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Miracle microchip A Goliath of the information age, National Semiconductor Corporation creates digital, analog, and mixed-signal circuits - the last being a blend of both digital and analog - for everything from computers to cars. By its own admission, National Semiconductor is dedicated to three goals: "state-of-the-art process technology," "world class manufacturing," and "six-month time-to-market methodology." Despite stiff industry competition, the company has landed several prestigious clients in the past few years, including General Motors, Compaq, Samsung, Siemens, Packard Bell, and IBM. In late 1997, Cyrix, a microprocessor cloner, became a wholly owned subsidiary of National Semiconductor. The merger brought National a step closer to its money-gilded dream: creating a whole PC on a single microchip. But Cyrix wasn't National's only capture. The company also acquired Mediamatics, a multimedia chip designer, and ComCore, a creator of communications and networking chips. What will all of these acquisitions - and the creation of this miracle microchip - accomplish? The microchip (aptly named system-on-a-chip) places both a microprocessor and circuitry on such a tiny unit that the company believes it will be the next High Tech breakthrough. National's ambitions as well as its numerous acquisitions have come at a price, however. In 1998, National slashed 1300 jobs (approximately ten percent of its workforce) as a result of a financial slump caused by restructuring, acquisitions, and poor revenue. A fluid, but troubled history National Semiconductor was founded as a transistor manufacturer in 1959 in Danbury, Connecticut. The company later moved its operations (and HQ) to Santa Clara, California, as it came closer to the forefront of the U.S. semiconductor market during the 1970s. Several times in its turbulent history, the company streamlined its operations through layoffs, executive restructuring, and - once - through the sale of Fairchild Semiconductor, a company that it had acquired in 1987. Currently, National is aiming for long-term success with promising new products and an eye on future sales from emerging markets like China. Brian Halla, CEO, is banking on the miracle chip to carry National through its present slump. In 1998 it officially opened its Asia-Pacific Technical Center in Taiwan. A leading manager at National said of the opening: "Taiwan is the center of the computing universe. All roads for customer support lead to Taiwan." Perhaps it is only fitting that National sold the money-losing Cyrix to a Taiwanese company in 1999 for $167 million, two years after acquiring it for $570 million. The acquisition had been a drain on National from the start, and led to negative profits for six quarters until the end of 1999. Since selling off Cyrix, National has left the computer chip market, where it could not compete with Intel and AMD. Concentrating instead on cell phones and wireless electronics, National has pulled itself back up to profitability thanks to the rapidly growing demand for analog chips. National is also developing chipsets for wireless modems and DVD players, and in 2000 introduced a new Pentium-class processor with the lowest power consumption available and vastly improved clock speeds.
The company's Web site, www.national.com, provides a link to a database of job openings as well as the opportunity to construct an on-line resume. Most new hiring is generally done for the Maine, Texas, or California locations. However, the company has need in regions from Tucson, Arizona to Bangalore, India. National Semiconductor Corp. hires employees for the following broad industry categories: engineering, manufacturing, sales & marketing, and corporate. The company visits college campuses on a biannual basis and encourages students to contact their campus career centers to sign up for interviews and information sessions. National Semiconductor Corp. recruits at a number of prestigious schools, but also accepts resumes from schools outside of its recruitment schedule. The scheduled schools are Arizona State, Cal Poly SLO, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgia Tech, MIT, NSBE, Oregon State, Purdue, Rice University, San Jose State, Santa Clara USHPE, Southern Methodist University, SRC, Stanford, SWE, Texas A&M, U of Arizona, U of Illinois, U of Washington, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, UCSD, University of Cincinnati, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin at Madison, UT Austin, Virginia Tech, and WACE. National also schedules recruiting sessions with professional organizations such as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Women in Technology International (WITI), and Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). On-campus interviews are considered "preliminary meetings" that give the company "a chance to understand the breadth and depth of your technical background." Applicants typically meet with hiring managers and other company officials during the course of the day. Later, National invites successful interviewees to a two to three day "job fair" at its own "campus" (Note: National uses numerous - and annoying - collegiate catch-phrases to describe its corporate atmosphere. But don't be fooled: there aren't any caps, gowns, or keggers here). Interviews at National are compliments of the company, which pays for everything from travel costs, to lodgings, to meals.
Pioneers National Semiconductor employees work in a "fast-paced" environment that emphasizes the "team-player concept." While such an atmosphere can be "painfully stressful" at times, the pressure is alleviated by the "outgoing and friendly" workforce. "Once you are trained in a particular field, you are basically left to your own devices," comments a long-time insider. "But if you need help, then the advice is there." Meanwhile, the company encourages employees to be "quite social" with one another "by doing little things - like picking up the tab for a night out after a big project." A relaxed dress code and a flexible scheduling policy further enhance the casual corporate culture. While recent corporate downsizing worries some, others say they are "thrilled" to be working for what is, undoubtedly, "one of the pioneers in the industry."
Professional Staffing Professional Staffing 1020 Kifer1 Sunnyvale CA 94086 (408) 721-2299 1-800-413-3467
Analog products and wireless communications products;Ethernet LAN and WAN products, mixed signal products;Family logic, memory, and discrete products;Embedded technology products for PCs and workstations
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