Graduate FPGA Engineer (2027 Start - Chicago)
Posted Oct 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about an FPGA or digital design project you built. What were the timing constraints and how did you meet them?
What they are checking: Hands-on experience with real hardware design and timing closure, not just coursework theory.
Tell me about a bug that took you a long time to find. How did you finally track it down?
What they are checking: Debugging persistence and method, since hardware bugs can hide for days in complex parallel systems.
What would you do
You'll work closely with the business to understand a problem before building. How would you learn enough about trading to design the right solution?
What they are checking: Curiosity about the domain and willingness to ask questions beyond the hardware.
If software can do a task in two microseconds, when is it worth moving it to an FPGA?
What they are checking: Judgment about cost, complexity and real benefit of hardware acceleration.
How would you go about researching a new low-latency technique and deciding if it's worth integrating?
What they are checking: Ability to evaluate new technology critically, which the role lists as a responsibility.
About the work
What's the difference between latency and throughput in a hardware pipeline, and how would you trade one for the other?
What they are checking: Core understanding of pipelining choices in nanosecond-response systems.
How would you handle a signal crossing between two clock domains safely?
What they are checking: Knowledge of clock domain crossing and metastability, a common source of subtle hardware bugs.
Walk me through how you would parse an incoming network packet in hardware as fast as possible.
What they are checking: Thinking about low-level networking and parallel processing, which the posting names directly.
How do you verify a hardware design before it goes anywhere near production?
What they are checking: Testing discipline through simulation and testbenches, since hardware bugs are costly to find late.
Explain the difference between blocking and non-blocking assignments in Verilog or the equivalent in VHDL.
What they are checking: Fundamental HDL fluency that prevents common simulation versus synthesis mismatches.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Optiver.