A semiconductor recruitment agency
that understands the work.

What a specialist changes

A generalist agency typically recruits across many sectors and matches job descriptions to CVs by keyword. In most markets that works well enough. In semiconductors it breaks down, because the keywords on a CV say very little about what the engineer actually did. Two people can both list verification on their profile, and one of them wrote a constrained-random environment for a full SoC while the other ran directed tests on a small block.

A specialist semiconductor recruitment agency reads past the keywords. We ask about the node, the tool flow, the size of the team and the stage the programme reached, and we can tell from the answers whether the candidate fits the brief. Candidates notice quickly, and the good ones are far more willing to talk to a recruiter who asks the right questions.

A typical search

An IP vendor in the Bristol area needed a senior verification engineer to lead UVM work on a new interface block. They had briefed two agencies. The first, a generalist firm, sent seven profiles in a week, most of them embedded software testers. The second sent fewer but they were all from large companies where verification had been a narrow, tool-driven role. The hiring manager began to doubt that the person he wanted existed.

When he came to us, Joel asked him to describe the last bug that had cost the team a week. The answer showed that he wanted someone who had debugged coverage holes in a protocol-heavy design, and had worked closely with the architects. The job title implied someone else entirely. We approached engineers from smaller design houses who matched that description, and we were open with them about the project and the reporting line.

Two agreed to interview. One had been looking for a role with more ownership for some time. He joined, and the first thing he rewrote was the coverage plan.

How we engage

We work on retained and contingent terms depending on the role, and we will say which we think suits a given search. Hard-to-fill and senior appointments usually justify a retained search, where we commit time to the brief and report back at set points. Contingent suits roles with a wider pool. Either way the person who takes the briefing is the person who runs the search.