Experiences at Mantaro Networks

Know your stuff. Don't come in here with a degree (graduate or undergraduate) and expect to ride it in; know what you're doing. When I'm interviewing (I generally interview entry-level hardware folks), I won't recommend someone who can't draw me a transistor amplifier and then, given values for the components, tell me its properties. Other interviewers are similar; if you're coming for software, you should have a good grasp of C and C++ at the least, and preferably some experience with low-level embedded programming. If you're coming for FPGA design, you should really understand digital logic (especially logic minimization and substitution) and related semi-analog things (such as propagation delays).

"Know your stuff" isn't a terribly well-kept secret, but in my experience interviewing people, it's pretty uncommon. We only hire maybe 10% of applicants; I can't tell you how many Masters/Ph.D students in EE I've interviewed who couldn't even draw a simple transistor voltage amplifier....

Software, FPGA and board-level engineer; developed circuit boards, FPGAs and software (both user-mode and device driver) for various clients (generally in the communications industry). Worked with other software, FPGA and board-level people on many projects.