I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Qualcomm (San Diego, CA)
Interview
1. Contacted for phone interview.
2. Phone interview consisted of technical questions regarding communication theory, semiconductor technology, mixed signal technology, and anything on your resume.
3. Called in for face to face interview which was one on one interviews with different engineers presenting different technical questions and problems.
4. Contacted me within a week with their decision.
-Overall very impressed with the company and process though location circumstances made it not work out.
They ask about a lot of acronyms specific to industry that maybe unknown to a guy fresh from college, this is just to see how much you know.
Software/Digital people might find the hardware questions like ADC/DAC troubleshooting and semiconductor technology difficult.
Hardware/Analog people should be ready for programming and algorithm questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
If the input signal to an ADC is a perfect sine wave but the output spectrum of the ADC shows significant odd harmonics, what is wrong with the ADC?
The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Qualcomm (San Diego, CA)
Interview
Received the onsite interview request after the phone interview. The onsite process includes 6 rounds.
Technical interviewers were easy going, they would give you hints or lead you if you have no clue. Asked about hardware test related questions, include what to test, how to test, what could be reasons if result is not as expected. Require basic knowledge about circuit schematic diagram, wireless communication transceiver diagram, noise figure, link budget calculation, sensitivity, testing equipment (e.g. VNA, Spectrum analyzer, etc.), basic C++ or C#
HR interview was very nice, introduced the company and its benefits, very few behavior questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Asked about problems one may see in practical testing, and how to debug the problem. They want to see how you think about the problem if you don't have experience.