I am Siddharth Shekar, a 4th year undergraduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Surviving in the department takes up most of my time, but I do spend some time on the drums and playing FIFA (not both simultaneously).
Texas Instruments comes to insti regularly, both for interns and for placements although their timing for interns is erratic at the very least (they came at the end of April during the year before and in December during my time). The selection procedure is pretty rigorous. They had a test for us followed by a technical, and later, an HR interview. Note that they only came for analog in my year and their selection procedure might change with which department of theirs come.
But this certainly isn’t the only way of getting an intern at TI. If you or somebody you know or somebody who is known to somebody you know etc. happens to know someone who works at TI, there’s a very good chance they can get you an intern there. This is a very good option, especially if you’re in the second year and want to get the industrial intern over with.
About the experience
Without doubt, TI’s Bangalore campus is a great place to work in. There are no fixed working hours, the pay is 20k a month, the work isn’t anything you can’t handle, there is a complete building dedicated to indoor sports and the people are extremely friendly (most of them, in any case).
The company is huge and has something to do with almost every area in the modern electronic industry. You should be able to find yourself a project dealing with anything from microprocessors to DSP systems (only applicable if you get in through a contact). If TI comes for the internship selection, they will most probably have a specific profile in mind, so make sure that you are interested in what they have to offer before trying for it.
Note : For those of you who end up doing an analog intern at TI, there’s a massive perk awaiting you (please do not take ”massive perk” literally). You must have heard of professors Nagi and Shanthi and their studness (OB). Well, the guy (henceforth referred to as the Zen Master) who taught them analog is head of analog training at TI’s Bangalore campus and will impart his infinite fundaes to all analog interns who join there. Believe me, the fundaes are insane.
For those of you who are unsure about whether or not to stick to the core field or go elsewhere, TI is one of the few places that will give you some idea of what lies in store for you if you pursue a career in the core sector. There’s really not much here for junta who wish to app except for the fundaes you get while learning from the Zen Master, which is again applicable only for analog junta. All in all, it’s a very good place to do your industrial internship.
Editor’s note: When Mr. Siddharth Shekar casually dismisses the intensity of work at TI, he is speaking for himself. Mr. Shekar is a VLSI nine-pointer who breathes and eats analog circuitry and the average reader is advised not to partake in his competent complacence.
