Cypress Semiconductor Systems Engineer Interview

Interviewed Aug 2010 (took a day)

I was first contacted by telephone, and spoke with a manager and then with an engineer.
I came in for an in-person interview and was provided a schedule. I was then ushered into a small, windowless room. Several interviewers spoke with me by speakerphone.
I was asked several times to describe a time that I argued my position successfully, and how I handled conflicts. The "wolf pack" asked me to perform complicated trigonometry calculations on a whiteboard, and later asked me to write some C++ code on a whiteboard. I sensed that oral debate is an important part of the culture there, even at the engineering level.
At the end of the day, I asked if I could see the engineering lab, as I had not been shown anything other than the small, windowless room.
The people (other than the manager) seemed very professional, although the prevalence of company-logo shirts was a bit off-putting. Overall, it seemed like a rather impersonal work environment.