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I've been asked my profession a number of times on entering the US (as a visitor - not on a work permit). I'm an electrical engineer, but my response is usually

I've been asked my profession a number of times on entering the US (as a visitor - not on a work permit). I'm an electrical engineer, but my response is usually just "engineer". Electrical engineering is such an incredibly broad profession, including everything from chip designers to radio engineers to power systems. Just how many quizzes is CBP going to have design to cover every branch of my profession and not deny an antenna designer entry because he doesn't know anything about power transformers?

MrQuincle 10y ago
With "I'm in autonomous robotics." I also got never follow-up questions... I think enough specialization also protects you against the standard questions on file.
- BugsJustFindMe 10y ago
  Wrong. I've been asked to explain details of autonomous underwater vehicles in an Italian airport. They don't care what your answer is. They care how you answer.
yummyfajitas 10y ago
What is ohm's law? What's the difference between AC and DC? Not very hard. It won't deter someone willing to learn EE 101 but will deter the guy who plans to overstay his visa and work as a dishwasher in his cousin's restaurant.
- moron4hire 10y ago
  I've known a lot of EEs that can't recite Ohm's Law.
- ProblemFactory 10y ago
  That assumes the border agents are familiar with all professions to come up with smart questions, or to understand answers that say the same thing with different terminology. At best they will google "<profession> interview questions" and ask the first one, and do word-by-word matching on the answer. For Electrical Engineering, the first one that comes up for me is "Why star delta starter is preferred with induction motor?".
M_Grey 10y ago
I was entering the country with a friend of mine I'd been visiting in Jena, Germany (he's American as well) and when he was asked we both got to see the reaction to, "Numerical simulations of the n-body problem." "Uhhh... ok." Was the reply.

MrQuincle 10y ago

With "I'm in autonomous robotics." I also got never follow-up questions... I think enough specialization also protects you against the standard questions on file.

BugsJustFindMe 10y ago
Wrong. I've been asked to explain details of autonomous underwater vehicles in an Italian airport. They don't care what your answer is. They care how you answer.

yummyfajitas 10y ago

What is ohm's law? What's the difference between AC and DC? Not very hard. It won't deter someone willing to learn EE 101 but will deter the guy who plans to overstay his visa and work as a dishwasher in his cousin's restaurant.

moron4hire 10y ago
I've known a lot of EEs that can't recite Ohm's Law.
ProblemFactory 10y ago
That assumes the border agents are familiar with all professions to come up with smart questions, or to understand answers that say the same thing with different terminology. At best they will google "<profession> interview questions" and ask the first one, and do word-by-word matching on the answer. For Electrical Engineering, the first one that comes up for me is "Why star delta starter is preferred with induction motor?".

M_Grey 10y ago

I was entering the country with a friend of mine I'd been visiting in Jena, Germany (he's American as well) and when he was asked we both got to see the reaction to, "Numerical simulations of the n-body problem." "Uhhh... ok." Was the reply.