question about salaries in the US.

TomServo
Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:59:32 +0000

To design processors you need a MS and five years of experience, PhD preferred. And even having those things doesn’t guarantee you a job. That is one of those areas immune to ageism and silly rules, a silicon designer with ten or twenty years of experience under his belt is worth his weight in gold to those companies.

And turbo is right, if you work for one of those big companies you’ll most likely be doing testing or other non-glamorous things. The R&D jobs are like the movie star jobs, and everybody else is doing bit parts and holding boom mics. I always told people they should do undergraduate research instead of an internship, it’s way more interesting even if it doesn’t pay as well.

But these are not iron clad rules. And the big companies like Intel compensate VERY well.