On-site Interview #1: Power Integrations
11:50 PM - March 21st, 2005
Home-field advantage apparently applies to interviews too.
Home-field, in this case, meaning not having to drive 50+ miles to get to the site like I did today. It was only my second time driving to San José—the first time being yesterday’s practice run with my dad. Traffic was light on the way there. I reached Power Integrations‘ site in one hour. Of course, since I left two hours before my interview time, that also meant I was one hour early. Commuting is such a lose-lose proposition.
Luckily, my interviewers were willing to start early, so I didn’t have to wait long. First, Gitte (from human resources) went over employee benefits with me and answered all of my non-technical questions. Heh, I asked where employees eat and sleep. Well, worded properly, of course: “I didn’t see any eateries around here; where do employees typically eat?” (cafeteria on-site or places farther away or bag lunch) and “Where do new employees usually find apartments?” (San José or Sunnyvale/Santa Clara for lower rent).
Next, the head of IC design and both design managers took turns asking me technical questions. The questions were fairly conceptual, like the questions I received at my on-campus interview with Power Integrations. It was a mix of RC and LC circuits, device physics, digital logic, digital circuits, current sources, and PTATs and CTATs. If any of the EE-focused among you (are there any?) want to know the questions I got, leave a message in the comments. I did okay with the questions. There were some I answered easily and some I couldn’t answer at all—most notably why β of a BJT drops when Vbe gets past a certain point and what excess carrier concentration vs. distance (graph) looks like for an NPN.
I was quite surprised to learn that Power Integrations only has seven IC designers (out of approx. 250 employees at their San José site). Three have more than 15 years of experience. The least senior of the group are two guys with five years of experience each (both hired straight out of college in 2000). I find it quite scary to be so much more of a newb than everyone else. I wonder if Linear Tech has such a small design group.
I didn’t realize this while I was there, but after reflecting on my experience today, it hit me: Power Integrations felt eerily quiet. Maybe my interview was held in the quieter side of the building; I don’t know. I didn’t see that many people around too. I’ll have to keep that in mind when I check out other companies.