Automation Maintenance Tech 1st shift
Posted Oct 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Which of these have you spent the most time on: injection molding machines, CNC equipment, or automation and assembly lines? What's the hardest repair you've done there?
What they are checking: Where their real depth lies, since the role asks for a primary focus area and they will be placed by it.
Part of this job is training junior technicians. Tell me about a time you taught someone a troubleshooting skill.
What they are checking: Whether they can explain their reasoning patiently, which decides if the junior techs get better or just get dependent.
Tell me about a new piece of equipment or system you helped install. What did you check before handing it over to production?
What they are checking: Whether they verify installations thoroughly, since the posting lists system installations as part of the advanced work.
How do you document a repair so the next tech on shift can pick it up?
What they are checking: Whether they leave clear records that keep the same problem from being diagnosed from scratch every time.
What would you do
A sensor keeps giving intermittent faults that clear on their own. Production wants it bypassed. What do you do?
What they are checking: Whether they resist unsafe shortcuts and chase intermittent problems instead of masking a guarding or feedback failure.
Two machines go down at once near the end of first shift, and you're the only senior tech around. How do you decide which one gets you first?
What they are checking: Whether they weigh safety, customer impact and repair time sensibly instead of just grabbing the loudest request.
About the work
A robot cell on an assembly line stops mid-cycle and throws a fault you haven't seen before. Walk me through how you'd find the cause.
What they are checking: Whether they follow a logical path from fault code to sensors to mechanics instead of swapping parts until something works.
How do you go online with a PLC to figure out why an output isn't firing?
What they are checking: Whether they can actually read ladder logic and trace inputs and permissives, not just reset the controller and hope.
Tell me about a hydraulic problem you diagnosed. How did you narrow it down to the real cause?
What they are checking: Whether they understand pressure, flow and valves well enough to troubleshoot molding presses safely and quickly.
How do you decide whether a repeated breakdown needs a better preventive maintenance task or a redesign?
What they are checking: Whether they think about root cause and recurrence rather than measuring their value by how many fires they put out.
Walk me through your lockout/tagout steps before you reach into a robot cell.
What they are checking: Whether energy control is a habit for them, including stored energy in hydraulics, pneumatics and robot arms.
Practice this interview out loud.
Offer builds a real interview for this exact role at Pentair from your resume and this job description, asks the questions one at a time, and tells you what landed. The first one is free.
Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Pentair.