Recently I have been tasked with adding staff to our design team. Like a normal product design team, there is always pressure to get the part done right in zero time. Of course, real analog circuits take time to build, often underestimated by non-experts. Of course most schedule problems come from non-experts making schedules with other experts resigned to pushing back.
So you want to build up your team? Who do you hire? This is a really tough question in reality it depends on what you are doing and what are the key constraints. Is it time to market? Risk? High mask cost? All of the above? Are you adding to a team or creating one from scratch?
In the Radar business the process technology is very advanced and the related costs are high. There also appears to be an unrealistic expectation that first silicon is product worthy. Although real chip designers know this to be unwise, staffing can mitigate the risk of an imperfect chip. The first ingredient is finding someone who has made a mistake and willing to admit it. These characters tend to be older, more mature, have advanced degrees (Ph.D. or MSEE), and have lots of different product experience. The problem with this description is that the older more experienced designers understand unrealistic expectations better than younger engineers. This can help to set expectations. Recently I have phone screened candidates that are afraid of the position I am trying to fill because their perceived interpretation of the risks is too high.
Super senior analog designers often reflect their past. This shouldnt be a surprise, since we are the sum of our experiences. I met one analog designer today who new Verliog, Verilog-A and system Verilog which can be considered "younger engineer" type of skills. Analog was not taught before 2000 with a bent toward system level verification. Chips were small and simple and as the industry has changed more towards system-on-a chip (SOC) these verification tools have increased dramatically in value. However finding an engineer with modern skills who has designs in over 100,000,000 shipped parts/components (for example) is nearly impossible as far as I can tell. This is a message to my mid-career colleagues that its important you pick up these newer verification skills. They are easier to learn than trying to convince a young hard-headed designer to abandon an unreliable circuit or poor layout.
Where is your team? That is also important. Ideally everyone should in the same physical location, but that is no longer realistic. Companies are now keeping track of "High cost centers" such as San Jose where the cost of doing business is high. The value add at these centers needs to justify the high costs. My expectations of engineers in Silicon Valley are high. You should know architecture, circuit design, basic cad and have good communication skills. If you are going to work with remote sites to take advantage of outsourced or "lower cost centers" you need to have good communication skills. I have met some very good technical people recently in my search for staff who have difficult communicating. I don't want to have to have a note-pad to communicate basic concepts.
Team balance is very important. Too many super senior guys can lead to a lower-energy environment. Also not everyone can do the big architectural tasks, so you need a mix of people ideally. I recall discussing this year ago with my friend Perry Heedley using the basketball team analogy. People need to play different cooperative roles working together to get things done. There needs to be trust in the team so I am very sensitive to anyone who may have a reservation about a candidate. This could be technical or personality but there is not any room for a player to bring down the rest of the team. Its not uncommon for me to go through 50 resume's before I get a candidate that fits the team, often with compromises. I am most sensitive to candidates that make me nervous for any reason. I understand people really want a job these days. On Linked-in recently there have been some good short postings in my feed about how to interview. As a hiring manager I read these and a key failing I have seen recently is a candidate trying to "take over" the interview. That doesn't work well with me.
Is the person temporary or full-time? Temporary help (contractors) should be good at communication. Ideally they "get" the idea that they are in themselves a company. The best contractors see themselves as "their own brand" with a service to sell. This includes building the brand reputation including advertising. Some of the best contractors have been high-level managers or people that own their own companies. These guys understand that its not all technical! Problems need to be solved, instructions followed, problems found that are clearly communicated. Not all tasks are have the same cost, the goal is primarily to deliver service. If I can't understand a contractor's English or they are unwilling to come out on-site that is a problem. Also their rate, does it justify what needs to be done? There level of experience? Are they working for a contract house, then why? The absolute best analog engineers I know of all have full-time employment. Recruiters ask me to refer people but the best guys always have a job. Time in-between jobs is also very short in duration, often set by the engineer.
When do you need the person? Good, Cheap, Fast pick two of three. If you need a good person on short notice it will cost a high dollar. If you are willing to put in the time, which is the most realistic approach, you have to staff way in advance of a crisis, otherwise you will sit helpless with a stack of resume's. So planning here and listening to your people's needs are critical.
I am sure a few candidates I have interacted with recently would benefit from this blog. Also there are some good books and references on how to interview. Candidates looking for a job should seek these out, since these interviewing books help the job seeker to understand the position the guy on the other side of the table is. Don't add more work by having a sloppy, long and confusing resume with charts and graphs on your employment history. Don't share too much, make me want to call you! Also, when you do show up, you should have some idea what is expected and what we are doing. This is where the standard preparation helps. What you show up to an interview (empty handed?) will affect my decision to hire you or not. Its important you understand that I am trying to help run a profitable business.
