I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Qualcomm (San Jose, CA) in Jan 2014
Interview
Couple of quick and easy phone interviews. Followed by one onsite interview that lasted the entire day with 9 different people. 8 hours is a LONG time to interview. Tough to stay focused all the way to the end with just bathroom breaks and a half hour lunch.
Most of the interviews were relaxed, but some where extremely intense. It all depended on the person doing the interviewing.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
-Asked to draw a block diagram of a radio transmitter and receiver.
-Asked the various components and contributors to noise figure and methods to calculate a systems noise figure.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Qualcomm (San Jose, CA) in Jun 2019
Interview
The whole interview experience was very intimidating, I guess it is because of the person who interviewed me. I had two phone interviews and an on-site, the first call was totally unannounced. I was in a noisy classroom and couldn't really communicated my ideas clearly to the interviewer. The second call was scheduled two days later with another person and that actually went well. The first interviewer contacted me personally, off the record, to tell me I have been selected for on-site and that HR would contact me later and that he had a strong feeling that I would do well. At first I thought he was impressed by my interviews and really wanted me on board for his team but once the calls became regular (like everyday before the on-site) I became too skeptical. At one point, I was kinda scared to go on-site. On-site, the scenario completely changed. I was instructed to be at the office at 12.30 pm, but they made me wait till 1pm until HR phoned in. Later, the first interviewer walked with a super stern look on his face, didn't even make small talk, straight away started throwing questions at me. The questions were basic and pretty easy but the conversation was more like a 21 questions game than an interview. I could literally cut the tension in the air but I did the best I could to keep myself calm. As the interview progressed, I had a couple of other people walk in and be nice to me. I felt I performed better to them. At the end of the day, I knew this place wasn't right for me.
Interview questions [6]
Question 1
What P1db? draw the graph and explain the parameters? What is IIM, IIP, IIP3? Draw plots and explain.
Explain inter-modular dispersion?
What are Couplers? Draw the circuit, draw hybrid coupler? Explain the Smith chart, Draw the smith chart.
Why is the Open and Short switched in an admittance chart? what is the value of Z and Y in the open and short end of the Smith chart?
Draw block diagram of transmitter and receiver? explain them.
What is the bandwidth for LTE? what is the frequencies for 5G?
How to measure antenna directivity?
How to configure a modem?
Calculating resistance/resistivity, conductance/conductivity in a circuit, given the current and voltage and thickness.
How to measure using VNA? How to calibrate VNA? what are the types of calibration? why do we calibrate? What should be kept in mind while calibrating?
What is the difference between active and passive elements?
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Qualcomm (San Jose, CA) in Mar 2017
Interview
The engineer directly contact you and ask the HR to fix a time for the phone interview. The phone interview take around 30 min and only one interviewer. The questions are about RF, antenna, communication, and measurement. Some I can answer and some I am not sure. The process is nice not tough.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
One question is about RF filter: what is flyback, which I never met before in my text book.