This is an interview experience of Qualcomm, an American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company. This is an on campus placement experience and has been share by Mr. Ishaind Gupta (IIIT Delhi).
As we all know that in this every second changing world a smart phone plays a very big role. A smartphone enables a normal human being to connect to this whole world within seconds. To this task, Qualcomm plays a very big role in providing high end technology processors to these small magical devices. So, I am going to share my interview experience of Qualcomm with whole process and hope that it will be helpful you.
Being an B.tech ECE student, we all know that there is a little crunch for jobs in core area. So I can say that my M.tech in VLSI from IIIT Delhi has given me an oppertunity which I will never forget. My first placement that too in Qualcomm, it was unimaginable for me to get selected here. So, the process begins like this:
If they(Qualcomm) are visiting the campus they will first take a online written test consisting of 3 parts namely, Aptitude (basic GATE level), basic C programming and lastly the core section in which you have 3 choices, core CSE, core Electronics and core Communication. The test is not much hard but yeah! you have to be fast to get good marks in aptitude section. Honestly, I didn’t scored much in aptitude but, my basic C part and core Electronics part was good, so, I got selected for the interview based on the scores of the written test. Now the real fight begins. In front of you someone is standing having a package of CTC 20 LPA and you have to get through a be of thrones to get that.
For ECE students, I would suggest that they should have a good command (should know almost everything which is taught at gate level) on digital electronics. Digital electronics was always my strong point, so i gave my interviews on that only. Their process is to take 2 technical interviews and if the interviewer liked you, he will handover your resume to the HR. It was the time for me to give the first interview. Believe me, if a company is giving so much package, the interviewer will try to tear you down to earth at every point of time during the interview, you just have to play along with him/her and play safe. Always tell the truth and don’t be shy to tell him/her that you don’t know something that he/she asked. At my first interview i was not that much afraid but sometime between the interview the thought of being rejected was breaking me down but I moved along and answered almost all the questions. There’s is very good techniques to give the answers. Don’t try to sell too much theory to interviewer. He is not there to listen the definitions of few keywords. He is there to check your ability of how can you use your knowledge, so, I always tried to give the answer by taking one example and this approach of mine helped me a lot. I got passed from my first interview.
In the second, I panicked, i wasn’t able to answer simple setup/hold timing questions. And believe me, it’s your luck that in what mood your interviewer is sitting. A very big thanks to him, he was in a really good mood. He helped me through my interview, he gave me time to think and answer, if at some point i was wrong than he corrected me and gave me many chances to answer. I guess he knew that i was panicking, but he also knew that i have the ability to give the correct answer so he waited for me to give it. If it wasn’t for him, my name would not be on the final list of the selected candidates. To remove my panic he even talked to me in hindi. To relax me he even cracked some jokes on which i laughed with him and felt somewhat relaxed. But I gave all the answers which he wanted, doesn’t matter that i took time but i gave all the correct answers. As the result my CV was passed on to the HR and then i relaxed, had some water and felt that now i have crossed the main hurdles, a small one is still remaining.
In the HR interview, they will just look for your commitment toward the company. That means how much you’ll be worth to their company. Remember that every HR in this world would ask you this question that where do you want to see yourself 5-10 years down the line. So be prepared for this question.
After the whole interview process i came to my room, couldn’t sleep whole night thinking about the final result. But, thanks to god and the 2nd interviewer i got selected by Qualcomm. My M.tech at IIIT Delhi has given me something big, something to be proud of. And being from a middle class family, when you’ll tell your parents that you have achieved this, they will be the happiest person in the world and yes they will feel that all the hard work they had done right from my birth is not gone in vein. The seed they planted years ago is now ready to give the fruits. If somebody is reading this post and want to know what questions they asked me can email me on ~ ishaindgupta123@gmail.com. All the best folks, hope this article will be helpful.