Best Places to Interview: 2017 (#3)
Cadence is one of the World’s Best Multinational Workplaces!
Cadence is recognized on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the third year in a row!
Each day with Cadence offers exciting opportunities to create a better, more connected world.
Cadence design tools enable customers to innovate in life-changing ways – from increasing the safety of self-driving cars to advancing and accelerating DNA analysis – our work is helping shape the future of technology.
We are a team of trailblazers, looking to push the envelope of what technology can do. We never stop learning, never stop exploring, and never stop pushing the limits of innovation. People come to Cadence to do meaningful work with a global impact.
Headquartered in San Jose, California, we have offices in 42 countries, including 26 global R&D centers. The Noida, India site is the largest Cadence® R&D site outside of North America. Our EMEA headquarters is located in Bracknell, UK and our APAC headquarters is in Shanghai, China.
Our culture sets us apart as a community of passionate, bold, and creative people. Collaboration is deeply engrained in how we work with each other and our customers. We are honored to be recognized as a Great Place to Work around the world, including on FORTUNE Magazine’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Our diverse team of passionate, dedicated, and talented individuals go above and beyond for our customers, our communities, and each other—every day.
At Cadence, we make a positive impact through our work and our actions. Employees enjoy a variety of ways to give back and make a difference in their communities around the world.
With our Volunteer Time Off (VTO) benefit, employees can take up to 5 paid days off per year to volunteer for causes that matter most to them.
Our Matching Gifts Program increases the impact of our employees’ monetary contributions with a matching grant from Cadence of up to $500 per person per year.
Let your career shine from the start.
Working alongside industry leaders, you will be empowered to explore new possibilities and gain confidence in your abilities to solve technology’s biggest challenges.
You will also be part of a community of engaged, excited, and bold innovators by joining our College Hires & Internship Programs (CHIPs). CHIPs will help you build the foundation for a rewarding career at Cadence and beyond.
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2018 Awards
2017 Awards
2016 Awards
2015 Awards
2014 Awards
2013 Awards
TSMC Customers’ Choice Award, TSMC, 2013
EE Times-China ACE Award for Best Electronic Design Automation Product, EE Times-China, 2013
I have been working at Cadence Design Systems full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
- Stable Company.
- Great Management.
- Very friendly, knowledgeable and great people to work with.
- Very helpful and friendly On-boarding process.
- 401k plan.
- Great Cafe and food options(although you have to pay for your own food).
- Work life balance.
Cons
- Little overwhelming initially if you are not familiar with the work.
- Lack of team outings(if you are into those things).
Advice to Management
I had very easy time getting used to the company and management has done a pretty good job of it. I have no complain. Keep up the good work :)
Helpful (4)
Application
I applied online. I interviewed at Cadence Design Systems (Chelmsford, MA).
Interview
Hiring: The time between being contacted for the first time and receiving a final decision regarding an offer/rejection was about one month. During this time were phone, Skype, and in-person interviews.
Interviews: There were three interviews.
The first one was a phone-interview with one of the HR representatives, and also the first time I was contacted by Cadence. They asked general questions such as: "Where did you hear about Cadence?", "Why would you like to work here?", "What sort of work/hobbies have you done that have given you experience that can be used at Cadence".
The second interview was a set of 3 Skype video-interviews with people from the team I would be working with. These were 30-minute back-to-back interviews. The questions here were more technical-oriented, but appropriate for Skype. I.e., nothing that required me to draw or type out code. All answerable verbally.
The third and interview was an in-person interview. I flew out from another state, and Cadence provided all the logistics for getting there (Plane tickets, rental, hotel. They did a fantastic job). This interview lasted from about 9:00AM to 3:00PM. Lunch was included. I spoke with several different people over the course of this session, and about 3/4ths of questions were technical.
Because of the highly-visual nature of what Cadence does (EDA), the majority of these questions were about 2D/Computational Geometry and working through problems related to it.
Overall, the interviews were very pleasant. I did not feel rushed during the technical parts.
Tips for the Reader:
Phone Interview: They may end up calling first before contacting via email: be able to genuinely answer the questions mentioned above.
Skype Interview: Business-casual is fine. Now is the time to screen-share and show any programming projects/demos (for ~5 minutes).
In-Person Interview: There were some basic coding exercises that I had to do relating to syntax for C/C++. Most of the technical interviewing was about solving problems and seeing how I approached them. I enjoyed using a whiteboard to draw out the various geometrical problems and work through them. I was offered the chance to explain one of my own projects through code, but it was just easier to draw out how it worked.
Fantastic process overall.
Interview Questions
