Getting the most out of your resume

First, keep it short and to the point! A good resume should be no more than 2 pages at the most. It is important to point out not only what you did, but how well you did it. In other words, instead of writing "designed 13nm circuit" you could put something along the lines of "design a 13nm circuit with first pass success." By just adding these couple of words you can greatly increase your chances of landing that next position! Next, USE SPELLCHECK!! What does it take, 30 seconds to check a document?? Not only do typos and misspellings make you look foolish, but it makes the job of your recruiter that much harder. When we have to spend a half hour fixing your resume so that it is acceptable to send to hiring managers, it takes time away from the other things we could be doing on your behalf. If you need professional help writing a very good resume, please Click Here!

Closing the interview

Closing the Interview

If you are interested in the position, ASK FOR IT! You must make a definitive, qualified statement that:

1. I can do the job.
2. Here is why I know I can do the job.
3. I want the job.

Avoid making general statements that do not commit your feelings such as:

1. It looks very interesting.
2. Very nice people.
3. I think I can do it.
4. I might be able to solve your problems.

Keep in mind that your statement must be positive and definitive.

If, after the interview, your decision has not been made and you wish some time to think it over, be courteous and tactful in asking for that time. However, make sure you set a definite date when you can provide that answer. In many cases, the employer may want to communicate with other members of his team before making a decision. Do not be discouraged if a direct offer is not made or a specific salary discussed.

Even in that situation, try to set a specific date when these matters can be discussed further. When the interview is coming to a close, keep in mind that there are two questions uppermost in the employer's mind:

1. Why are you interested in this company?
2. What can you offer that company?

   Confirm with the interviewer that you have answered both of these questions to his satisfaction, and thank him for the interview, his time, and his consideration.

Analog Devices! looking for your comments!

Quite frankly, this is a laughable matter... 12 years ago when I started my recruiting career, I couldn't get an ADI employee to talk with me.. I would call and they would quite literally say, "not interested" and hang up on me. Those same people today are CALLING ME!!! Unhappy, underpaid, management sucks, work is monotonous, bored, etc, etc.... What happened???? Under this post there is a "comment" space... Please leave me your comments if you have any insight here.. I value your feedback and look forward to what YOU have to say!

Rumors and Things I think I think

What is going to happen with the Sigmatel merger with Freescale?? From what I hear, the "chip design" segments are going to stay in tact. That is, all Engineers working in the "chip design" areas are safe...... For now! However, my question is this, how is the "big company" mentality going to affect those that are used to being at a smaller, less "policy and procedure" driven environment?? We'll just have to see how it plays out. Stay tuned, because there will surely be more news to come.....

A little birdie told me......

Skyworks Solutions is looking for "amplifier designers" and "discrete multi chip module designers."
NEC is seeking an analog/mixed signal designer for "Power Management IC's."
Broadcom in Andover, MA is looking for a "hands-on" ASIC Design Manager
Sigmatel is seeking a software architect for digital picture frames
Sensata is looking for an Electrical Engineer for arc detection products
Teradyne is looking for a Test development engineer

If you are interested in hearing more about any of these positions and want to be presented directly to the hiring manager, please submit your resume to me here.

Is your resume getting the attention it deserves? If you want help creating a powerful resume that WILL get results Click Here!

Double Digit growth for IC's in 2008??

Tokyo -- Gazing into their crystal balls, executives from major Japanese chip companies see a similar pattern developing in the IC industry: a flat market in 2007, followed by a double-digit upturn in 2008. Executives from NEC Electronics Corp., Renesas Technology Corp. and Toshiba Corp. separately pegged growth at 5 percent or less for the worldwide semiconductor market in 2007.

NEC Electronics and Toshiba also projected that the worldwide IC market could grow by 10 percent or more in 2008, but Renesas indicated that it foresees the market remaining cloudy next year.

The DRAM market continues to be in a major slump. NAND and NOR flash prices are soft, while ASICs, FPGAs, microcontrollers and microprocessors are a mixed bag.

Citing other positive factors, Yamaguchi said that the automotive and wireless markets are growing and that the game-console chip business is booming at NEC Electronics and other manufacturers. The chip maker supplies a custom device for Nintendo Ltd.'s popular Wii game console.

What better time than now to have a recruiter keep you up to date on the latest positions available?? If you would like to submit a confidential resume, please click here.

Interview questions to expect as well as ask!

Interview Questions to Expect

1. Why do you want to change jobs or why did you leave your last job?
2. What do you identify as your most significant accomplishment in your last job?
3. How many hours do you normally work per week.
4. What did you like and dislike about your last job?
5. How did you get along with your superiors and subordinates?
6. Can you be demanding of your subordinates?
7. How would you evaluate the company you were with last?
8. What were its competitive strengths and weaknesses?
9. What would you like to tell me about yourself?
10. What best qualifies you for the available position?
11. How long will it take you to start making a significant contribution?
12. How do you feel about our company - its size, industry, and competitive position?
13. What interests you most about the available position?
14. How would you structure this job or organize your department?
15. What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
16. What is your job potential?
17. What are your career goals?
18. Do you want to own your own business?
19. How long will you stay with us? Are you willing to relocate?
20. What control or financial data would you want and why? How would you establish your primary inside and outside lines of communication?
21. Were you a good student?
22. Have you kept up in your field? How?
23. What do you do in your spare time?
24. At what age do you want to retire?
25. What did your father do? Your Mother?
26. What do your brothers and sisters do?
27. Do you participate in civic affairs?
28. What professional associations do you belong to?
29. What is your credit standing?
30. What are your personal likes and dislikes? How many children do you have?
31. Would you describe your family as a close one?
32. How aggressive are you?
33. What motivates you to work?
34. Is money a strong incentive for you?
35. Would you rather work alone or in a team?
36. What do you look for when hiring people?
37. Have you ever fired anyone?
38. What do you think of the current economic and political situation?
39. Will you sign a non-compete agreement or employment contract?
40. What salary do you expect to receive?
41. What was your salary in your last job?
42. Why should we hire you?
43. Do you want the job?

Interview Questions to Ask

1. What is the first problem that needs the attention of the person you hire?
2. What other problems need attention now?
3. What has been done about any of these to date?
4. How has this job been performed in the past?
5. Why is it now vacant?
6. Do you have a written job description for this position?
7. What are its major responsibilities?
8. What authority would I have? How would you define its scope?
9. What are the company's five-year sales and profit projections?
10. What needs to be done to reach these projections?
11. What are the company's major strengths and weaknesses in the manufacturing process?
12. What are its strengths and weaknesses in its products and its competitive positions?
13. Whom do you identify as your major competitors? What is your market share?
14. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
15. How do you view the future for your industry?
16. Do you have any plans for new products, services or acquisitions?
17. Might this company be sold or acquired?
18. What is the company's current financial strength?
19. What can you tell me about the individual to whom I would report?
20. What can you tell me about other persons in key positions?
21. What can you tell me about the subordinates I would have?
22. How would you define your management philosophy?
23. Are employees afforded an opportunity for continuing education?
24. What are you looking for in the person who will fill this job?
25. Where could this position lead?
26. Is there a training and indoctrination program? Please describe.

For professional help is writing a resume that is guaranteed to produce results, please Click Here!

New verification position at a Boston area Startup

We are seeking an experienced hardware-oriented (i.e. Verilog, System Verilog) ASIC verification engineer to collaboratively work with our design team and help execute our verification plans.

Key Competencies:

• Languages: Verilog, System Verilog, Perl or C

• Extensive experience writing and debugging self-checking testbenches for extremely large (>5M+ gates) chip designs

• Chip-level verification experience

• Experience with Assertions and Code Coverage

• Experience with signal-processing chips, and/or SoC, (wireless or video experience a plus)

If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit your resume here.

The "in person interview." A continuation of the "phone interview."

The Interview

You have two main goals in the interview situation:

1. Demonstrate to the employer that you can make a positive contribution to their organization (taking into consideration their investments in your salary and your training time),
2. Demonstrate to the employer that you will be a compatible member of their team. Bear in mind that both you and the employer are selling and evaluating each other.

Listed below are general guidelines for interview conduct:

1. Plan to arrive a few minutes early - late arrival for a job interview is never excusable.
2. If presented with an application, fill it out neatly and completely even if you have brought your personal resume. Unwillingness to fill out the application, or writing in of "see resume" may disqualify you from some positions immediately.
3. Shake hands firmly and greet the interviewer with his or her surname - if not sure of the pronunciation, please ask the interviewer to repeat their name.
4. It is your responsibility to establish an immediate level of rapport so that you may communicate comfortably.
5. Direct the interviewer to detail the duties of the position early in the interview so that you can relate your background and skills to their needs.
6. Make sure that your positive traits are communicated to the interviewer in a factual and sincere manner.
7. Emphasize your strong points and minimize your liabilities.
8. Respond to each question in a thoughtful, truthful, concise and complete manner.
9. Be aware of your posture and body language - they communicate attitudes and impressions.
10. Never close the door on opportunity - always conduct yourself as if you were determined to get the position you are discussing.
11. Manage the interview, do not take charge but establish equal status; not subordinate, not dominant.
12. Keep a list of all the people you talk with, their titles and the correct spelling of their names. You will need these to write thank you letters after the interview.

Coming up next I will cover "Interview questions to expect." Stay Tuned!

If you need help designing a resume that is guaranteed to get results, please Click Here!

The most exciting start up I have ever come across!!

I am working with a start up company in MA that is quite literally the most exciting company I have ever had the pleasure of being engaged with... This company is truly going to revolutionize the industries of imaging (near term) and solar power (longer term.) They are a photonics materials company that is working on a technology that is a "brand new fundamental technology platform." Most start ups out there have a "tweak" of a current technology that promises to be "faster" or have a better "performance/power ratio." They are all competing in a fierce and fast moving industry. THIS company holds all of the patents for all of the uses of it's proprietary technology. They promise to be as revolutionary as Microsoft was in comparison to DOS. (For those of you who remember what DOS was!) In the next 10 months, I will have 20+ positions to fill but for right now, I am in need of very good people with experience in the areas of device physics and materials science.. Here is a quick description of the device physicist I am looking for:

Qualifications:
To perform this job successfully, the ideal candidate will have experience developing photonic semiconductor devices for commercial products and government programs. A working knowledge of advanced analytical techniques to model and predict electro-optic performance is required. Hands on design and test of imaging devices and design tools with good communication skills to present results and to transfer technology to internal and external teams is essential. Practical experience with materials science, heterojunctions, compound semiconductors, QWIPS, CCDs and CMOS imagers preferred.

Education or Experience: MSEE or MS Physics required (Ph.D. preferred) with over 6 years commercial design experience. Experience with electro-optic modeling tools (Silvaco, Supreme, Pisces) and device design tools required. Use of mathematical and statistical analysis tools preferred.

If this position is of interest to you, please submit your resume here.

If you need help in creating a resume that is guaranteed to get the attention of hiring managers, please Click Here!

New grads and those who need help writing that PERFECT resume!!

Did you know that the typical hiring manager looks at your resume for less than 30 seconds before deciding if they want to take the first step and initiate a dialogue? That's right! 30 SECONDS!!! With so many qualified candidates pursuing the same position, it is more critical than ever to be sure that YOUR resume catches the eyes of the hiring manager!! First and foremost- ditch the cover letter! Secondly, keep your resume to 2 pages at the very most! Hiring managers are not looking for a life story, they are looking for specific keywords that are applicable to the job that you are pursuing. There is a service that I would highly recommend to new college grads and those who need professional help in designing a resume that WILL get attention. If you are interested in taking the first step to securing that dream job Click Here!

I found this great PC system cleaner! You can scan your system for free!!

Has your system been running slow lately?? Have you checked to see if you have spyware that you're not aware of? I found this great tool that will scan your system to check for errors absolutely free... Take a look for yourself.
Click Here!

New position: Sr. Materials and Optics Engineer in MA.

Job Title: Sr. Engineer Materials and Optics
Department: Photonics
Reports To: R&D Director

Definition:
Work within a small research team to investigate and characterize properties of novel semiconductor optical materials. You will be designing, implementing, and analyzing experiments aimed at understanding fundamental material and optical device properties with a focus on photodetection.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Develop optical and electronic apparatus for test and analysis of device performance and characterization. Hands-on use of a wide range of laboratory equipment including; high-power lasers, vacuum equipment, and semiconductor processing equipment. Must have the ability to use critical analysis techniques to identify important experimental trends and set direction for further investigation. Utilize knowledge of solid-state device physics to help guide the group’s research and product directions. Communicate design and process improvements to production group.

Qualifications:
To perform this job successfully you must have extensive knowledge in optical engineering and optical or photonic materials. Working knowledge of material science and semiconductor processing techniques. Must be comfortable working hands-on with a wide range of optical, electronic, and semiconductor processing equipment. Requires high degree of independent problem solving, strong communication, presentation and teamwork skills. Proficiency with optical design and semiconductor modeling software, such as Silvaco, is desired. Limited travel to vendors and customers required.

Education or Experience:
Advanced degree in EE, Physics, or Material Science required with over 3 years industry experience. Demonstrated experience working with emerging technologies is a must. Direct experience with photometric measurement systems and short-pulsed lasers (nanosecond to femtosecond) is preferred. Familiarity with analytic software such as Mathematica or Matlab is a plus.

To submit your resume, please click here

The Telephone Interview

So many people just don't understand the purpose of the "Initial Telephone Interview!" Allow me to help you!!

More often than not - the first contact you will have with a potential employer will be a telephone interview. Employers use the telephone interview for several reasons:

1. It saves time. An employer can spend one half hour to an hour on the phone instead of 2 hours for an in person interview.
2. The employer wants to be sure you have the skills to do a certain job before paying for transportation and lodging to have you visit his/her workplace.

You Have Three Main Objectives for this Call

1. Give the employer enough information about your background so that he/she knows you can do the job.
2. Get enough information about the company so that you can decide whether or not you are interested in the job.
3. Finally - assuming you have an interest in this position, get a face to face interview - no one was ever hired solely as the result of a telephone interview! You must ASK to come in and meet with the team.

Before the Call

1. Gather supporting material and have it ready by the phone
   1) Your resume.
   2) Any performance reviews you may have.
   3) list of questions you would like to have answered.
   4) MOST IMPORTANT - a list of the "keys to the job" (see below) and your linkage to those keys - you should get this from your consultant.
2. Know your strengths and weaknesses: How will you answer the question - What are your three strong points (why should I hire you?) and what are your three weaknesses (why shouldn't I hire you?). Rehearse your answers with your recruiter.
3. Salary - Have your salary and expected salary review/raise date available.
4. Have your schedule for the next few weeks in front of you. If the interviewer wants to schedule a face to face interview you will need to know when you are available.
5. Choose a time/place away from kids - doorbells - barking dogs or the UPS man.

Keys to the Position

These keys will be the things that the employer needs the most. For examples, a recent position filled by High Tech Opportunities called for a candidate to:

1. Provide Technical Support for the entire ASIC Design Cycle - Pre-sales to Sign off.
2. Recommend technology, implementation, test strategy and verification approach to customers.
3. Perform engineering work (ASIC Design) as a service to customers.

During the Call

1. Call the interviewer by his/her first name - it establishes a mutual level of respect.
2. Be up for the call - whenever possible stand up! You will be less nervous and sound more excited about the position.
3. Keep the phone from direct contact with your mouth.
4. Have your notes ready - but no script - maybe with one exception to be covered later.
5. You, the candidate, should be talking 80% of the time.
6. After the introduction and small talk pull out the "keys to the job" and address each one of them.
   
   You would begin....
   
   "John/Mary I understand you are looking for someone to provide technical support to customers doing ASIC design! Let me tell you what I've done in that area!"
   
   After you have addressed each key - cross it out and go on to the next one.
   
   "I also understand you are looking for someone to recommend technology implementation and test strategy to customers! For XYZ Company I.........."
   
   After you have covered all the keys - it's your turn to ask the questions.
   
   One question that should always be asked is "John/Mary what is your career background - how did you get to be a manager at XYZ Company?
   
   Another good question is "What needs to be done to make an immediate impact at your company?"

Do Not Ask About:

1. Salary
2. Benefits
3. Working hours - on this call!

   This is not the time. Hopefully your recruiter will have answered those questions already. If asked what salary it would take to get you to come to work for their company - Do not give a figure - it is too early and you do not have enough information yet. Simply answer "it is really too early in the process to determine that" and ask another question. If asked about your current salary, answer honestly. Be sure to mention if any significant factors are in play such as a stock option vesting period, salary bonus or salary review. Those things are better discussed early rather than having them come up as a surprise later on.

Closing the Conversation

After you have given the employer enough information so that they know you have the qualifications for the position, and after you have enough information about the company so that you feel you have some interest in the position move toward the following script.

"Mary/John, I understand you're busy and there is only so much we can measure on the phone. I hope I've given you enough information to realize that I have the qualifications for this position. Based on what you've shared with me, I think we should meet - what would be a convenient time?"

Then stop talking!

If there is a problem it will come out here. If an interview is scheduled, Congratulations! You can move on to the next chapter, Preparation for the Face to Face Interview! If the employer declines to set an interview date - ask them where they feel you were lacking. Maybe it was simply a misunderstanding or failure to give them the right information. After clearing this up - ask for the interview again!

Tomorrow, we will take a closer look at the "face-to-face interview."

To view all of my current positions, please click here.

This is a test

Well, here we go! The first blog in the life of Ross Cooper A.K.A. "The Mad Recruiter." I am going to keep this short and sweet tonight as I would rather take the time to figure out the "settings" and "layout" and all the other intricacies that come with this blogging thing! However, in the very near future, you will find the most up to date and late breaking "inside news" on start up companies, open positions, layoffs, IPO's, and everything else semiconductor "AS IT HAPPENS!!"

If you are a semiconductor professional, this is quite frankly, the blog that cannot be missed!!!

At present, I have some VERY exciting positions with leading companies that are seeking top notch talent.. Please check out my latest listings here: http://hightechnh.com/candidates-job-listings.htm