Ambily S
ECE branch, 2009
ASIC design engineer at Open-Silicon, Banglore
About the Company
Open-Silicon is an SoC and ASIC design service company that provides customers with proven, low-risk access to the world’s best IP, foundry, test, and packaging technologies.
Hurdles you faced before you got placed
Recession was a major problem. Then, I always wanted to get into a good electronics company, but only one company had visited our campus before Open Silicon, in which I performed very badly in the interview.
About their recruitment procedures
Since this company coming to our campus for the first time we didn’t know much about their recruitment processor the company’s profile. They had an initial screening based on our academic performance. Our resumes were sent to the company by the college placement cell and based on marks they short listed some 30 candidates. As the second round they had a written test. There were questions from aptitude, logical and tech. Only 7 people were short listed for the interview. The interview was easy compared to test. There was a single interview, kind of tech and HR. After the first interview they informed there’s one more telephone interview. It was the 1st telephone interview I had faced, but everything went fine. I guess it was just a formality for them.
Questions that were asked in the Written Test
I think some 10 aptitude and logical questions were there. Simple questions like some ratio and distance calculations and all. From the tech side, they asked some portions of Digital, SSE. Some 20 questions were there from technical side.
Questions that were asked in the interview
Questions were like explain Pythagoras theorem in layman’s terms, explain difference between analog and digital signals in layman’s terms etc. They didn’t go deep into any technical things. Only some questions on mini project, seminars. There were questions on how your project/seminar is going to be useful for the society and all. HR questions were cool.They asked me to tell about myself, about my native place and many questions like that.
Were you nervous? Managing the pressures?
This was the 4th or 5th company I was writing and I already had a decent software job. The only point of writing this company was to get into a core company. So I didn’t feel much pressure while writing the test. But once the test results were out, and we came to know that only 7 persons were shortlisted, I felt little nervous. There also, I was the first person to face the interview. So there was not much time to get tensed. Once the interview started, there was not much tension. The interviewer was a really friendly person and, compared to their test, interview was a piece of cake.
Your Tips
a) For Written Test : Get the basics right. Especially if you are appearing for an electronics company, find out which area they are into and prepare. Have a thorough knowledge in digital electronics, circuits and solid state coz every core company will be dealing with them. Do not mug up everything. Most of the questions will be application level and once u get the concept properly, u can solve any question related to it.
c) For Interview (Tech & HR) : Don’t be nervous. Be cool. They don’t expect us to answer all the questions. But try to show that you can think logically and find out a solution. If it’s a tech interview, use pen and paper to the maximum. At least draw/write whatever circuit he’s asking about, and pretend to be thinking and trying to solve it. It’s the attitude and your common sense that matters. In telephone interviews, try to speak as politely as possible.
Advice to next job seekers
Be positive always. Aim high. Whichever company you are appearing, be confident that you have the potential to get into it.
