I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Xilinx (Dublin, Dublin) in Feb 2016
Interview
Received mail about a screening interview. Talked to the team lead, mostly about my experience and the job description. There were some brief technical questions but mostly trivial.
After the screening interview I had the onsite interview.
The onsite interview was a mixed bag. I felt there were several communication problems with the team lead as well as with one of the engineers there. The team lead didn't really inform me about the how the onsite interview was going to be and what to prepare/bring exactly - I don't think I should be asking questions about every single word in a brief 10-15 words mail, about what did you mean ? what should I bring ?
The technical questions varied and covered many domains from low level hardware towards higher level. All stages were OK, aside from the computer architecture,, where the engineer either didn't understand what I said (after several rephrases of mine and schematics) or just wanted to chat randomly about a non sens topics. For instance I think we talked 10 minutes about latency vs throughput !! Also on other topics he kept saying yes I understand when when he clearly didn't, hearing what questions followed up.
Other sections were ok from my point, very nice people in general.
I was told by the team lead I would hear from them in 2 days maximum. After 3 days I mailed, and got a mail in the 4th day about the fact that there are still other candidates, and should hear from them somewhere in 2 weeks. After I month I got mail after I send them a reminder. Overall a bad experience on my side!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Boolean operations, given a map input-output find the function
Design/draw a circuit for a certain operation
High throughput problems I worked at, SoC questions, different IPs I worked at
Float base 10 bit representation in base 7
Basic bash questions, algorithm problems
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Xilinx (Dublin, Dublin) in Aug 2015
Interview
The interview process is very professional and although, the interviewers sometimes ask very tough questions and dig very deep into your skills and personality, they always remain friendly and try to make you feel comfortable.
The interview process starts with a phone interview, which goes over your CV and investigates your skills as well as some personality questions. The interviewers also explain their work as well as the responsibilities. At the end it is possible to also ask several questions which are all answered in great detail.
The next step is an on-site interview, which consists of several panel, one-on-one rounds, an HR interview and a presentation.
During the one-on-one rounds, the interviewers ask a mix of technical and behavioral questions. Depending on the interviewer, this may be a casual chat about fundamentals but may also go very deep into your technical and behavioral background. For some technical questions, I had to write source code and draw circuits on a white-board. The behavioral part is very tough and some of the interviewers drill down very deep.
The HR round was in contrast one of the most pleasant HR experiences I ever had. In addition to the usual questions, such as why this company, the interviewer explained in detail how the company works and the benefits they provide to you.
The presentation is in front of the whole team and senior management. They will ask very tough questions and may interrupt you during the presentation.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Technical part:
Typical coding interview questions that can be prepared easily. Even some of the popular riddle-type questions, such as "How many golf balls fit into a school bus?" Since it's an FPGA company, they also ask hardware-specific questions.
Behavioral:
Greatest strengths and worst weaknesses, give five examples each. How well do you integrate into a team? Greatest achievement? How do you work? Why this company? Why should we hire you? Do you plan to go back to academia?
