Work is very important for sure! But in the end we should not forget we are humans, and too much work will burn you out. Actually, an excess of anything is not healthy in our lives (think about too much sport, too much eating, too much sleep etc.), and we need balance in our lives. I firmly believe that working SMART will bring way more benefits than just work HARD, especially in our industry. In fact engineers do not chose the semiconductor industry for the ease, but at Micron I am able to achieve what I could not in my previous company: work effectively AND a balanced life.

For new graduates many fields of engineering are new concepts. For example Design for test can never be conceived in a graduates mind. Before joining design for test my thinking was restricted to only traditional design. This is in all accounts great to be a designer that you concentrate on the deeper circuit concepts. However unlike design limited to only a few circuits where one becomes a professional, in Design for test you get to experience how the whole design comes together. This gives a design for test engineer an edge in understanding design implications to things like yield, testability cost. Especially the cost of testing is the back-bone of production in pursuit of quality and affordability. But DFT sits at the sweet spot that enables an engineer to enjoy the best of both worlds of actual design and production. As an entrant, one would be looking for those positions where they can learn the most from to build their career. And DFT can be one of those positions.

When starting your career in an industry, the first few months involve a steep learning curve. Your primary focus should be to grasp knowledge as much as possible. Apart from this, you should maintain proper notes of all the tools and software, which will help you to work independently in the future. Try to involve yourself with new projects to get the experience of the current flow in the industry. Be professional and confident will help you to set you as a valuable person in your team. In some situations, you may have to make tough decisions, so be ready for that.