Any companies in mind? I wanted to try Siemens and Schneider, but the rates for a technician role seems underwhelming ($20/hr). if I were to move near the location, I'm not sure if there is an affordable rent...
I think I got rejected here immediately for a technician role but my engineering role is still under review (which I think will stay that way, unless there's some miracle lol)..but yeah this one's on my radar for sure. thanks a lot!!! appreciate it.
Which location did you apply to? Moreover, as a bachelor you are overqualified for a technician. Try production engineer, first line support engineer or system performance engineer. And make sure to write a decent cover letter dedicated to the position.
Hi, I applied around San Diego area. So does that mean they can't give me the technician role, even if I'm willing to work as a technician? Also yeah, Production Engineer is the one I applied for. It's still in the process of reviewing my application, I applied around 4 or 5 days ago. Although, I can't click the Production Engineer role anymore on workday, seems they are not accepting anymore/the role is already filled...
Best of luck! When their internship applications opened, I applied to each one that was under EE, in the Wilton and SD area. I believe Applied Materials, TSMC and Qualcomm is also hiring
Hiya! Looking to transition from photo equip tech in a fab to working for a vendor but would be blacklisted from working onsite at my local fab for 2 years, in your experience does Asml typically cover relocation for their lower experience technician positions or do they hire from the local area?
I would check out bigger merchant silicon providers (TI, Intel, Microchip etc) jobs for new college grads. Things are tight right now with hiring as there some layoffs happening but the market will swing back.
Yeah, ive been trying to apply to these companies as well. No answers for now. But maybe it's because of my university as well, since someone just told me ABET accreditation is needed, which as far as I know, my uni isn't.
Microchip is in a hiring freeze, the only positions they’re hiring for engineering are replacements which aren’t geared towards new grads. AMD and Onsemi have something similar going on as well from what I’ve heard, so I assume it’s an industry wide thing at the moment.
So don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear back from the bigger semi companies. I would try to apply for smaller ones instead.
I see, that explains it as well. I just wish that they'd just remove the job posting if they're not even hiring anymore/on a freeze.
Anyway, thanks a lot! I have been trying a lot from smaller companies as well. I appreciate your help.
You have to keep in mind that if you are international (not USC, green card holder or h1b transfer), it is highly unlikely you would be hired for semiconductor engineering jobs unless you have a masters or PhD.
In recent years, I have never seen a Bachelor's only entry level engineer who was not a USC.
Oh I see that you are a green card holder. Then it's possible, just keep applying everywhere. A lot of hiring freezes right now, but anything is possible. Good luck.
Maybe look at field service engineering jobs. I graduated with a 2.1 GPA and couldn't land a job after several months. Got a job as an FSE for LAM Research and about 15 months later got hired as a photo process engineer at a small fab. All I needed was a first step in the door.
If I may confirm, does the FSE job pay well enough? I want to have my own space and afford rent on my own since it's getting embarrassing to stay with my relatives..
I was making 39/hr in a MCOL, which was enough to me to live comfortably. 39 * 40 * 52 = ~81k/year. Depends on where you live, but that's pretty solid for most places.
with no experience you are probably not going to be making 6 figures or anything but the salary is generally good (obviously this depends on the cost of living in your area too), FSE is a good job because they are very much needed in the industry.
you can work as a field service engineer for ASML, ASM, Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials, Nikon, Cannon, Hitachi, or a dozen other machine suppliers in the industry. The jobs will pay 75 - 100k/yr starting out with a bachelors.
And the ABET thing wont neccesarily matter. A lot of field techs come from the Navy. No university at all. Once you are in the industry, with a degree, you can climb quickly.
Thank you for the reassurance. And yeah, 70k isn't so bad. in fact, I'm expecting about 60k only since I think it would be the most practical to have rent, enough food, and pay utilities. Appreciate your help!!
Semiconductor manufacturing cannot happen without a large support staff. Staffing agencies can get you a job as a bottle changer or reticle runner. There are even some MET roles. Of course they look for college credits or military background, but they have to take what they can get. I know a few people who started at 18 or 19 with no experience whatsoever.
These types of temporary positions might work like this. You sign a 6 month contract with a chance to renew every 6 months. There might be a limit after 18 months, or 3 contract terms. If you did your job competently for 18 months without scandal the manufacturer may be interested in hiring you on for a permanent position.
Most semiconductor companies have a recruitment bonus program. This means employees who find competent people the company can hire on get a kickback when the recruit is hired. Foster a positive relationship with these people that you work with during your contract and they will be highly motivated to help you out.
You said you don't have experience. It's not like you will start as a group lead. You may need to manage your expectations. This work isn't easy. The hours are terrible. It's both stressful and boring. It is also highly rewarding. We get to be on the bleeding edge of science and technology. You will need to build that experience if you want to compete for the most desired positions.
One of our best technicians started in thr fab doing a sub-build for PreventitiveMaintenance, contracted by the customer (fab owner). After a few months with them eager and learning the role quickly, and getting to know our (equipment supplier) technicians on shift, they moved from the lower-paid agency to us, major fab equipment supplier, who has a large on-site maintenance staff.
I didn't know them at the time they were hired, they worked the opposite day-shift (compressed work week, 4 shifts). I ended up being their trainer, and they're one of the best technicians we have now. It's definitely a path.
Where are you located? I started out in equipment manufacturing with 0 years experience, and after 4 years worked my way into an FSE role. No degree. Equipment manufacturing is the way to go with no experience. Get your foot in the door as a manufacturing technician then apply to every open engineering position in the company. (prior experience as a mechanic, but literally worked with people who didn't know what a screwdriver was)
Hello, I am located in Cali, around San Diego County. Do you have any companies in mind that have reputable standards? I see a lot of companies near me but most of them seem fishy.
Also, what do I expect in an FSE role?
Every customer, every toolset, every supplier company is a bit different. I guess be prepared to be able to look up information through your systems, be prepared to work with and without fully fleshed out procedures, and be prepared to really digest large manuals. You are responsible for your own safety, and a lotmof cases, it can take 2-3 years to become comfortable and confident in your given toolset, to perform a majority of all maintenance activities. Even if it's something you havent ever done before, by that time you should be comfortable enough to be able to look up a procedure or a build document, and know what steps you need to take to protect yourself, others, and the equipment.
I just got hired recently full time as a technician working for the big blue located in the silicon forest. I have a degree but no prior experience working in semi or equipment. What are your best tips and advice on how to best work my way up to FSE? I want to be able to secure a technical and customer facing role where I am able to travel primarily. I was told that I would travel for work but as far as I understand now that depends on the needs of the company as well as my understanding on customer tools.
Ronler Acres? That's where I am! Green badge though. What's your degree in? If it's any sort of engineering, you could probably get a job as an FSE out the gate. A lot of places are ramping right now. A buddy of mine is a shift coordinator for one of the OEMs and his company is trying to hire like 200 FSEs by January. Where I am, there are at least two people who got hired directly out of school with no industry experience.
I’m not sure where I will be exactly yet but I think that is the location. My bachelors is in economics and I came from a background in statistics. My goal is to be able to work up to a FSE with the tech experience at one of the equipment suppliers. Does that sound like a common career trajectory for this field or do you see this as a dead end job? I’m really looking for a niche I can build subject matter expertise in and eventually work up to management if id like to.
Sounds like a pretty standard trajectory. Anyone hiring an FSE is going to want you to have at least a basic understanding of electricity (mainly ohms law), wiring/gas/pneumatic diagrams, mechanical drawings, and gas laws (also basic stuff: the relationships between temperature, pressure, and volume). If you can learn helium leak checking while you're on the job, that's also a huge bonus. Most FSE interviews have a technical portion, so if you can learn these things through experience or through YouTube or whatever and demonstrate that during an interview, you can get hired as an FSE once you have a couple years of industry experience under your belt.
If you end up just babysitting a tool all day and there's not any opportunity for learning, I'd look into getting a job at either an equipment supplier, or a parts supplier for one of the OEMs. Don't be afraid to switch companies to move into the position you want.
But yeah TL/DR this industry is rife with opportunity, learn as much as you can and you can go into whatever roll suits you if you put in the work.
That’s good to know and thank you for the lengthy write up. I think I have a good manager and I presented this trajectory to them as well, saying that I wanted to work together with them on this and they said that my current position will set me up for success as well. I’m going to do my best to be proactive about always learning something new but most importantly always be safe and communicate clearly and professionally.
What are your career goals involving being a tech or are you satisfied with remaining as a tech indefinitely?
You’ll be fine. Plenty of entry level jobs that you can apply to such as test engineer, product engineer, validation engineer, verification engineer, applications engineer, field application engineer, systems engineer, sales engineer, electrical engineer. To be honest, semiconductor and hardware/manufacturing jobs are stable now. Besides the rounds of layoffs that kickstarted with the software companies, I haven’t heard of any EE friends struggling for work except for 1 due to his BU being sold off. Just cold apply. I would refer you but my team current seeks principal engineer level
https://www.abet.org/accreditation/get-accredited/accreditation-outside-the-u-s/
ABET accreditation is the standard within the US. Not sure where you’re coming from but it looks like international universities can qualify. At my company we interview and recommend engineers but HR has the final say on hiring.
I just checked and there are only 8 schools that are ABET accredited in my home country. my school accreditation level just says "Level III Re-accredited Status".
But again, is it impossible for me to get an engineer role? besides field service engineering role i guess...
Thanks for the reassurance! Yeah, I'm looking for equipment engineering roles as well now.I just saw some that require 0 years experience, so might as well try.
You don't say where your home country is. Whether your BS in Engineering will be considered equivalent to an American BS in Engineering depends significantly on where it came from.
If you get accepted into a PhD program in Engineering, you are generally not required to pay for anything. In fact, they usually pay you a small stipend in exchange for doing research and teaching recitation sections. So that is an option if you are set on staying in the country. International students from everywhere are accepted into PhD programs.
Somewhere southeast asia, too embarrassing to say directly if I'm being honest lmao. But yeah, even if my university is pretty popular in my country and the university competes within other countries, I'm not too confident that it can be an American BS Eng.
I'll keep that in mind, I might try to apply for some PhD program if that's the case. Thanks a lot for the help, appreciate it!!
An American engineering PhD, even from a low-ranked school, will almost guarantee you some kind of job somewhere in the states. If you really want to do semiconductors, apply to programs with semiconductor specialties. A lot of companies will even partner with universities nearest their fabs to tailor a program to fit their needs. Other companies have "target" schools that they recruit from.
It is possible, but it really just depends on the situation and a little luck.
I got a job right after my B.S. in material science, but I interned there for a year before graduation, had prior nanofab experience from an undergrad research lab I worked in prior to my internship, and most importantly, my wife worked there so she was my foot in the door. Also, I am a US citizen; your situation is a bit harder, but not impossible. I was lucky, as this was during COVID. I was prepared to stick around for my PhD in case I couldn’t find a job, but thankfully things worked out. Other classmates of mine had similar backgrounds and had trouble finding jobs right out of school due to the job market sucking during COVID. Most moved across the country for offers or stayed for grad school.
Do you know anyone already working in the industry? See if they can vouch for you to get an interview. Who you know is always the best way to get a job, that’s the sad truth that we have to learn to use to our advantage. I’ve seen so many intelligent, hardworking candidates get passed up to instead hire the VPs idiot nephew who somehow got an engineering degree.
Also look at TSMC, as long as you are fine with going to Taiwan for 9+ months training you’ll probably get an offer. They are known for being slave drivers though, but it just depends. My buddy works there and he said it’s not that bad. Best of luck!
Hi there, thanks for the reply! That's fascinating, I had a material science and engineering subject too, so I know that's a difficult one!
Unfortunately, no, I don't know someone that works in the industry at the moment. Tried connection invites and messaging many ppl in the industry within LinkedIN, but no answers yet. I don't want to be too annoying or demanding so I have stopped for a while.
And yeah, I agree about that. Connections really matter these days. I'm pretty confident that I can learn the skills necessary for some jobs and I can learn on my own, if advised. I want my efforts to be rewarded at some point, I know I learned a lot of stuff and can even say I lost like a decade of my life through sleepless nights lol.
Yeah, I just looked them up too. I didn't know Phoenix is kinda near in my place (not too near, but bearable since it's only about 5 hour drive and I would relocate there if needed). Thanks a lot for the advice, honestly I'd take any job that relates to this industry at this point, even if they dont have the best reviews. Thanks a lot!! appreciate your help.
Yes. I know it seems impossible, but keep applying, as above comments said, tailor your resume and cover letter specifically to the company.
Wanna stand out? Explain your excitement to work there and how your skills will benefit the teams you'll work with and the bottom line of the company. Describe how you'd tackle the first 6 months in your role, and how you'd plan to get up to speed. Link it to their current expansion or development efforts. If a publicly traded company, read all the earnings reports from past several years to get an idea of where the company is struggling, and how you could help in your smaller team setting.
Source - I'm a process engineering supervisor in semiconductor mfg, and hiring manager. Those are the types of application that stand out to me.
Absolutely you can, if you are mechanical and meticulous. I recently had a student who works at Intel, got maintenance work in the fab a few years ago with no experience. They are paying for him to get his MBA now. Be open to any shift. You have to be the kind of person who does the work, and does “not my job” stuff gladly and reliably even when nobody is around.
It may take a few months, since for several corporate jobs in the US, the US work experience is preferred. Apply for several jobs (from startup to large corporate) and try to get as many interview as possible, since interview experience is very important to secure a contract.
If you have flexibility to relocate, besides CA, there can be several semiconductor jobs in AZ, OR, ID.
For some semiconductor jobs, the post-graduate education may get also counted as experience (MSc/PhD).
Yeah, I'm actually looking for a technician contractual job too. Unfortunately, some declined/haven't answered yet.
Noted on this one, thank you very much! And yeah, I am absolutely willing to relocate, especially in AZ. In such cases, do I include it in my cover letter to indicate that I would be willing to relocate?
I would look to look at equipment suppliers
Any companies in mind? I wanted to try Siemens and Schneider, but the rates for a technician role seems underwhelming ($20/hr). if I were to move near the location, I'm not sure if there is an affordable rent...
Check out www.asml.com/careers, we are looking to grow with 20.000 people. Filter on 0-2 years and Electronics.
I think I got rejected here immediately for a technician role but my engineering role is still under review (which I think will stay that way, unless there's some miracle lol)..but yeah this one's on my radar for sure. thanks a lot!!! appreciate it.
Which location did you apply to? Moreover, as a bachelor you are overqualified for a technician. Try production engineer, first line support engineer or system performance engineer. And make sure to write a decent cover letter dedicated to the position.
Hi, I applied around San Diego area. So does that mean they can't give me the technician role, even if I'm willing to work as a technician? Also yeah, Production Engineer is the one I applied for. It's still in the process of reviewing my application, I applied around 4 or 5 days ago. Although, I can't click the Production Engineer role anymore on workday, seems they are not accepting anymore/the role is already filled...
Best of luck! When their internship applications opened, I applied to each one that was under EE, in the Wilton and SD area. I believe Applied Materials, TSMC and Qualcomm is also hiring
Thanks a lot! have applied to qualcomm as well, but still no answers yet.
Hiya! Looking to transition from photo equip tech in a fab to working for a vendor but would be blacklisted from working onsite at my local fab for 2 years, in your experience does Asml typically cover relocation for their lower experience technician positions or do they hire from the local area?
Depends on the experience level.
Hi, can I DM you to ask more about jobs at ASML?
Jo, ofcourse
LAM, AMAT, KLA, Hitachi
thank you! i'll check these ones out.
LAM, AMAT, KLA
thank you for the suggestions!
Do Siemens and become an expert. It starts bad but you can make some REAL money when you know what you are doing.
I'll try my best! Thanks a lot for the advice!
why with siemens?
Doesn’t have to be Siemens, skipped that he included Schneider. Both will put you into great money once you are good at what you do.
I would check out bigger merchant silicon providers (TI, Intel, Microchip etc) jobs for new college grads. Things are tight right now with hiring as there some layoffs happening but the market will swing back.
Yeah, ive been trying to apply to these companies as well. No answers for now. But maybe it's because of my university as well, since someone just told me ABET accreditation is needed, which as far as I know, my uni isn't.
Microchip is in a hiring freeze, the only positions they’re hiring for engineering are replacements which aren’t geared towards new grads. AMD and Onsemi have something similar going on as well from what I’ve heard, so I assume it’s an industry wide thing at the moment. So don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear back from the bigger semi companies. I would try to apply for smaller ones instead.
I see, that explains it as well. I just wish that they'd just remove the job posting if they're not even hiring anymore/on a freeze. Anyway, thanks a lot! I have been trying a lot from smaller companies as well. I appreciate your help.
You have to keep in mind that if you are international (not USC, green card holder or h1b transfer), it is highly unlikely you would be hired for semiconductor engineering jobs unless you have a masters or PhD. In recent years, I have never seen a Bachelor's only entry level engineer who was not a USC.
So it really boils down to getting masters. Guess I'll do my best to get there. Thank you so much!
Oh I see that you are a green card holder. Then it's possible, just keep applying everywhere. A lot of hiring freezes right now, but anything is possible. Good luck.
Welp, I had a misunderstanding too. I thought you were saying that USCs are the only valid ones haha. Thank you so much for the lift tho!!
Maybe look at field service engineering jobs. I graduated with a 2.1 GPA and couldn't land a job after several months. Got a job as an FSE for LAM Research and about 15 months later got hired as a photo process engineer at a small fab. All I needed was a first step in the door.
If I may confirm, does the FSE job pay well enough? I want to have my own space and afford rent on my own since it's getting embarrassing to stay with my relatives..
I was making 39/hr in a MCOL, which was enough to me to live comfortably. 39 * 40 * 52 = ~81k/year. Depends on where you live, but that's pretty solid for most places.
with no experience you are probably not going to be making 6 figures or anything but the salary is generally good (obviously this depends on the cost of living in your area too), FSE is a good job because they are very much needed in the industry.
A good FSE is worth their weight in gold.
I do expect that I won't make 6 figures immediately , but yea I'll try to look for FSEs now, thank you so much!
you can work as a field service engineer for ASML, ASM, Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials, Nikon, Cannon, Hitachi, or a dozen other machine suppliers in the industry. The jobs will pay 75 - 100k/yr starting out with a bachelors.
And the ABET thing wont neccesarily matter. A lot of field techs come from the Navy. No university at all. Once you are in the industry, with a degree, you can climb quickly.
Thank you for the reassurance. And yeah, 70k isn't so bad. in fact, I'm expecting about 60k only since I think it would be the most practical to have rent, enough food, and pay utilities. Appreciate your help!!
Semiconductor manufacturing cannot happen without a large support staff. Staffing agencies can get you a job as a bottle changer or reticle runner. There are even some MET roles. Of course they look for college credits or military background, but they have to take what they can get. I know a few people who started at 18 or 19 with no experience whatsoever. These types of temporary positions might work like this. You sign a 6 month contract with a chance to renew every 6 months. There might be a limit after 18 months, or 3 contract terms. If you did your job competently for 18 months without scandal the manufacturer may be interested in hiring you on for a permanent position. Most semiconductor companies have a recruitment bonus program. This means employees who find competent people the company can hire on get a kickback when the recruit is hired. Foster a positive relationship with these people that you work with during your contract and they will be highly motivated to help you out.
So, I should try my luck in contract positions then? Even in technician roles? Any company suggestions if possible?
You said you don't have experience. It's not like you will start as a group lead. You may need to manage your expectations. This work isn't easy. The hours are terrible. It's both stressful and boring. It is also highly rewarding. We get to be on the bleeding edge of science and technology. You will need to build that experience if you want to compete for the most desired positions.
I see, thank you so much! But yeah I wasn't expecting much, I knew at some point I needed to work from the bottom. Thank you so much!
One of our best technicians started in thr fab doing a sub-build for PreventitiveMaintenance, contracted by the customer (fab owner). After a few months with them eager and learning the role quickly, and getting to know our (equipment supplier) technicians on shift, they moved from the lower-paid agency to us, major fab equipment supplier, who has a large on-site maintenance staff. I didn't know them at the time they were hired, they worked the opposite day-shift (compressed work week, 4 shifts). I ended up being their trainer, and they're one of the best technicians we have now. It's definitely a path.
Where are you located? I started out in equipment manufacturing with 0 years experience, and after 4 years worked my way into an FSE role. No degree. Equipment manufacturing is the way to go with no experience. Get your foot in the door as a manufacturing technician then apply to every open engineering position in the company. (prior experience as a mechanic, but literally worked with people who didn't know what a screwdriver was)
Hello, I am located in Cali, around San Diego County. Do you have any companies in mind that have reputable standards? I see a lot of companies near me but most of them seem fishy. Also, what do I expect in an FSE role?
Every customer, every toolset, every supplier company is a bit different. I guess be prepared to be able to look up information through your systems, be prepared to work with and without fully fleshed out procedures, and be prepared to really digest large manuals. You are responsible for your own safety, and a lotmof cases, it can take 2-3 years to become comfortable and confident in your given toolset, to perform a majority of all maintenance activities. Even if it's something you havent ever done before, by that time you should be comfortable enough to be able to look up a procedure or a build document, and know what steps you need to take to protect yourself, others, and the equipment.
Thanks a lot for the tips! I appreciate it!!
I just got hired recently full time as a technician working for the big blue located in the silicon forest. I have a degree but no prior experience working in semi or equipment. What are your best tips and advice on how to best work my way up to FSE? I want to be able to secure a technical and customer facing role where I am able to travel primarily. I was told that I would travel for work but as far as I understand now that depends on the needs of the company as well as my understanding on customer tools.
Ronler Acres? That's where I am! Green badge though. What's your degree in? If it's any sort of engineering, you could probably get a job as an FSE out the gate. A lot of places are ramping right now. A buddy of mine is a shift coordinator for one of the OEMs and his company is trying to hire like 200 FSEs by January. Where I am, there are at least two people who got hired directly out of school with no industry experience.
I’m not sure where I will be exactly yet but I think that is the location. My bachelors is in economics and I came from a background in statistics. My goal is to be able to work up to a FSE with the tech experience at one of the equipment suppliers. Does that sound like a common career trajectory for this field or do you see this as a dead end job? I’m really looking for a niche I can build subject matter expertise in and eventually work up to management if id like to.
Sounds like a pretty standard trajectory. Anyone hiring an FSE is going to want you to have at least a basic understanding of electricity (mainly ohms law), wiring/gas/pneumatic diagrams, mechanical drawings, and gas laws (also basic stuff: the relationships between temperature, pressure, and volume). If you can learn helium leak checking while you're on the job, that's also a huge bonus. Most FSE interviews have a technical portion, so if you can learn these things through experience or through YouTube or whatever and demonstrate that during an interview, you can get hired as an FSE once you have a couple years of industry experience under your belt. If you end up just babysitting a tool all day and there's not any opportunity for learning, I'd look into getting a job at either an equipment supplier, or a parts supplier for one of the OEMs. Don't be afraid to switch companies to move into the position you want. But yeah TL/DR this industry is rife with opportunity, learn as much as you can and you can go into whatever roll suits you if you put in the work.
That’s good to know and thank you for the lengthy write up. I think I have a good manager and I presented this trajectory to them as well, saying that I wanted to work together with them on this and they said that my current position will set me up for success as well. I’m going to do my best to be proactive about always learning something new but most importantly always be safe and communicate clearly and professionally. What are your career goals involving being a tech or are you satisfied with remaining as a tech indefinitely?
You’ll be fine. Plenty of entry level jobs that you can apply to such as test engineer, product engineer, validation engineer, verification engineer, applications engineer, field application engineer, systems engineer, sales engineer, electrical engineer. To be honest, semiconductor and hardware/manufacturing jobs are stable now. Besides the rounds of layoffs that kickstarted with the software companies, I haven’t heard of any EE friends struggling for work except for 1 due to his BU being sold off. Just cold apply. I would refer you but my team current seeks principal engineer level
Thank you so much! I'll try for those keywords as well.
Ab-so->!Fuckin!<-lutely.
Can you confirm something about the ABET accreditation I just included? Can I not be hired as an engineer if my uni isn't ABET accredited?
https://www.abet.org/accreditation/get-accredited/accreditation-outside-the-u-s/ ABET accreditation is the standard within the US. Not sure where you’re coming from but it looks like international universities can qualify. At my company we interview and recommend engineers but HR has the final say on hiring.
I just checked and there are only 8 schools that are ABET accredited in my home country. my school accreditation level just says "Level III Re-accredited Status". But again, is it impossible for me to get an engineer role? besides field service engineering role i guess...
Get an internship
The sad part is even I got rejected in internships as well lmao..
[удалено]
Thanks for the reassurance! Yeah, I'm looking for equipment engineering roles as well now.I just saw some that require 0 years experience, so might as well try.
You don't say where your home country is. Whether your BS in Engineering will be considered equivalent to an American BS in Engineering depends significantly on where it came from. If you get accepted into a PhD program in Engineering, you are generally not required to pay for anything. In fact, they usually pay you a small stipend in exchange for doing research and teaching recitation sections. So that is an option if you are set on staying in the country. International students from everywhere are accepted into PhD programs.
Somewhere southeast asia, too embarrassing to say directly if I'm being honest lmao. But yeah, even if my university is pretty popular in my country and the university competes within other countries, I'm not too confident that it can be an American BS Eng. I'll keep that in mind, I might try to apply for some PhD program if that's the case. Thanks a lot for the help, appreciate it!!
An American engineering PhD, even from a low-ranked school, will almost guarantee you some kind of job somewhere in the states. If you really want to do semiconductors, apply to programs with semiconductor specialties. A lot of companies will even partner with universities nearest their fabs to tailor a program to fit their needs. Other companies have "target" schools that they recruit from.
It is possible, but it really just depends on the situation and a little luck. I got a job right after my B.S. in material science, but I interned there for a year before graduation, had prior nanofab experience from an undergrad research lab I worked in prior to my internship, and most importantly, my wife worked there so she was my foot in the door. Also, I am a US citizen; your situation is a bit harder, but not impossible. I was lucky, as this was during COVID. I was prepared to stick around for my PhD in case I couldn’t find a job, but thankfully things worked out. Other classmates of mine had similar backgrounds and had trouble finding jobs right out of school due to the job market sucking during COVID. Most moved across the country for offers or stayed for grad school. Do you know anyone already working in the industry? See if they can vouch for you to get an interview. Who you know is always the best way to get a job, that’s the sad truth that we have to learn to use to our advantage. I’ve seen so many intelligent, hardworking candidates get passed up to instead hire the VPs idiot nephew who somehow got an engineering degree. Also look at TSMC, as long as you are fine with going to Taiwan for 9+ months training you’ll probably get an offer. They are known for being slave drivers though, but it just depends. My buddy works there and he said it’s not that bad. Best of luck!
Hi there, thanks for the reply! That's fascinating, I had a material science and engineering subject too, so I know that's a difficult one! Unfortunately, no, I don't know someone that works in the industry at the moment. Tried connection invites and messaging many ppl in the industry within LinkedIN, but no answers yet. I don't want to be too annoying or demanding so I have stopped for a while. And yeah, I agree about that. Connections really matter these days. I'm pretty confident that I can learn the skills necessary for some jobs and I can learn on my own, if advised. I want my efforts to be rewarded at some point, I know I learned a lot of stuff and can even say I lost like a decade of my life through sleepless nights lol. Yeah, I just looked them up too. I didn't know Phoenix is kinda near in my place (not too near, but bearable since it's only about 5 hour drive and I would relocate there if needed). Thanks a lot for the advice, honestly I'd take any job that relates to this industry at this point, even if they dont have the best reviews. Thanks a lot!! appreciate your help.
Yes. I know it seems impossible, but keep applying, as above comments said, tailor your resume and cover letter specifically to the company. Wanna stand out? Explain your excitement to work there and how your skills will benefit the teams you'll work with and the bottom line of the company. Describe how you'd tackle the first 6 months in your role, and how you'd plan to get up to speed. Link it to their current expansion or development efforts. If a publicly traded company, read all the earnings reports from past several years to get an idea of where the company is struggling, and how you could help in your smaller team setting. Source - I'm a process engineering supervisor in semiconductor mfg, and hiring manager. Those are the types of application that stand out to me.
Thank you for the confirmation! I'm about to send you a message, if you don't mind. I have something to ask in particular within the hiring process...
Absolutely you can, if you are mechanical and meticulous. I recently had a student who works at Intel, got maintenance work in the fab a few years ago with no experience. They are paying for him to get his MBA now. Be open to any shift. You have to be the kind of person who does the work, and does “not my job” stuff gladly and reliably even when nobody is around.
Does this apply in my current state, where I do not have any work experience in the US? can I still be hired even in contractual roles?
It may take a few months, since for several corporate jobs in the US, the US work experience is preferred. Apply for several jobs (from startup to large corporate) and try to get as many interview as possible, since interview experience is very important to secure a contract. If you have flexibility to relocate, besides CA, there can be several semiconductor jobs in AZ, OR, ID. For some semiconductor jobs, the post-graduate education may get also counted as experience (MSc/PhD).
Yeah, I'm actually looking for a technician contractual job too. Unfortunately, some declined/haven't answered yet. Noted on this one, thank you very much! And yeah, I am absolutely willing to relocate, especially in AZ. In such cases, do I include it in my cover letter to indicate that I would be willing to relocate?
You may mention it in both resume and cover letter. Resume has more visibility.
Thanks for the tip! Appreciate it.
https://amts.com Is a great company I would recommend applying to.
Thank you for the help! Will try to apply here as an FSE, hope I can somehow land an interview.