WTF #15: Interviewing Tip: Know Your Basics
I’ve been away from EngineerBlogs.org for a couple of weeks as I’ve been traveling. I finally made it out of China, and it was about time. I flew directly to a country that shall not be named, except to say she is the top exporter of crude oil to the United States. But I didn’t linger long in oil-country, just enough to take care of some personal business before heading off to my next stop, America the Beautiful and her Keystone State. For two straight nights, I had greasy burgers and fries for dinner and I must say, it felt pretty good. I’ve now returned to oil-country and will stay here a while before going back to China again. Despite my travels, one thing I continue to do is to interview candidates for our open analog IC design positions in China. I leave all the fancy questions, such as control theory,…
WTF #12: In the Belly of the Beast
That beast being China, the one that’s devouring all the jobs from the West. For the past two weeks, I’ve witnessed my team of chip designers at work, both analog and digital. I must say, they’re really good for their experience level. Companies similar to ours continue to expand operations in China. And we’re not hiring technologist either. These are real engineers with real engineering experience with some of the big names in the industry — Intel, Broadcom, Analog Devices, etc. What most multinationals tend to do is to see their Chinese (and Indian) engineers as mere supporting casts for their team of engineers in their home base, be it North America, Europe, or other parts of Asia (Japan/Korea/Taiwan). The Chinese engineers simply don’t have the same depth of experience when compared with developed nations. Hence, they simply cannot take on as much. But over time, as Chinese engineers gain…
Weekend Journal — Engineering (Business) Travel
I’ve written before about business travel, but this time I’m traveling as a design engineer; last time it was general thoughts on travel after a short stint at a conference as a technical writer. So I decided to consider what engineers need to know in order to work successfully on an overnight trip to a foreign locale. Design engineers aren’t made to travel. We have quirky needs, lots to do back at the lab and massive amounts of baggage (take that one how you want to). However, sometimes the need arises to get off your butt and go see a customer. Other times it’s a supplier. And sometimes you need to go simply because the boss tells you to. Early this week, I’ll traveling for my day job and I thought I’d blurp out my thoughts (that’s right, blurp) before going. While not all of this will be strictly for…
The Business Bag
One of the things that I’ve been doing lately now that I’m at SnowU is carrying papers back and forth between work and home. I was using a small (and pretty rough looking) Dell laptop bag from about 5 years ago. Because that only held the laptop and a few minor things, it was a pain to travel with and I could not take many papers with me. As a present for the holidays, DrWife decided to get me a new work bag, which is fantastic. Now, it wasn’t a complete surprise because I helped her pick it out because features, looks, and functionality are depend on the individual using it. Some of the things that I may like may be things that other people don’t like (and vice versa). I wanted my work bag to meet at least three functional requirements (and a fourth, if you count looks). 1)…
Business Travel
I’m on now what is likely my 3rd business trip ever. I don’t travel much, for work or otherwise. I’ve been reporting for element14 at the ESC Silicon Valley 2011 conference. It’s been really fun, getting to make videos and posting to their “Do It Together” blog; but outweighing the fun has been the weariness I’ve felt, the same weariness I’ve felt at other conferences and other times I’m traveling. And that’s the inspiration for this post. First off, I think I should mention what I always try to do. I always try to go on Yelp when I travel and try out some of the highly rated local restaurants and bars. I don’t travel much outside of work (I’m a cheapskate), so when I do, I like to try to get to places I wouldn’t experience otherwise. But I’ve found on this trip that I haven’t cared as much.…