Soc Design career question

You should not narrow your interests so much as to make a statement like "my current field (synthesis and timing)..." but rather in your work broaden and stretch your attention and interests.

My usual recommendation is pick a few things you really like and become a true expert in those, while seeking to broadly understand related areas, into which they can be integrated.

Yes

Yes

no problem,

Synth is harder. but you got to start somewhere

It will help, keep a hand it the other field

With the smarter people in the areas you want to learn in.

yes.

Going for you MS should have little to do with what group you are/will be in, so you can take that out as a factor.

What's a BE?

Sure. BTW, I rather like doing that sort of work.

No clue. IMO, an MS is useless unless it's on the way to a PhD. The time spent on the MS is usually better spent in the business (unless you can do both at the same time).

It's not all that far, kinda like Buffalo and Toronto. Verification isn't what I want to do, but it *is* in demand. Verification is too much programming for my tastes, perhaps because I can't spell C++. Timing is a nice break though. It's interesting trying to put ten pounds of BS in a five pound bag.

IMO, verification is further from design than the others. Sure, you have to understand the architecture, but verification itself doesn't give you much of an idea *how* the devices are used. It is a skill in high demand though.

people ...the

That is a tough question. I've always tried to go for what the others aren't doing. Big-fish/small-pond sort of thing.

Once again, verification is hin huge demand. Once you get there it might be hard to leave. This may be a good thing, or maybe not. ;-)

What do *you* want to do? What's important to you. That's the key.

Go with the force, Luke!

So everyone can snicker behind your back and whisper, "Dumb shit"?

PhD's should be kept in cages... they f*ck up more designs than you can even fathom. Theory is to practice as Democrats are to Republicans ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Forgot to add... the project I am currently working has gone through three PhD's since the first of the year... chew 'em up, spit 'em out ;-)

...Jim Thompson

I think venture capitalists tend to be suckers for PhD's but, as I say, three down and more to go ;-)

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

IMHO, if you are considering doing MS after one year or two, maybe you can consider about doing a PhD as well, as far as I know, most senior people in SoC design industry have PhD degrees.

ha-ha, PhDs are a bit theoretical...but it is also true for a technology company to have senior people with PhD degrees, just MHO...

There is a place for PhD's, but it's not in design, particularly SoCs. SOCs are a simple matter of finding someone with enough money to pay the OTC. ...perhaps a MBA would be a better fit in the team. ;-)

I've seen the opposite: PhDs start companies, raise 3F money, spend themselves to the brink of disaster, and then the VCs come in and wind up owning their bodies and souls.

PhDs are OK, but they usually need help thinking.

John

That's for sure. Too much theory and not enough practice.

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

people

1. You don't have to believe me, just look up the references to the studies (on my website:
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   and talk to people who have "been there" and are willing to tell the truth. And, by the way, there are quite a few papers published in journals to show there is a larger attrition out of all these jobs than you would think should be.
2. If you want to have a PhD and be in a job that uses it, then research out those nice permanent government jobs where its almost impossible to get fired and being part of a govt program its pretty safe from reductions in force (RIFs). Or, become rich with a lottery win, then take the money and set up your own private lab, privately funded by you (so you're isolated from RIFs, changes in market forces, whims of upper management, etc).
3. I also tell people to look at the job market and i) figure out what the applicant to job ratio is, 2) figure out how long people are taking to find a job, 3) how long they stay in the job, 4) how well are the jobs paying & job security....and do that instead of reading graduate school catalogs and dreaming on cloud 9 about lofty pies-in-the-sky.

Remember, people who get MDs end up doing a lot better for a lot longer than most PhDs.

a PhD can be a millstone

Batchelor of Engineering. Generally a 4 or 5 year program.

people

Still, a PhD might help the chances of promotion.

On the other hand, if Straydog is to be believed, a PhD can be a millstone and the years might be better used on a MS and then a MBA.