Mohit Yadav — Mentor Graphics
We bring you Mohit Yadav! He graduated in 2020 in the discipline of Electrical Engineering from IIT Indore. Read on to know more about his exciting internship journey
Q) Can you tell us briefly about the company?
Mentor, Siemens Business is a US-based electronic design automation (EDA) multinational corporation for electrical engineering and electronics.
Q) How did you decide between Academia and Industry?
Honestly speaking, I was more inclined towards industry from my initial days of college. I have never thought about higher studies, that’s because I want to get industrial experience as fast as possible. Maybe in future, I will think about higher studies but not now.
Q)What other profiles was the company hiring for? How many rounds took place? What was the pattern?
Mainly there are two job profiles in Mentor Graphics: Software Engineer and Hardware Engineer. Software Engineer typically works for the development of software for simulation of designed hardware written in Verilog/System Verilog code, and there are several tasks for a Hardware Engineer. Still, mainly HW engineer writes code in Verilog/System Verilog according to the specifications/protocol assigned.
Now coming towards the hiring process, there was a strict sorting process based on resume and project experiences. The interview was not that tough for an intern position, but getting PPO depends on vacancy in the team and the performance. If performance is above average, then intern will surely get other options like some opportunity to give interview in other teams or will be contacted when the new vacancies are available.
Q) How was your Internship experience?
There wasn’t any pressure during my internship. The environment was supportive. I was given the freedom to ask doubts from any member of the team, and everyone was ready to help. I have joined Mentor Graphics as a full-time employee. Hopefully, that’s going to add good learning experience by each passing day in my career basket.
Q)What does a company look for in a candidate?
I would be talking about general points that can make a student look better than others.
1. Do some projects on the topic related to the role you prefer for jobs. Sometimes these topics can be found in research topics of the professors from your institute, and sometimes a student needs to move towards the internet to take some good help and find enough resources.
2. Always try to find some methods to present your project so that the recruiter needs minimal time and less effort to understand it.
Like while I was working on a project in embedded systems, I made a video of its working and provided a link in the resume. Nowadays your resume will be travelling from company to company in digital format, so there won’t be any issue in viewing the video. And most of the times, the recruiter will open it as it creates curiosity in the recruiter’s mind.
3. Try to put keywords related to position while applying off-campus.
If the company sorts resume by some software, then this would help.
Q) How did you prepare for the interview/technical rounds? What courses / MOOCs need to be completed thoroughly for the position? Any course in the curriculum specifically?
In the VLSI industry, the basic requirement is Digital Electronics. Tests and interviews will cover maximum part from this subject. And having prior knowledge of Verilog Hardware Description Language will give some extra edge.
Q)Had you applied for a similar role in the past and did not hear back? If Yes, what did you lack then, and how did you overcome it?
While talking about applying for the internship, I have applied to many companies, more than 50 applications. Back then, I had applied to many startups by writing a mail to them, some MNCs from their hiring portals/websites and some on-campus companies. I got offers from some startups, but their stipend and PPO opportunities were not that good. And I never got any response from MNCs, and I get to know later that applying on their website is useless, most of the times, better to ask for a referral from existing employees(through LinkedIn or other contacts). Initially, I was not good at communication and lack of project presentation(like earlier, I mentioned the video of the project). I started working on my communication skills daily; I tried to read some random questions from the internet and answering that assuming recruiter is there sitting in front of me. This practice helped me a lot during my interviews.
Q)How smooth was the onboarding process?
Onboarding process at Mentor was very smooth. The HR team contacted me and provided me with some clear and easy instructions to fill the forms. The first day of joining was also quite good, and they arranged meetings with several teams like IT support team, HR Team etc. and finally assigned my mentor who guided me throughout my internship period.
8) How is the work environment there?
Now talking about the work environment, Mentor Graphics has an excellent work culture. There is no such restriction on in-time and out-time. Also, there is no compulsion of wearing formals. There are several indoor and outdoor games available in office premises. Overall, one can find work and life balance in Mentor Graphics.
We thank Mohit for providing us some great insights and answering the questions in depth about his work at Mentor . We hope it helps other students preparing for similar roles.
