Cracking Digital VLSI Verification Interview: Interview Success

How should I prepare for a Digital VLSI Verification Interview? What all topics do I need to know before I turn up for an interview? What all concepts do I need to brush up? What all resources do I have at my disposal for preparation? What does an Interviewer expect in an Interview? These are few questions almost all individuals ponder upon before an interview.

If you have these questions in your mind, your search ends here as keeping these questions in their minds, authors have written this book that will act as a golden reference for candidates preparing for Digital VLSI Verification Interviews. Aim of this book is to enable the readers practice and grasp important concepts that are applicable to Digital VLSI Verification domain (and Interviews) through Question and Answer approach. To achieve this aim, authors have not restricted themselves just to the answer. While answering the questions in this book, authors have taken utmost care to explain underlying fundamentals and concepts.

This book consists of 500+ questions covering wide range of topics that test fundamental concepts through problem statements (a common interview practice which the authors have seen over last several years). These questions and problem statements are spread across nine chapters and each chapter consists of questions to help readers brush-up, test, and hone fundamental concepts that form basis of Digital VLSI Verification. The scope of this book however, goes beyond technical concepts. Behavioral skills also form a critical part of working culture of any company. Hence, this book consists of a section that lists down behavioral interview questions as well.

Topics covered in this book:
1. Digital Logic Design (Number Systems, Gates, Combinational, Sequential Circuits, State Machines, and other Design problems)
2. Computer Architecture (Processor Architecture, Caches, Memory Systems)
3. Programming (Basics, OOP, UNIX/Linux, C/C++, Perl)
4. Hardware Description Languages (Verilog, SystemVerilog)
5. Fundamentals of Verification (Verification Basics, Strategies, and Thinking problems)
6. Verification Methodologies (UVM, Formal, Power, Clocking, Coverage, Assertions)
7. Version Control Systems (CVS, GIT, SVN)
8. Logical Reasoning/Puzzles (Related to Digital Logic, General Reasoning, Lateral Thinking)
9. Non Technical and Behavioral Questions (Most commonly asked)

In addition to technical and behavioral part, this book touches upon a typical interview process and gives a glimpse of latest interview trends. It also lists some general tips and Best-Known-Methods to enable the readers follow correct preparation approach from day-1 of their preparations. Knowing what an Interviewer looks for in an interviewee is always an icing on the cake as it helps a person prepare accordingly. Hence, authors of this book spoke to few leaders in the semiconductor industry and asked their personal views on What do they look for while Interviewing candidates and how do they usually arrive at a decision if a candidate should be hired?. These leaders have been working in the industry from many-many years now and they have interviewed lots of candidates over past several years. Hear directly from these leaders as to what they look for in candidates before hiring them.

Enjoy reading this book. Authors are open to your feedback. Please do provide your valuable comments, ratings, and reviews.