Prologue: The Job Interview

Sergio Scandizzo

Interviewer: You’re in the main control room and you realise that, for some reason, two high-speed passenger trains are heading towards each other on the same track. What do you do?

Candidate: The computerised safety system should automatically divert one of the trains, but if this doesn’t happen within the standard response time I would override the system and manually divert one of the trains onto another track.

Interviewer: There seems to be a problem with the computer: the automatic safety system doesn’t kick in and, when you try to intervene manually, the system doesn’t allow you in. In other words, you can’t divert any of the trains from the control room.

Candidate: Then I call both drivers and alert them to the danger so that they can stop the trains until the problem’s solved.

Interviewer: Unfortunately, an electrical storm’s going on in the area disrupting communications entirely. Neither radio nor GSM phones are of any use.

Candidate: In this case, I get into my car and rush to the railway line, where I manually operate the switch in order to divert one of the trains and avoid the collision.

Interviewer: Good try. But the switch is so rusty it doesn’t