"Fresher" become "Physical Designer" using 3Ps (Passion, Patience, Preparation)

The Journey from Fresher to Physical designer is not that easy as everyone thinking. It need 3Ps, which I always suggest to students/candidates. These 3Ps are:

1. Passion,
2. Patience,
3. Preparation

Last time I have shared a Journey of Sanjay Goyal "From Mtech to Internship" which were around 6 rules:

1. Complete your required Education with good CGPA/%
2. Strong Fundamentals and concepts
3. Prepare good Resume
4. Understand the Job requirement and prepare your self for the Interview
5. Keep confidence on your self
6. Keep trying

But this Journey helps you to understand the real meaning of Abstract words "Passion, Patience and Preparation". One fine Day, "Rinu Johnson" pinged me and shared her success story with me. You can't believe my feeling when I come to know that I (My Articles and Videos) also played a role in her success. After my request - she composed her Journey (which was full of challenges) to share with everyone, so that It can Motivate others.

Here is her ("Rinu Johnson") brief Journey. (I have just convert few words into Links, little bit formatting as easy readability and added line Break at few places. Nothing else is changed).

I have listed my education and my story of entering in to VLSI Industry.

Education:

• BE in Electronics & Communication Engg from Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore , 2009. , 74%
• Masters In VLSI Design from Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore, June 2011. 8.75 CGPA
• Worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of ECE in Sri Eshwar College of Engineering, Coimbatore from June 2011 to Dec 2013.

I was always passionate about to join the VLSI Industry, but due to some personal reasons I was unable to move to Bangalore in search for the same. It was after my marriage I moved to Bangalore and I thought that it was the right time for me look for opportunities in VLSI.

Put forward this idea to friends and relatives but all gave me negative feedback telling that switching from academics to corporate was difficult specially VLSI Industry. But I decided to give a try because later point in my life I shouldn’t regret that I never made a try.

I started browsing about the VLSI institutes and finally ended up with one with was affordable fee ("Indian Institute of VLSI Design & Training" - Bangalore - Now the name is changed to "Industrial Training & Research Institute"). I took the a PG Diploma In VLSI which include both frontend, backend and layout part (February, 2013 – August, 2013).
Frankly speaking, I was not fully aware about the PD Domain and I thought VLSI Industry was fully around the Verilog and system Verilog (design and verification). It was through the course I knew about the Physical Design Domain and I was interested in the same.

After my course I was looking out for job in any of the domain in VLSI. It was tough to get interview calls since I was not a fresher and had a previous academics experience. During my six months of job search I got around 4 interviews. Written test was the worst part I had to again brush up my aptitude etc. I cracked two interviews one in layout and one in PD but due to some project cancellation I was not offered that Job. It was during the job search I stared to have more interest in PD domain.
I then understood that to crack the interview one has to be very strong in basics and should have more understanding in depth about the subject. The six months of job search was created a gap in my career. It was at that time the trainer who trained me in my institute has left and they were in need of a person to take classes for the Physical design. I decided to take up this job and to study more about the Physical design and simultaneously search for Job. It was through the teaching that I gained more deep understanding about the PD domain.

It was at this time I came through the VLSI expert website and got many udemy videos about VLSI. “The more you teach the more you learn” This was true for me . The doubts asked by my students in the institute made me go very deep about the subject and VLSI expert was like reference for me and I recommend the students the same.

After my six months of teaching one fine day through LinkedIn I got an interview call for consultant position in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. I attended the interview and I cracked it easily.

Apart from this, I would like to share few things to the fresher’s who are looking forward to work in VLSI industry.

1. The fresher’s who are looking for opportunities have to be prepared always because we will not know when opportunity knocks and lot of patience is needed.
2. Select the domain which you want to work and prepare accordingly.
3. Deep understanding of the concepts is needed.
4. It may take some time to get a Job but it’s worth waiting.

I would like to appreciate the work you are doing Puneet (It's Me :) ) because it helps many students. Many college graduates are not aware about the VLSI Industry itself and many colleges also don’t guide the students properly. Its only IITs ,NITs and Tier I college students have better idea about the VLSI industry .
In my M.E batch only I have ended up here remaining all have ended up with teaching because all they knew was after M.E its teaching and nothing else. Some even having interest in core industry end up going for software jobs because they think that only software jobs are lucrative. Keep doing your work and you can reach out to me for any help for the same.

First of all - very thanks to "Rinu Johnson" who took time to appreciate us and share her story so that others don't loose hope and try to understand the real meaning of 3Ps. I am sure It will help other in building their career.

Recommended Article (by VLSI Expert): 5 Reasons VLSI Industry Not for You

I don't think, I have to say anything after her Message to Fresher. Even I have the same opinion.

In case, you want to talk to her (For the Validity of this Testimonial :) ) , you can contact her -
Mail Id: (will share after her confirmation)
LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/rinu-johnson-86912939

Rinu - Once again - Thanks a lot and Best Of Luck.