National University of Singapore Research Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

It was a very straightforward process. The Principal Investigator (PI) interviewed me directly. They asked about relevant skills and my previous experience working in research fields. As I'm a fresh graduate, all the technical skills I discussed were gained during my Final Year Project (FYP). The entire process felt informal and casual, likely because I had already worked with the PI on my FYP, so they knew me well and the interview was mostly a formality.

The hiring manager and HR from the PD team suggested me for this role. Although I hadn't worked in a similar role before, I was familiar with the PD flow. I had to postpone the interview process a bit since my current project was in its final stages, and it took three weeks from the initial phone call to the final outcome because of that. The process started with a phone interview where they emphasized that knowledge of the PD flow is crucial for this position. After passing this, I focused on improving my scripting skills. The onsite interview consisted of 6 rounds: 4 technical, 1 with the Director (covering both technical and managerial aspects), and 1 HR round. The interviews began with discussing the basic approaches I used in a complex project and how they could have been improved. They also asked about specific tool commands (ICC/ICC2/PT) and the significance of various switches. We covered SPEF generation, extraction, ECO flow details, and identifying common startpoints, endpoints, and clock groups in code snippets related to violations. Setup and hold issues were discussed, with a whiteboard problem to solve. Clock Tree Synthesis concepts were explained, along with sub-stages in each PNR stage and their importance, and correlations with command switches. The Director round also involved discussing approaches to debugging simple and complex issues in the flow. The HR round was about compensation and the company's work culture.

Got a response to my application about 3 weeks later, and they scheduled an interview. Weirdly, at the end of the interview, they didn't give any timeline for a decision. While I get that, the job was actually posted again on different sites the very next week. I wish they could have at least told me I wasn't what they were looking for. Still no word after two follow-ups over 10 days. Pretty annoying.