to the example and try to understand what he is doing. Well all the examples in the books are done in different ways . And I have never followed what they did, I just take the question and solve it the way I know and what eventually matters is the answer and this is what studying in Mr. Natarajan sir's class will teach you!! You will get into this habit of solving with the basics and that I guess is the biggest lesson that one might acquire at a class.'


8. Propulsion 1 diagrams and they are simple and one should draw them neat without much shading and one point to remember is always draw the picture before you explain the thing. This not only helps the paper checker but also helps you to be methodical and you can explain better.


Well as for the baccha, I know he has cleared the propulsion one paper with good marks and all due to his hard work and long hours I heard he put in. Well I don’t know for certain if he is reading or read this but I would certainly like to see a comment or two from him on “Bahaiya How should I study propulsion 1?”

Lesson learnt from P-2 exam

First lesson to be learnt from this exam was don’t leave the immediate previous semester question paper. Do it and make sure you have all the numerical and questions done!! This is what happened to my roommate and me. We studied everything, did every numerical twice, scoured the notes by heart but ignored the numerical of last semester. So there we were. sitting in the examination hall cursing myself and the question setter for not making an effort and myself for being foolish enough to leave these questions thinking they won't be repeated so soon.


Well, if these two questions were a blow then the rest was scary as I was left there to answer all the theory questions for which the theory was inadequate. In p2 mainly the theory comes from the combustion chamber part and here I did one more mistake in my preparation. I did make notes but they were not enough, I mean this subject requires notes and to be studied from variety of books, they questions are similar but not a single book you will find in Gie that has the complete answer in it, so you got to scour loads of book to get a good answerable answer. Otherwise it just vague, and on the figures that you have to depend on. So make it a point to have good notes on the theory part of P2.

Does having good notes will suffice, no? Having notes gives you an edge now studying and memorizing them does the real work and this takes me down to my last minute exam blunder. From the start of the course people fed us p2 is easy. Just do the numerical do the cc and you are clear. And I foolishly believed it and so did some other folks! But this over simplification made me neglect the subject. Yeah it actually did. I did give it less time, I concentrated on the numerical, left out the theory for last week before the exams and this is where I did get my most anxious moment.

I delegated the theory till the last week before the exams and then when I finally sat with the book and the notes, I started getting anxiety pangs. And believe me they are much worse that snake bites!! “Ok lets do cc”. “Hey what are the different types of nozzles” and then ok that is the derivation for the Bryton cycle. This and much more topic tumbled down to me all at once, drawing me, drowning me. I somehow did the stuff but was not satisfied; I could have done much better if I had paid the proper study schedule for p2. So folks learn from my mistake. Never delegate the work of p2 and never neglect and let it sit there till the last moment.

One of my reason for keeping the thing off to last minutes was the confidence that I had 25% of the syllabus like the cycles already covered in section a and I can do that in an hour and that proved to a naught. It not that I couldn't do the numerical or derivations, but its that it look more time I expected and silly mistakes snarled in every fifth line making things frustrating, so do all the stuff before exams when you have lots of time. keep the exams and a week before the exam for pure old studies. no new things, just revision of what you have already learnt.


And when I am on to advising then there is one more that I guess every amaesi'an will agree. When preparing for amaesi, be prepared to surprised at the question paper, its always as inventive as Edison (perhaps!), as unpredictable as the stock market. And there are no rules. don't say this topic will come , that won't come? It a wild stock market out there. any question is possible so just go ahead and study what you can. Don't believe me just flip the June 2004 and Dec 2003 questions your doubts will melt away. As one batch mate of mine who gave flight for the 4th time put it candidly, "every time I study for flights I learn a new thing!" So folk you will always find new things; the subjects are vast and so is the mindset of the question paper setter, so just make sure you learn every time you read and don't guess. just learn what you find. who knows!!


And last but definitely not the least thing that I learnt from the exam was not to fret over what I have not learnt. Just make sure that you know everything that you have studied and concentrate on it during the exams. Fretting over what you have not done cost a friend of mine a semester. You know, our syllabus is big for 6 months, but we brave souls do take the plunge. But don't expect to cover all of it. If you can its well and good but crying over what's not covered it not great as I learn from mistake of one friend in this exams. I am in no way suggesting selective studies. No that's even worse. You loose more by it. All I am saying is if time gets crunch and before the exams, its always wise to have a in-depth knowledge of what you already know than shoving the new material under stress!!! So prepare from the beginning of the semester........

Related links for AMAeSI June 2008 exams

5 tips for studying for exams
Secret of clearing AeSI!
My way of decompressing while preparing for exams
After exams what?
6 lessons from last semester




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