I am currently deciding on a career path, and my top choices are Computer Science—with plans to work in scientific programming—and Semiconductor Engineering. My concern regarding the latter—and the reason for this post—is that it might lead only to a lifelong, routine job at a tech company. What advice or insights can you offer on this?

Without any context, if my interview went like an 8 on 10, what chances do i have to move forward for a position (intern)

The position is in hardware background so less saturated then swe ig

Hello!

I'm between University of North Dakota and Arizona State University for an online BS in ECE (2nd bachelors). From the course lists, I like UND's curriculum better. It's very comprehensive and they offer many of the kinds of courses I'm interested in, along with hands-on learning, which ASU does not. However, they don't have any syllabus online so I'm not exactly sure what the actual course content is.

As for ASU, I've heard many good things from people who graduated from the program. ASU also seems to be more intentional about their approach to online education, have lots of info available online (such as actual course syllabi), and seem more attractive to employers. The program also takes less time.

I'm wondering if anyone has attended either of these programs and if they can talk about their experience with them?

P.S. My end goal is a career in R&D involving analog/mixed-signal circuit design, embedded sys, and/or power electronics.

Hi everyone,

I have Electrical Engineering and Hardware Test interviews coming up at Figure AI and Zipline, respectively. Has anyone been through this process or a similar process that could shed light on their interview styles.

Hi, i recently got invited to a technical interview for IBM as a firmware developer intern. Does anyone have any idea what type of interview it would be like or how to prep?
I am not very good at leetcode so im aftaid theyll give me coding problems to solve
Thank you

Tengo intención de aprender y crear un ordenador sencillo como los de ben eater y configurarlo, se hacer el hardware pero no tengo ni idea de como hacer que con binario se hagan instrucciones y de ahí empezar a programar o si usar ensambladores o que, alguien puede ayudarme?

Any advices for the exams, skilles and etc.

The terminals a and B were originally opened btw. They closed it to find Norton current. My only problem is the current in the second loop: why is it isc-2vx in one place but isc+0.003 in the other question even though both questions are identical? Both methods matched their respective answers. Any help will be appreciated! I have basically found all the other things like Norton resistance in these questions but this loop current is the only thing keeping me stuck.

​

So nvidia is conducting a hardware role drive in my cllg so I wanted to know the subjects and topics that I must study and also if there would be any programming language questions

Please help me if you can

Hey everyone! So I am planning on heading into my Accelerated Bachelors Master program. I won't start until Fall 2027 and I've been told it would reduce my time significantly at my university even if I pursue a PhD. So what I want to do is design the hardware what I am looking into and actually am good at is Digital Circuit design in VLSI, ASIC/FPGA, CMOS, and possibly Computer Arch if I can fit it in, I highly doubt I can. Point is I am already an undergrad researcher and in a fellowship. I am actually not doing research in my field but it is consider a material that translate to EE. I do not want to go into my masters and take classes that I may dislike. So far I like what I am learning but I want to make sure this is where I want to be.

What is the day to day life like?

Will I have time for my family and friends? How about hobbies?

How will I know if this is for me without getting exposure or do I actually need exposure?

I do not want to regret my decision. How did you know this was the right career path for you?

If given the stipend to continue research and pursue a masters or PhD which should I aim for?

Are there any project I can do currently?

Lastly, of course how is the salary in today's economy and is employability high for this type of work?

​

Hi everyone!

I'm an Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering student/graduate from India, and I'm trying to start my career in PLC programming and industrial automation.

I want to create a professional CV/resume that stands out to recruiters, but I'm not sure what companies look for when hiring freshers.

I have some experience with Siemens TIA Portal V18, S7-1200 PLC programming, Ladder Logic, and basic HMI development. I'm also working on improving my practical skills and building projects.

I'd appreciate advice from people working in automation or those who have successfully landed their first job in this field.

A few things I'd like to know:

What should a fresher's PLC/automation resume include?

Which technical skills and projects are most valuable to recruiters?

How should I present personal projects when I don't have industrial work experience?

Should I include every skill I've learned, or only the ones I'm confident in?

What common resume mistakes should I avoid?

Are there any good resume formats or examples specifically for PLC/automation engineers?

If you were hiring a fresher for a junior PLC programmer or automation engineer position, what would make you shortlist their resume?

Any suggestions, examples, or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I have a diploma in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, but it's been over seven years since I last formally studied electronics. Over the years, my academic and professional interests have gradually shifted toward computer science, particularly programming and software development.
However, I've recently developed a strong interest in revisiting electronics, not necessarily to pursue it as a standalone discipline, but to bridge the gap between hardware and software, particularly in areas such as embedded systems, microcontrollers, IoT, and computer engineering.
Since I've been away from the subject for quite some time, I feel that my fundamentals have become rusty, and I'd like to rebuild them systematically.

What I'm looking for:

I'm hoping to find textbooks that offer a good balance between theoretical depth, mathematical rigor, and practical understanding.
Ideally, I'd prefer books that:

• Start with the fundamentals and gradually progress toward more advanced concepts.
• Provide clear, concise explanations without sacrificing technical depth.
• Include plenty of worked numerical examples, circuit analysis problems, and exercises with solutions.
• Emphasize conceptual understanding rather than simply memorizing formulas.
  
• Help establish a strong foundation for eventually studying embedded systems, microcontrollers and hardware-software integration.

I'm not necessarily looking for books that oversimplify the subject. I'd appreciate something that explains the underlying principles thoroughly but remains approachable for someone returning after a long break.

Some of the textbooks I already own include:

• Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory (11th Edition) — Boylestad & Nashelsky
• Electronic Principles (7th Edition) — Malvino & Bates
• Engineering Circuit Analysis (5th Edition) — Hayt & Kemmerly
• Solid State Electronic Devices (6th Edition) — Streetman & Banerjee
• Digital Integrated Electronics — Taub & Schilling
• Digital Technology: Principles and Practice
• Engineering Digital Design (2nd Edition) — Richard F. Tinder
• Hughes Electrical and Electronic Technology (10th Edition)
• Microprocessor Architecture, Programming, and Applications with the 8085 (5th Edition) — Ramesh Gaonkar
• The 8051 Microcontroller (3rd Edition) — Kenneth J. Ayala
• Microcontrollers: Architecture, Programming, Interfacing and System Design — Raj Kamal
• CMOS VLSI Design (4th Edition) — Weste & Harris
• The Art of Electronics (3rd Edition)

These are only a few from my collection. I also have textbooks covering communication systems, signals and systems, DSP, power electronics, control systems, and other electronics-related subjects.

My main questions are:

1. Given my background, which textbooks would you recommend starting with to rebuild my electronics fundamentals?
2. Are any of the books I already own particularly suitable for self-study, or are there better alternatives available today?
3. What would be a sensible learning progression from basic circuit theory and electronic devices to digital electronics, microcontrollers, and eventually embedded systems?
4. Are there any books that do an especially good job of connecting electronics theory with practical hardware and programming applications?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from engineers who have experience working across both electronics and computer science.

I'd appreciate any recommendations, especially from those who have followed a similar path or returned to electronics after a long break.

Thanks in advance!

I just landed a hiring manager interview for an RF role. The recruiter says it ends with a brief coding session (C/C++ or Python, "basic skills") and explicitly asked me to say upfront if I'm not comfortable coding, since many EEs haven't coded in a while.
My plan is to reply: "I'm comfortable with c++ but rusty. I'd like about a week to refresh"

For those who've hired or interviewed for RF roles:
*Does admitting rustiness hurt me, or does the recruiter's wording mean it's expected and fine?
*Is asking for a week reasonable, or does delaying cost me momentum against other candidates?
*What does "basic" actually mean here? (strings, arrays, loops)? Or RF-flavored, like parsing S-parameter or sweep data, dB/linear conversions, numpy, basic plotting?
*If you had one week, what would you drill?

Any firsthand experience with these hardware-team coding screens or other advice is much appreciated

I am absolutely torn between two offers I have recieved for my first job out of college. Apple I will be on more product design EE (iphone, watch, etc) side, and etched I will be on the platform side. For me, I care about compensation (both offers are pretty similair in TC), if the work is enjoyable, and how it sets me up long term for my career. I enjoy grinding if it means I am learning a lot and have the opportunity for career growth. My reservations for apple is that it seems to be a little bit slow in terms of career growth and a feeling that they arent innovating as much I would hope. My concern with etched is that I am worried it might just be another chip startup and go under eventually - and I will have lost valuable years of resume credibility (and then I would regret not having apple on my resume). Anyone have advice on how to make this decision?

Hello,

I recently got a technical round email for the front end sta role in apple hardware team.

Has anyone been interviewed for this role…please share your experience what questions i can expect and stuff…. I’m a physical design intern so I dont know what to study or expect for this role i just have a brief overview

Any advice from front end people helps…put in interview topics…youtube playlists…anything relevant that you have

FYI: I am a masters student graduating in December, My interview is next week. Currently interning for a pd sta intern role.

I feel like I graduated with my EE degree but I failed in my career because I couldn't get an internship. One of my good friend is making 120k+ in Santa Clara while I'm here 4 months unemployed post grad. I didn't get an internship or anyone to call me back, despite having good projects on my resume. I am studying for my FE exam because I think I want to get into power but even then, I can't find entry level jobs in power that would go through with my application. They always "moved on to another candidate that better suits their needs".

Anyways, I did have a recruiter call me a few days ago for a position that is more field application engineer. It's more people focused (sales focused) and I am fine with that i guess. But it isn't something like working at Apple (or any other big company) as a hardware engineer, like I wanted to.

Any advice? I will continue to go through with whatever I have in front of me but I feel really defeated seeing people post here about how they have internships for these great companies, my friends having roles at companies that match what they studied for, and everyone else moving forward in their career and actually making use of their EE degrees...

Hi everyone, I have an upcoming interview for a Failure Analysis Engineer role at a manufacturing services company, and I’d love to hear from those with experience in this field.

I want to understand what key skills and concepts are typically expected for this role.

• What kind of questions should I anticipate in the interview?
• What tools, methodologies, or failure modes should I focus on studying?
• Any specific knowledge I should brush up on?

I appreciate any insights or advice to help me prepare better. Thanks in advance!

I always keep getting confused with calculation of voltage drops when solving circuits or reading schematics. When using KVL, I keep getting the sign convention wrong. Can someone help me with this?

Just finished my final round for an Apple hardware internship, and a couple days later my recruiter asked for my transcript, summer availability, and any competing offers or deadlines. Is this a good sign or just standard procedure? Anyone had something similar happen, and did you end up getting an offer?

So yeah I've been wondering how come open circuit capacitor have the same voltage at the other end of its terminal even if it's not connected when a dielectric separates it?

My speculation is there's no current on the other end but the voltage reaches the other terminal causing that other end to have the same voltage as it's other terminal. Is my assumption correct?

For the resistor & inductor it also has the same voltage at the other end it acts like a wire since realistically, wires have resistance and it helps me cope with that analogy. However I can't find an analogy for the capacitor as my assumption is that it acts like an open switch letting neither both current and voltage flow to the other side.

Fight me.

Help....

Hey everyone,
I’m currently a senior in college and will be graduating soon to start working as an FPGA engineer at a large semiconductor company in the SF Bay Area.

I’m also planning to take advantage of my company’s tuition assistance program to pursue a master’s degree while working full time.

I wanted to ask if anyone here has advice for someone entering the FPGA/digital design industry, particularly when it comes to making the most of my first year or two.

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,

I have an upcoming 1 hour interview with Qualcomm for a hardware/ASIC engineering internship in Canada.

The job description mentions RTL design and verification, Verilog/SystemVerilog, UVM, digital logic, Python/scripting, debugging, and ASIC/FPGA flows.

Has anyone interviewed for a similar internship or full time role at Qualcomm? Trying to get a better idea of what the technical interview actually looks like.

Specifically:

• Coding: LeetCode-style DSA questions, Python/C/C++ scripting problems, or more hardware-focused coding?
• RTL: Writing Verilog/SystemVerilog modules from scratch, designing FSMs, or analyzing existing RTL?
• Verification: Writing SV/UVM testbenches, understanding verification/uvm/oop concepts, or debugging testbenches?
• Debugging: Reading code snippets and predicting outputs, spotting bugs, or fixing/rewriting broken RTL/code?
• Digital logic: Conceptual questions, timing analysis, or circuit design problems?

Is it usually a mix of these, or does the interview focus heavily on one area? Also curious about the difficulty level and how much coding is actually expected within the hour.

Any specific experiences or preparation advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

In advance, I appreciate the help. I know this sub has a "do your own homework" attitude, but I've been staring at this problem for hours and can't figure out how to proceed. I understand TEC circuits pretty well, and had minimal issues with every other problem, but this specific one has stumped me. I've reread my chapter and watched TEC lessons on Youtube, but can't find anything that fits this specific example.

I've got half of this solved. Finding the Thevenin Resistance is simple enough, I shorted the Voltage Sources and opened the Current Source. 1200 +3300 + ((2200*5600)/(2200+5600)) is ~6080 ohms.

Where I'm running into an issue is finding the Thevenin Voltage. If the Load Resistor is opened, then it seems to me that the entire circuit is open. If the circuit is open, then the current source has nowhere to flow, and I can't find the solution. I would convert the current source to a voltage source if I could, but I don't think that can be done, because there is no parallel resistor.

The best solution I've come up with is to find the voltage at the junction between the two voltage sources and their resistors, while treating the current source as non existent because it doesn't have anywhere to flow to. However when testing this result (12.41 V) in a simulator it doesn't seem to work. What am I doing wrong?

Edit: Solved, Thank you everyone for your help. If anyone is having trouble with a problem like this themselves, I worked it out and posted the steps in the comments below.