Starting off a new job

[EngIntoHW]

Hi,

I've been working so far for a very small hi-tech company as an hardware engineer (however, I'm still an electric engineering student).
It is my first job in hi-tech.

As some of you might know, the work routine in small companies is very unique:

Bad things:
- Very tensed work
- You got lots of responsibilities and things to take care of (which means less private time and many worries)
- Your personal desk is always messy as you get your hands dirty with many things (soldering circuits, testing boards, debugging modules, and so on)
- You find yourself stay up late occasionally

Good things:
- You are exposed to many technologies and get great experience in many different fields
- Lots of joking around with the guys
- You make a difference

I'm about to start off a new job in a very large company.
In my current job, I occupy a position of hardware and software development, and in my future job, I'll occupy a position of HW and SW verification, which is totally different.

I'd like to have your opinions about how should I professionally and socially behave in my new job, while taking into account that:
- I'm moving from my first job in a very small company to a very large company
- My position changes from HW and SW development to HW and SW verification

For example, How would you suggest recording all the new things I'll be taught during my first months, how oftenly shall I ask my co-workers questions and how to approach them about that, anything that crosses your mind.

Thank you very much.

 

[BrownOut]

Congrats on your new job. May I ask, in what country will you be workikng? I've done alot of hardware verification in the last 8 or 9 years, so I might be able to help in that arena. As for conducting yourself, well I really can't advise as personal conduct on the job has never been my strong suit.

 

[gabeNC]

Picture Napoleon. Now unzip your fly and put your hand in it. Walk around speaking French and threatening to invade Russia. This is socially and professional accepted behaviour.

Seriously just be yourself, show respect, show up for work on time, do more than what is expected. You'll do fine.

 

[EngIntoHW]

Thanks guys.

How would you suggest to record everything I learn?
Should I have a personal notebook by my side where I could write down what I learned?

 

[3v0]

None of this stuff is first quarter stuff but keep it in mind.

My advice is to learn the company culture as fast as you can. It will tell you many things including how aggressive you need to be in various aspects.

Know that what people say, and what they want or expect, can conflict.

If you are doing well you can go into your reviews and promote your agenda. Rather then having your manager make up a laundry list of what you can improve on.

Know that the same manager that keeps you busy putting out fires may ask why you didn't meet the points set down on you last performance review.

Take notice of how long people stay in one position. In some cultures staying too long is viewed as a lack of initiative or motivation. It can also put you into the position of being they guy who everyone comes to for help. This makes it hard to get your work done.

If you are unhappy with the current assignment do you best work but do not stay there too long. It can be demoralizing. Do you best to move to a position that you enjoy.

 

[cr0sh]

The largest company I've ever worked for had about 100 employees; not really a large company compared to most. The company did software development for a large vertical market insurance claims processing application. My job was the development and maintenance of an internal-use only CRM/trouble-ticketing application (it had other functions as well). I spent 8 years doing that, then one morning I was "laid-off" out of the blue. I was told my position wasn't needed anymore, and that they were going to look for replacement software for the app I developed. They gave me a month's severance and showed me the door. I later learned they were selling the company (to Tata), and I was basically "dead weight", in that my product was an internal-use only application, and not sold outside the company, and therefore I looked bad on the bottom line.

A week after I left that company, I had another job (with a very small company - 5 employees) developing a web-application and making 10K more than I was at the other place!

Four years later I went back (had to pick up a package that got sent there by accident) - I found out they were still using the application I had developed; they had not been able to find a replacement app that could fulfill the same business needs - unfortunately, they didn't have anybody who could update the code or fix bugs, but the fact that they were still using it says something (good or bad, I am not sure). That was two years ago; I imagine they are still using the application (I wonder if its been upgraded yet?).

I just wanted to tell that story - the moral is, no matter where you're at, large or small company, and no matter how long you have worked there - they really don't give a crap about you. They'll sell you out as fast as punch, if it means a few more dollars down the line. Besides that little tidbit, the other thing to keep in mind that you don't see as much in a smaller company (because everybody typically knows what everybody else is doing) - is politics. I am now pretty certain that politics played some role in my being laid off; what that role was (beyond the economics of the situation), I am not sure, nor do I really care. I know now that I can't last very long in such an environment, because I don't play that game - I really can't play that game. It involves something that I have never been good at, and will never be good at: Socialization. If you are typical of the majority of humans, though, then you probably socialize fairly well - so you might want to play the political game, and keep an eye out on certain things (I can't be less vague - because I don't pick up on various social cues and such - I really don't know what is going on or how to describe it; it probably makes me an "easy mark" for these kinds of situations, unless I am made aware of the issue in some manner beforehand).

Lastly - practice CYA - "cover-yer-a**"; log every bit of time you work and what you worked on, each day, into a log-book (use an engineering logbook or the like, where pages can't be ripped out without knowing):

Eureka Lab Book, Inc.

This will help you to keep track of projects, and it will also allow you to review notes and ideas from the past, for inspiration and guidance on projects. If you keep good notes about everything, someone later can't come back and tell your boss you were supposed to do something when you didn't know about it, or that you did something you shouldn't have (when you didn't), or when a colleague attempts to claim an idea of yours for his own.

Good luck at your new job!

 

[kofai]

What's the difference between Hardware Verification and Design Verification?

 

[Gary B]

I used to work for Siemens (142,000 employees at the time) before I started with the US government and one thing that you should do right away is to find out if they have a mentoring program. If they do, get involved as soon as possible. That is the super expressway to the corporate culture of the company or division you will be working in.

Next, practice active listening. It will go a long way in getting people who know to want to bother telling you. If somebody thinks you are really paying attention, they are much more likely to invest the time to explain the details to you.

An engineering notebook is a must but, taking notes while someone is explaining how to do something should be reserved for complex undocumented procedures. Most companies and departments down to the office level have written SOPs. Early on you should read them, memorize the ones you will be expected to perform as quickly as possible and know the others exist. The same thing goes for ISO9000 documents. If what you do is covered, have it out and use it like a check list until there is absolutely no doubt that you can do it correctly every time. In business it is always a race between quantity and quality. The bottom line is what counts and defective units cost money rather than making money so quality of work usually has the advantage.

 

[3v0]

I would think design verification happens when you have schematics. Hardware verification when the design has been built.

Terms can very from company to company.

 

[BrownOut]

Terms can very from company to company.

True that. In the world of ASIC, design or hardware verification was the same things. Once you had actual hardware, it was called validation.

 

[tvtech]

I am learning here. Thanks guys.

Cheers

 

[EngIntoHW]

Thanks for all of your great comments guys.

Like tvtech, I got here wonderful tips.

Has anyone here got to occupy a position of validation?
I don't know what the position is specifically about, but I know that it'd take analyzing logs files.
Did anyone deal with logs file analyze before?

 

[kofai]

I would think design verification happens when you have schematics. Hardware verification when the design has been built.

Terms can very from company to company.

I was a Design Verification Engineer for security products, but it looks like only verify the functions and simulates the customers use the products for all over the functions.