Starting a career in analogue design/layout ?

[homemadecpu1986]

Hello friends.

I have for a long time been fascinated with IC design, specially on the analogue side. However I have zero design experience.

Basically I started out as a mathematician. I have a bachelors in mathematics. Later I pursued a master of science in microelectronics and I have been accepted into a PhD in the UK in compound semiconductor manufacturing to start in 2021. It's fully funded plus a small salary of £1200 per month which isn't much.

BUT......I would really like to work in the industry and find a graduate/beginner level position into chip design. I am 34 years old and have no experience like I said. I do have knowedge of the theory, specially the physics side of it. My knowledge is all theoretical.

Do I have a chance of making into this field? Are there positions for people with no experience at my age?

What should I do? Should I just bury myself with textbooks and study them as much as I can and hope to find a lucky position?

I just don't know what to do. I prefer analogue because I don't think of Verilog as electronics. I don't want to write code for electronics. I want to be with real electronics and deal with real signals and devices.

I also very interested in device physics. I would love to be able to fully master device physics and perhaps process engineering.

Should I just pursue the PhD and see where it leads? Or should I focus on textbooks and try and find a job in this area?

Best wishes

Paul

[coppice]

You seem to be in the UK. If you want to work there in analogue semiconductor design, there are limited opportunities. If you look globally, good analogue designers are in demand, because most graduates target digital design and leave a shortfall of people with analogue skills. If you can network with people in other countries during your PhD, you can probably find a way to connect with people looking for people like you, and build yourself a pathway to a career.