Good List of Equations to Review Before a Hardware Design Interview

Questions to Help You Prep for An Embedded Engineer Interview in 2021

Published May xx, 2021 | Updated Sep 9, 2021

Risto Avila

Risto Avila, Technology Director @ The Qt Company. Risto is specialized in embedded software development and system integration.

I've worked for years as an embedded engineer and have conducted countless chore interviews, similar my co-author Maurice Kalinowski. This post offers our skilful communication for preparing for an embedded engineer interview and mutual questions in embedded interviews.

In this article:

How to prepare for an embedded engineer chore interview
Tips for the job interview itself
Mutual questions in an embedded engineer job interview
Downloadable list of interview questions

How to prepare for embedded engineer interview in 2021

When preparing for an embedded engineer interview, think about the questions you'll be asked. Y'all'll besides want to ready questions to ask about the company and culture. Inquiry and larn about the company in advance.

Dale Bertrand, a erstwhile embedded engineer who is at present President of Fire and Spark, says job applicants need to inquire fundamental questions about the company and position in their get-go telephone screening interview with the company.

"What are they looking for? What would it accept to be a success in this job? A question I always like to ask is: What problem is this potion intended to solve? If you tin get those answers, then you can set up," Bertrand explains. "Y'all have to enquire the correct questions on that starting time call. I don't think you tin can go into the more than in-depth interview blind. That'due south kind of suicide."

Read our guide to embedded engineering skills to learn more than about what these roles require.

Tips to help to do well at an embedded engineer interview

Experts say the most important thing applicants should practise during an embedded engineer chore interview is exist honest. You should also be prepare to think on your feet.

"It's best, to exist honest virtually what you know and what you don't know. It is impossible for one engineer to know everything they need to know to build and test the entire system. Information technology's just not possible to know everything." advises Bertrand. "If you don't have the experience, be honest about it and tell them you desire to larn. That'southward attractive. What's non bonny is pretending yous know when you lot don't."

Maurice Kalinowski, a former embedded engineer and current Product Director for Qt, says he likes to claiming embedded engineers in interviews with hard questions and hypothetical scenarios. "But it's too very important to me to know that somebody is capable of proverb: I don't know."

What are the typical embedded systems interview questions?

Companies conducting embedded engineer job interviews will inquire a range of questions. Some inquiries will focus on an applicant's work views and engineering. Other queries are for assessing an applicant's knowledge of embedded systems.

Read our embedded job description article to learn more most requirements for embedded engineers.

General and "soft-skills" questions for embedded engineers

Think about a time when you felt the solution you found for a problem in an embedded organisation was the right 1. A colleague, also working on the issue, disagreed and suggested what yous idea was an inferior solution? How did you lot resolve the dispute?
Tell the states about a difficult projection that gives you pride. Tell united states of america about the project and its challenges, and discuss the problems yous encountered and how you resolved them.
What are two character traits yous try to evidence in your personal life and at work?
If you were the interviewer, why would you choose yourself as the right candidate?
For main embedded engineer: Where is our industry (or component that the main engineer works within) heading? Where will it be in five years?

Technical interview questions for embedded engineers

Full general questions:

How would yous equalize a high-speed interface?
Explicate how the IⁱⁱC interface works.
How does a finite state machine work in an embedded organisation?
Name ane sorting algorithm.
What is an atomic operation?
How do you lot avoid retentiveness fragmentation when targeting embedded devices?
What are ways to reduce power consumption in an embedded organisation?
What are the purpose and benefits of object-oriented programming?
What are the four pillars of object-oriented programming?
Tell me the difference between a process and a thread.
What are mutual issues in handling interrupts?
What is a semaphore? What are the unlike types?
Tin can semaphores be used for interrupt context in Linux Kernel?
How do y'all use the keyword "Volatile"?
What does the keyword "const" mean?
What is a watchdog timer?
What is the difference between using an inline function and a macro?
What are the properties of an object-oriented programming language?
What is a memory leak?
When and why would you apply the keyword "static"?

Questions effectually C/C++:

Why are C and C++ yet popular and widely used in embedded systems?
What are the benefits of using C/C++ vs. higher-level languages?
How does one code an infinite loop in C?

Microcontroller inquiries:

When might someone cull a microcontroller instead of a microprocessor when building an embedded arrangement?
How can you use a micro-controller to determine the frequency of a loftier-voltage level on a bus?
Are the firmware and data embedded in microcontrollers rubber from hacking, tampering, or downloading?

Real-Fourth dimension operating systems questions:

What are the important metrics of real-time software?
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using a real-time operating system on a mid-range microcontroller.

Quality assurance discussion:

Why is it more difficult to test graphical user interfaces than container classes?
What is the difference between static and dynamic assay testing?

Specific coding exercises:

Code a plan that tells u.s.a. whether an integer is even or odd.
Write a function that will consider an array and return the number of odd numbers.

Puzzle questions for embedded engineers

How might you weigh an airplane with no scales?
If there are 70 legs in full and there are 26 animals involving chickens and horses, can yous figure out how many are horses and how many are chickens—without using an equation?
At that place are 2 lite bulbs in a room and three switches exterior the room. How practise you lot determine which switches operate which bulbs?
Why are sewer caps round?

Download a copy of all these embedded engineering interview questions.

How learning more than nearly Qt's framework is benign for an embedded engineer interview

Whether you lot're new to embedded engineering or have been in the business concern for years, information technology'south always useful to brush up on specific embedded frameworks before heading into an interview. Having this knowledge helps you come across well-informed, versatile, and that you take a willingness to larn.

Qt is a cross-platform embedded development framework widely used throughout the embedded systems industry. Knowing how Qt'southward tools work and streamline evolution can start an informative discussion during an embedded engineering interview.

Embedded engineers can learn more than nigh Qt, an awarding development framework based on C++ and get started with its cantankerous-platform GUI library. They can besides view a wide range of free embedded development tutorials to help y'all learn the Qt ecosystem.

mcgaheywithave53.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.qt.io/embedded-development-talk/questions-to-help-you-prep-for-an-embedded-engineer-interview-in-2021