To answer you better, it helps to know the type of position that you are looking for - some such as electric utility system planning and stability studies require academic moxy, while most power engineering positions require an ability to order the right equipment and get it to work when it arrives.
One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about entry level engineers is that they just want to spend time on the computer doing CAD, 3-D modeling, system studies, etc. None of them want to spend time writing an equipment specification, dealing with construction personnel, or making that string of 6 phone calls to find the right person or vendor to get the information or part that is needed.
In my opinion (and I am frequently outvoted), GPA is not that important. For example, I recently hired a new grad who had a good GPA and even some power courses, but to me his most important qualification was that he was captain of the school rugby team. This meant that he was used to running into things that don’t move, which is how a lot of your day will be spent. He has worked out great and in his first 6 months he has learned about 2 years worth of diverse engineering skills from detailed dc analysis calculations to project management.
Emphasize your people skills and writing skills. Most everything else will be secondary. People want to know that you will be able to deliver a project on time and on budget since that is becoming a rare thing these days. They do not want a great engineering design – they want a functional design in the time and budget constraints. Power engineering can be really fun because you will see large projects energized that you can see, feel and hear, not some microelectronic gate change that is more math than electrons. And because very few people are going into power, you have an unguaranteed shot at relative job security (if you don’t mind a move or two), and a not too shabby salary.
Let me know in more detail what the position is and I can give you more specific buzzwords and BS details for the interviewers.
Just for yucks, here is the actual “Knowledge Survey” (a.k.a. test) that I give senior electrical engineers when they interview. Almost every one is a trick question but will show a lot about what a guy knows:
1. Which section of the National Electrical Code deals with grounding? (article 250)
2. From NEC table 310-16, what is the maximum allowable design ampacity for a 90 C, 500 kcmil cable? Why, and are there exceptions? (I don’t have my book with me, but if you look up the value in the 90 C column you might be wrong. There is a note in the front f the code that limits an application to the temperature ratings of the devices. Most equipment below 100 A has terminations rated at 65 C, while larger ratings have terminations rated at 75 C. Therefore you can only use the 75 C as the maximum in most cases with the 90 C being used to account for various deratings)
3. Since the NEC does not address conduits run in direct sunlight, how should this be compensated for? (detailed IEEE table for these cases indicate that if you bump up the conductor size by one you are generally covered for the increased temperature and subsequent deratings – with and without wind makes a difference also, just like overhead transmission lines)
4. What are the four types of interrupting mediums for medium voltage switchgear. Circle the one that you would choose if no preference from a client were given? (oil, air, vacuum, and SF6 – today you are going to get vacuum in the US, although philosophically I have a preference for SF6 since even if the interrupter loses pressure, SF6 at atmospheric generally has enough dielectric strength to break under load to get it isolated, but not under fault.
5. When performing a coordination study involving a feeder to a large motor, what the values are need to define the motor curve? The circuit breaker characteristic should fit between this curve and what other curve? (full load amps, locked rotor amps, and start time – motor thermal damage curve)
6. For a 1000 kVA, three phase transformer with a 480 V secondary, what is the maximum 480 V fault current? (the biggest mistake most people make is to think you need a computer for a fault study. Just take the full load amps divided by the transformer impedance in percent – in this case 1200 A (IE 1.732/1000) divided by .0575 – 5.75% impedance being sort of “standard” for this size transformer)
7. For a single phase, 120 V circuit that is 200 feet from the breaker to the load, what is the voltage drop if the load current is 10 A and the cable resistance is 10 ohms per 1000 feet? (the trick here is to recognize that you need to double the distance because it is single phase – a 40 V drop is not good – beware most 120 V power circuit s over 100 feet)
8. What is the sine of 30 degrees? (duh, 0.5 – this question is to see if the guy/gal ever has really worked a lot of math problems)
9. For 4-20 mA circuits, should the cable be shielded, and if so, how should the shield be grounded? (yes, to prevent electromagnetic interference to which these low level signals are susceptible – ground it at one end because if you do at two ends and there is a ground potential difference you create a circulating current which can induce an unwanted signal on the circuit. This is the simple answer with umpteen degrees of variation based on conditions. We just had one this week where the single shield ground became loose and a critical signal became erratic and unreliable)
10. For the given cable what is the conductor size, What is the voltage class? And What else can you tell? (for this one I give the interviewee a piece of cable and ask the questions. If he ahs spent any time around cable the first thing that he will do is rotate the cable because most of this information is printed in plain English on the jacket. If he doesn’t, then he is probable an academic type. The correct is “pretty damn big medium voltage cable” because it is a 2000 kcmil 15 kV cable which is not often encountered, 500 kcmil to 750 kcmil being the largest practical thing for most electricians to pull. You can tell it’s medium voltage by the insulation thickness and the shield.
Attitude is everything – best of luck. For more on power stuff, there is always
Just a thought...