I was engaged via an unsolicited LinkedIn request for an interview. Although I'm happily employed already, I decided to see what they had to offer.

The initial phone interview was somewhat technical and lasted about 50 minutes, exceeding the scheduled 30. The first 25 minutes consisted of the interviewer asking questions about my experience and resume. These were straightforward, focusing on what I had already documented.

This interviewer, an electrical engineer with experience on the iPad/iPod team, did not ask any technical questions beyond those derived from my resume.

Next, I participated in an in-person interview with eight people. Each interview lasted approximately 30 minutes, with the exception of the lunch slot, which was an hour and included a trip to the Apple cafeteria.

These interviews were highly technical, involving significant whiteboarding. They were designed to assess a candidate's thought process as well as their knowledge. It was evident that all the interviewers were highly intelligent, and they came across as friendly and capable of mentoring other engineers. I would be pleased to work with them, with one exception. One interviewer arrived late and was completely unprepared, asking me for a paper copy of my resume, which I did not have. This is quite surprising in today's environment, as every other interviewer was equipped with an iPad and iPhone.

In summary, they will probe the limits of your knowledge. Be prepared for this, and answer their questions to the best of your abilities. Crucially, know your limits and be willing to state when you don't know an answer. Remember, they are also interested in how you THINK.

They will encourage you to think and attempt to solve problems on the spot, providing hints and knowledge as needed. They want to see your problem-solving approach.

There was also one really excellent "scenario" question, which I have elected not to share.

However, the majority of questions focused on technical concepts from my resume, such as:

• Tradeoffs in synchronous buck regulator design
• I2C pullup sizing
• Bandwidth constraints
• DRAM estimation

Questions also touched on my ideas for product development, including "describe the product design flow."

Furthermore, I whiteboarded the exact same block diagram of a previous design for three or four of the reviewers. Each of them asked their own set of questions regarding design decisions, implementation, tradeoffs, testing, and so on.

Overall, I found the interview process challenging but enjoyable. I left with the impression that I could work well with these individuals and learn a great deal. However, I did get the sense that without years of product development experience, a candidate might be considered "junior" for several product development cycles.

Instead of hiring you to be a hardware engineer, we'd like you to build a house.

Ask me all the questions you need in order to build me a house.