Balaji Adithya- PPO at Analog Devices
Written on September 14th, 2020 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}Balaji Adithya is a current fourth-year ECE student . He was the only student who secured a summer internship at Analog Devices this year, a reputed core company among the electrical firms. He did his PS-1 at CEERI, Pilani last summer, and secured a PPO this year with a virtual internship. Analog Devices visited the campus for the new academic year's placement cycle, but there were no selects from any profiles.
Q. What was your position at the company while you are at SI?
I joined the role of a digital verification intern. My work included function analysis that is going through the codes and then finding out what the code's function is, and then, static timing analysis, clock and uncertainty assertions, and some design-related problems.
Q. Can you tell us about the selection process, testing process, and the interview you had for getting the SI?
In the selection process, first, there was a written test. I think there were 15 questions, tests based on digital design, very long, and some gentle intelligibility questions. After that, there were two technical interviews conducted on the campus. And then there was a third-round where I had one technical and one HR interview at the Bangalore headquarters
Q. When did you start preparing for your SI? How much time and effort would you ideally advise for the same?
I started preparing after my PS1, roughly around mid-July. I focused on the basics. There wasn't a fixed schedule as to how much time is spent, but like I studied what the companies usually give more weightage to, that is the basics of digital design and their blog, stuff like that.
Q. What are the resources you used to prepare for the interview process?
For Analog Devices, I had applied for digital design, and I was thinking of applying for the same role for most of the companies that were yet to come, so I prepared from Morris manual textbook for Digital Design-like concepts such as flip flops, latches, FIFO, and stuff like that. For mental ability, I just went through random questions on the net. Also, the algomaniac questions from Atmos were beneficial. Some came in the exams as well. And then, I read about the individual companies, found out the frequently asked questions from one of the sites, and practiced them.
Q. Did you participate in any non-academic activities, and how did they help you?
After my second year, I don't think I had done anything extra apart from taking part in the workshops such as line follower and issue bot building.
I had some experience in the robotics area, and then I also competed in IIT Madras's E-Yantra and got some knowledge about assembly code from that. Apart from that, I haven't done much in the field related to the role.
Q. Are there any courses that companies look specifically at while selecting?
So far, core companies expect second yearites to have completed digital design, electronic devices, microprocessors, and interfacing and, possibly should have some knowledge on digital VLSI design and FPGA, I guess. I took 30% of these courses when the summer internship drive was going on, which also helped.
Q. Could you tell us a bit about your profile, projects you have done, and the research experiences?
So, guiding my profile, as I said, until my second year, I had done just the project, the one under ps1, but that was related to deep learning and not related to core electronics. Overall, I had not done many projects for the role I applied for.
Q. Did you participate in any non-academic activities? Furthermore, how did it help you? Moreover, can you tell us about the projects you have done?
I don't think companies expect much in terms of anything extra. As far as what I have experienced, I'm not sure. However, as I said, having one or two projects under your belt, no matter where it belongs, might be of some use, because it might tell the employers that okay, this guy has some capability of doing some research-related work. So it's always good to have some projects, and I suppose it's even better if it's related to the core.
So, before I had done just one project, the deep learning one from PS1, nothing more, I also had those robotics projects in my bag, like I had mentioned them in my resume. Apart from that, I had FPGA lab course in my 3-1 sem, which is not being offered this time. The course had a project component, which I mentioned in my resume as well.
Q. How did the work from home aspect of your SI affect the general nature of your job?
There are some general disadvantages: you can not meet your mentor or the one you are reporting to, and setting up your work environment might be challenging because the company doesn't let you work directly on your local laptop. So you have to be able to set a VPN and then get into the thing and then work. So setting all that up is a bit of pain.
But apart from that, I don't think there was much. There wasn't much problem. It was the same. Like, it was a good experience.
And if you work from home, obviously the problem of, you know, taking up rooms and then traveling, all that wouldn't be there. You know, what I used to do was have food and work simultaneously.
Q. How did you find working with your team at the company? And like, how are the colleagues and seniors of yours?
So, there wasn't a team that I worked with. I was assigned a mentor and one other intern who was working along with me from IISC Bangalore. So he pre worked on whatever doubts we had and openly asked the mentor and then got feedback and did regular updates on what is being done each week or whatever schedule was given. Moreover, they don't expect much since you're a third-year undergraduate student. Obviously, if you don't understand anything, they are open to suggesting what to learn and provide material. So it was a huge learning curve.
Q. How heavily do you weigh the role of soft-skills, CGPA, technical skills, and the SI process and the SI to PPO conversion?
Obviously your technical skills are tested during the interviews, so it is given the most importance. CGPA matters only for resume shortlisting. I don't think it will be helpful after that. And then, SOPs. They expect minimum communication skills to check if you can explain what you have done, and that's why there is an extra round. They asked about what projects you have done and then something general, and if you can answer correctly and, you know, communicate satisfactorily.
Q. Could you tell us more about the SI to the PPO conversion process? What made you stand out apart from all your colleagues that led to your PPO conversion? How easy would you say it is to convert the SI to a PPO?
So there wasn't some separate process as such. For many people there they expect you to do the work they give you. So, one advantage was that I was the only one who got selected. The other one was I had asked for some extra work, apart from the work they assigned me. I kept, you know, asking them for extra design work and stuff and then worked on it, and I was able to complete it. And then there is a presentation of sorts at the end of the SI. So I could present it, and maybe I think doing those extra design problems and works must have been a factor for me getting a PPO.
In terms of ease, it depends on the company, I guess. Obviously, there must be some process if there are more people, but there, at Analog Devices, there wasn't any process. So it was pretty easy. Like I had to do my work. And then, since I had some spare time, I asked for more work. And it ended up good, I guess.
Q. How important do you think an SI is for a single degree student?
Not very, in my opinion. But yeah, if you get an SI, there are high chances you will get a PPO, and if you get a PPO, obviously you are free from all the tension in your fourth or fifth year, and you can focus more on your research goals or plan for a thesis, or something like that, but if you don't get a SI, there are always off-campus SI(s) that are always available. One major thing that my friends had taken up during the summer is from Shakti processes. They had given many roles for students from BITS, as far as I know. I know at least two to four people who worked in the summer. There may be many more roles. So the companies coming to campus are not the only options.
Q. What are your plans for the upcoming placement cycle and the PS2/TS process?
There is no plan yet. For PS2 and TS I'm just trying my hand out for PS2. I'm filling in whatever forms they're giving us. Obviously, I'm more interested in core companies. My interests are inclined more towards computer architecture. I'm just trying out for internships; nothing fruitful has come out yet still in the process.
Q. Do you have any suggestions for your students participating in the SI cycle this year or appearing for it in a year from now?
No matter which company comes, there might be many profiles that they might offer, like digital profiles and embedded profiles. But they always expect these fundamental topics from DD, microprocessor, and mental ability. If you are good at these three, then you can, for sure, crack any written test, at the very least. And no matter what the profile is, I think most of the companies test the students based on these topics, and a bit of microelectronic circuits is also essential. So if a student is good at these subjects, he will be able to crack the technicals. And as far as interviews go, like if you have one or two projects under your resume, it's pretty good, even though it's not related to the profile itself.
Q. Is there anything you can share for your juniors?
One thing I understood was that taking up informal projects is really important if you are into research. When I was in my second and third years, I had not realized that. I was striving for some formal project and did not want to take any extra burden. But thinking back now, the more projects you have and the more professors that you work with will help you further when you go for some thesis or applying at some foreign university. So one suggestion is to try finding the area of interest faster and then start pestering the professors.
And have some extracurricular activities in your schedule as well. Like for my extracurriculars, I usually sing and play the piano. So, it's good to have some things to free your mind.
Q. Looking back at the past, would you like to change anything?
Yeah, I was like the usual Phoenix guy in my second year. Instead of focusing on learning more in the core subjects, I wanted to learn from CS. I'm not saying it's bad, but I couldn't give enough time to either the CS or the electronic side. So, if I can go back, maybe I'll focus more on electronics.
I think it's like the lack of proper course structure. There was a post on Facebook about it too. Based on this amateur saying, there are those interested in electronics and are forced to learn electrical. That was a significant downside from several courses like EM. That actually decreased my interest in the course. I think many students face that problem during the first two years of a studying core. For coding, there is a well-established club - Crux. They give out a lot of suggestions and things to learn. There is a lack of such a club in electronics. ARC is there, but that's more towards robotics, not core electronics, VLSI, processors, and stuff. So, I think there is a lack of a community that supports this idea of having an interest in the core from the beginning. There's no reference point that people can take up, like in Crux, there's always some person who has done some projects, and then they put it on GitHub and people can look at it. There's no such thing for core people.
For SI, I would suggest if one appears with an open mind. There is always another company or an off-campus opportunity where you can learn stuff. It is not like the SI is the only chance at having a successful career.