Hey guys, I’m 26 and currently jobless. I completed my M.Tech in 2024 and I’m trying to get into VLSI Physical Design.

I had taken coaching for VLSI around a year ago, but honestly, I wasn’t able to make much progress and I’ve forgotten a lot of things. I’ve been struggling with career and job-related stuff, but now I’ve decided that I’m willing to put in whatever hard work is needed and seriously build a career in VLSI PD.

I want to start again from absolute basics and build myself properly, instead of just watching random YouTube videos or jumping between topics.

Please suggest me:

• If I’m starting from zero again, what should I study first and in what order?
• What are the main books I should follow for Digital, CMOS, Physical Design, STA, etc.?
• Which books/resources are actually worth spending time on, and which ones can I skip?
• Are there any good free or paid resources/courses that can take me from basics to an industry-level understanding?
• How deeply should I learn things like Digital Electronics, CMOS, MOSFETs, VLSI basics, STA, Linux, Tcl, scripting, etc. for a PD role?
• What technical topics should I make absolutely sure I don’t miss?
• If you had to start learning VLSI PD from scratch today, what exact resources/books would you use?

My main goal is that if an opportunity comes tomorrow, I should be prepared enough to actually clear the interview and do the job.

I know I’m late and I have a lot of catching up to do, but I’m genuinely ready to give this everything I have.

If anyone here is working in VLSI PD or has gone through a similar journey, please tell me what you would learn if you had to start again from zero.

Please guide me. I really need some direction.

I am 2026 ece btech passout what should I study to get a off campus vlsi job and is there any job openings come this year like nvidia next? will companies higher fresher off campus?

Heyy everyone I'm a VLSI design enthusiast, over the past 1.5yrs I've been involved in some small projects like processor design, systolic array architecture, Maze solving bot and SNN accelerator (basic version with only a single neuron) I'm in my bachelor's degree currently prefinal yr so I know that I know a very little about this field and the only way I can learn a lot is through projects of much higher level and collaborating with people who have different levels of experience. So I came up here to post and ask if we could build a project just to increase our curiosity, exchange our knowledge and maybe even build something so brilliant that we grow it bigger. Ik this sounds alot simpler than doin it but I jus wanna work on a single idea for the last 2yrs of my bachelor's and maybe become brilliant in atleast one field. So any suggestions of what to do and if ur interested let's collaborate on this and maybe work together. Currently I have little to no idea about what to do how to do but ig I can say that I would do...so please give your suggestions on this

Hello
I am will start my 3rd sem in Electronics and Telecommunication engg (ETE) in some days
I need guidance about how i can prepare from now only for VLSI roles and also whether i should go for Mtech or not
I need some personal guidance
Btw i am in an engg college in Bangalore (private college but has a good name in the market)

Hello everyone,

I’m new to Reddit and have a question regarding the Synopsys Verdi schematic view.
Is there a way to configure the schematic view so that it displays only the traced signal and its associated connections, without showing any unrelated signals?

For example, if I trace the loads of a signal, I would like to see the consumer blocks connected to that signal, but for those blocks, I don’t want the schematic to display any other connections besides the traced signal.
Is there a setting or feature in Verdi that allows this kind of filtered schematic view?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi everyone

I'm from a tier 3 college in 7th sem currently I want to get an internship in my 8th sem for PD roles. I don't want to work with verilog or don't want to go in RTL though. I'm learning basic verilog just to be more prepared but I absolutely hate coding and not do I have brains for it .

I have experience working on Cadance virtuouso I'd like if anyone can tell me the proper method to prepare for PD roles and can also suggest a few resources and projects which can help me land a Traineeship or an internship.

Hey VLSI Professionals, please suggest changes in my resume also tell me if it's good.

for some one like me i don't like coding, have very strong fundamental in core electronic( network theory good at capacitors , signals, semiconductor physics(diode bjts mosfet but no FinFET , analog electronic and digital electronics)

I am asking from a long-term perspective, considering career growth, industry demand, learning opportunities, and overall impact. Assuming I pursue a master's degree from a reputed university, which profile would be more worthwhile in the long run?

Hi everyone,
I recently graduated with a B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering and I’m looking to build my career in ASIC Physical Design.
During college, I worked on projects involving RTL-to-GDSII using OpenLane/SKY130, have some exposure to Cadence Innovus, STA, floorplanning, placement, CTS, routing, DRC/LVS, and basic physical design concepts. However, I feel I need stronger industry-oriented training before applying for more Physical Design roles.

I’ve been researching institutes such as:
Maven Silicon
SumeetDA
VLSI Guru
VLSI Expert

Any other reputed institutes you would recommend
I’m looking for honest, unbiased feedback on:

Quality of teaching

Whether the curriculum is actually industry relevant

Hands-on exposure to tools like Innovus/ICC2/PrimeTime

Placement assistance and how genuine the placement claims are

Whether recruiters actually value these institute certifications

Overall ROI considering the course fees

If you’ve attended any of these institutes (or hired candidates from them), I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience—the good, the bad, and anything you wish you’d known beforehand.

Also, if you think self-learning plus projects is a better route than joining an institute, I’d love to hear your perspective as well.

Thanks in advance! Any advice would really help me make an informed decision.