Qualcomm Hardware Engineer (Vlsi) Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I had a standard 2-page resume as per the standard format required by the institute placement cell. The areas of interest that you mention in the resume should change according to the job profile being offered by the company.

Round: Test
Experience: The first round of the selection process for Qualcomm was an online written test. I decided to appear for the hardware engineer (VLSI) profile. The test comprised of three sections. The first two sections – general aptitude and basic programming (C/C++) are same regardless of the profile you choose for the test. These two sections are quite simple. The general aptitude section comprises of objective questions like which figure will follow the given pattern and some other logical questions. The basic programming section consists of simple questions based on C/C++ like what would be the output of the given code, some questions on algorithms and sorting.

The third section is although said to be based on VLSI, but most of the questions asked are from analog electronics, digital electronics and microprocessors. The difficulty level varies from easy to medium difficulty. If you would have revised the topics well, you would be able to answer most of the questions correctly.
Tips: Electrical Engineering students should appear for the VLSI profile as its written test is the easiest of the three profiles being offered and most of the questions in the written test are based on topics that are covered in the Electrical Engineering curriculum.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: After the written test, the next round was an interview round. I worked on the mistakes I had made in interviews earlier and was a lot more confident this time around.
Some of the technical questions asked were related to:
Time domain analysis of waveform
Digital Electronics
Programming language VHDL
Some questions on the basics of VLSI
As I had already studied the subject Embedded Systems and had done a few related projects as well, I was able to answer most of the questions.
For the interview, I did put in a lot of effort in the preparation. Apart from the technical questions one should prepare for the HR type questions as well. I prepared answers for some typical HR type questions. One need not be completely spontaneous while answering questions in the interview. Having some points in your mind about what you want to say and how do you want to say it, always helps.
As I was interested in core companies and software companies, I prepared topics like C++ and Data Structures and practiced questions available on the internet.
Tips: Although I graduated in Electrical Engineering and the company’s work is more into electronics, I was still able to get through because I was able to answer the questions asked and hence prove that I have the necessary skills. Your branch wouldn't be much of a problem during the selection process, if you are able to prove that you have the necessary skill set required by the company.

General Tips: I started preparing for placements in the month of November. I revised topics like Electrical Machines, Microprocessors and Digital Electronics from my own notes. The notes or standard text books are sufficient to prepare for the selection process of any core electrical/Electronics Company.
Also apart from some standard textbooks, one can always search on the internet for questions, either general or specifically those that have been previously asked in that company’s selection process. Questions asked in the interview are more or less the same as those found on the internet.For the written test, revise data structures C/C++, methods of sorting, basics of algorithms, operating systems etc. For the interview you should revise embedded systems, basic electronics and digital electronics.
College Name: IIT ROORKEE
Motivation: I got to know about the company profile from some of my friends and seniors working at the company. I also browsed through their website.