Job Hunt 101 - Doc Prep - Pre-Doc Prep

Aim of this step is
  • Accessing your skills, experience and accomplishments. 
  • Getting data ready that you can use to fill online application forms easily
  • Help in resume preparation
  • Help in the HR, hiring manager round of interview

1. JOB SKILLS
LISTING - Start with the latest project and work your way down to the oldest project you can remember. 
Example - 
List of projects
  1. Testing chips using spare identical cores
  2. DFT for SDD
  3. Etc....
STATEMENTS - For each of these projects collect the following information in a table
  • Title:  
    • You have to mention your designation when doing the project, 
    • company you work for and 
    • your start and end dates, to quantify your experience. 
  • Statement: A brief desciprtion about the problem you worked on with numbers showing the effectiveness of your work
Example - consider
Testing chips using spare identical cores - Developed Test access mechanism to test multi core chips 
and 
Testing chips using spare identical cores - DFT Engineer, New York University ,08/2010 - 06/2013 - Developed a test access mechanism and design for testability scheme to test multi-core chips. I was able to reduce the yield loss from 6% to 0.1%, saving upto $1.5M annually. 

See how the second statement with numbers improve the strength of your statement.


2. PERSONAL SKILLS
LISTING - Identify 10 personal skills that you feel you possess http://www.illinoisworknet.com/vos_portal/Archives/Documents/Personal_Skills_Checklist.htm
Of these 10 choose 5 skills that applies most to you
STATEMENTS - Write statements that describe the situation where you have used the skill, Use numbers to show effectiveness of work.  

3. How I am different from others?
Have 3-4 statements why you think you are different from others. You can state your skills, accomplishments etc
Example - 
  • Extensive hands-on knowledge in VLSI system design, architecture and Testing.
  • Fluent with ASIC Design flow, worked with Cadence and Synopsys design tools.
  • Published 3 papers at well known conferences in the field of VLSI Testing.
  • Knowledgable in device physics, quantum mechanics, atomic transport, nanoscale device modeling. 
4. Keyword List
A list of keywords that can be used to search for positions on various job boards. 
Sit for some time and brainstorm important terms, acronyms, tools, designations, languages, concepts that you think
  • important in your domain
  • you have experience with
  • are needed in the industry
  • Is contained in search terms for common positions in the industry
Ex - My domain as DFT Engineer, These are common terms I use to search for positions 
Cadence, encounter, virtuoso, RTL compiler, Synopsys, Tetramax, Design compiler, RTL, vhdl, verilog, verification, synthesis, place and route, layout, clock tree, openSPARC, DFT, DFX, ATPG, BIST, Design for test, boundary scan, VLSI, Testing, FPGA, VIrtex, spartan, modelSIm, Xilinx, ISE, EDk, chipscope, SRAM,  PIC, microcontroller, MPLAB, assembly, mpasm, C, I2C, SPI, Ethernet, USB, Perl, Matlab, signal processing, JMP, SAS, logisim, gate level simulation, SoC

5. Transcripts, Certificates, Publications, Thesis, Project documents
In a folder, collect all your transcripts,certificates, Publications, Thesis and Project documents. For certain positions, You might need to submit a few of these documents. They can be used as a reference for later on.

6. List of Companies
Brainstorm a list of companies in your domain that you would like to be placed in a spreadsheet.

7. List of References
Create a spreadsheet with atleast 3 references with their 
  • names, 
  • designation, 
  • phone number
8. List of Contacts
Brainstorm a list of people you know and who can help you in forwarding your resume internally. Have an excel sheet with 3 columns, Company, Name, designation, contact information (email, phone) and add them to a spreadsheet.


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