Overview

Before continuing to read this page, there are two very important things you should know about working at Signalogic.

First and foremost, when working at Signalogic your success as a student is emphasized above all other factors. You cannot continue to work at Signalogic if you're not doing well--and actually improving--in school.

Second, working at Signalogic is not a "summer fun" job. You will be given a high level of responsibility and challenge--but at the same time we expect a high level of performance. If you're serious about getting real experience, learning, and a head-start in your career, then read on; otherwise, stop here.

Working at Signalogic as a student can be summed up in two words: 1) REAL and 2) LEARN.

At Signalogic, you will work on real products and projects, which are being developed for real customers. You will not be assigned as a "go-for" for other engineers, to do paperwork or other non-engineering tasks. At Signalogic you are given responsibility, problem-solving tasks, and to an extent creative freedom. Politics are non-existent, teamwork is not a just a catch-word, and you can ask anyone questions, from senior engineers to the President of the company.

At the same time, you will learn more than you thought possible by working part-time. Student after student who has worked at Signalogic has commented about gaining a better understanding of their area of study, and making their programming and design classes easier. You will work side by side with full-time engineers who have, as part of their job duties, an obligation to help and teach you.

There is no better way to get started--and at a higher salary--in your chosen technical career area than to gain prior work experience. Employers consistently value practical experience higher than research or teaching assistantships or perfect grades. For example, a student with a 3.6 GPA and 6-9 months of practical experience will receive higher starting offers than a student with a 4.0 GPA and no prior experience. Why? The employer looks at the "A minus GPA" plus the work experience and says "this student knows how to manage their time, and is well-balanced". And the nature of the experience makes a difference, too. After working at Signalogic, you will have higher confidence, and you will know some development and debug techniques which your new colleagues do not. From day one, the "respect factor" at your new job will be higher, and the first impression you make will be better and more lasting.

In general, we have found that former Signalogic student employees can look forward to better and more substantial initial work assignments. We have also found that graduate students with Signalogic experience can look forward to initial job offers as much as $5,000 to $10,000 higher, depending on the student and the hiring company.

First and foremost, we emphasize your success as a student. Signalogic emphasizes school success above all other factors. Your first priority is to do well as a student.

We always provide very flexible work schedules for your studies and test preparation. When you have an important test coming up, you need to let us know so your work days can be adjusted. Working at night and on weekends (either or both Saturday or Sunday) is always possible. Signalogic is always open to employee access, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, and all services, including air conditioning, high-speed Internet access, e-mail, etc. are always active.

As a student at Signalogic, you will learn some very important things including:

• how to use state-of-the-art development tools; the importance of keeping an open mind about different languages and tools, and constantly evaluating their strengths and weaknesses for solving different problems

• working and communicating as part of a team

• responsibility. For example, you will be assigned an "in-box" and e-mail address (e.g. yourname@signalogic.com) and you will be expected to check these each day. After you get involved in a project, Signalogic customers as well as fellow employees might send you e-mail and we will depend upon you to take care of a their concerns and questions

• to improve your programming skills by using appropriate documentation so that everyone will be able to understand your work

• the art of debugging, including aggressive active debugging techniques in addition to passive techniques

• to create designs which are not only elegant, but that are also pratical and can be built for a reasonable cost with available time, resources, and/or components

• using better problem solving techniques and time management skills. In determining a solution know when to ask fellow employees, ask news group questions, and when to use a commercial tool to help you out. Making the best use of your time will benefit the company

Here are some notes about Signalogic:

1) Signalogic is located in northeast Dallas, on Skillman just north of LBJ (635) freeway, before Skillman turns into Forest Lane. From Signalogic, Plano Road is the next major intersection to the east and Audelia and 635 are the next major intersections to the west. Compared to locations in far north Dallas, and along Central Expressway (75), traffic is minimal. North Skillman is not overbuilt with large office buildings and does not have parking problems.

2) The Signalogic location is about 20 minutes from the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), about 20 minutes from Southern Methodist University (SMU), and about 50 minutes from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).

3) There are no cubicles at Signalogic. Instead there is an open lab environment where people can work in groups. The lab area is designed to encourage frequent and effective communication. If you have a question, ask! If you make a breakthrough, say something!

4) Dress at Signalogic is casual. Exceptions occur when important business partners or customers are visiting.

5) Lunch is an informal affair. There are several local fast-food and medium-food places close by. You can bring your lunch and use the break area refrigerator and microwave. Or, you can join the group of 3-7 people who normally order out for delivery each day!

6) You will work side-by-side with experienced engineers and are encouraged to ask them questions as appropriate. You will be provided with an adequate workstation and development tools.

7) Software development tools at Signalogic include: MSVC C/C++, Borland C/C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, Turbo Pascal, WATCOM C/C++, MATLAB, LabVIEW, and more. Hardware design tools at Signalogic include: OrCAD, FPGA and CPLD design tools (e.g. Lattice Semiconductor and Xilinx), Visio, and more.

8) Publishing and documentation tools at Signalogic include: Word, Excel, Power Point, PageMaker, Ventura Publisher, Adobe Photoshop, Picture Publisher, Visio, FrontPage, and more.

Signalogic has a vibrant work environment where our employees bring with them a positive attitude and enthusiasm. Employee backgrounds are diverse, and include several nationalities, different college backgrounds and degrees (or no degrees!). At Signalogic, we emphasize our website and website searchability, product quality, customer service reputation, repeat business and key customers, and word-of-mouth as our marketing strategies. The company considers its employees as its most important resource with employment growing at a steady rate of about 30% per year.

Signalogic is a privately held company, with an outstanding stock plan for its salaried employees. More than 30% of the company's stock is allocated to distribution among new, loyal employees committed to staying with the company through 2007, by which time the company expects to go public.

To work at Signalogic, you should be studying in one of the following areas:

• Electrical Engineering

• Telecom Engineering

• Computer Science

• Management Information Systems

• Website publishing and server-side programming

Signalogic students usually commit to employment for at least six months. Generally, students who would be graduating within a three-month period do not apply for student employment. The training period will take about 10-15 weeks, by which time the students are fully working at a productive level.

Here are some notes and things to keep in mind:

As an international student, the following INS requirements also apply:

1) F-1 or J-1 student visa status. If your status is F-2, we cannot emphasize enough the need to apply immediately to INS to obtain F-1 status. INS is extremely slow, even with routine status changes.

2) Nine month residence requirement. You must be in the U.S. for nine months before being allowed to work CPT. This requirement has temporarily been relaxed somewhat for students coming from Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines, South Korea, and Thailand.

There are three commonly used descriptions of student employment:

1) Internships

2) Cooperative Education (co-op)

3) Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

Internships are essentially part-time or full-time work at a company or corporation which offers practical experience in the student's area of study. The employer must be approved by the student's University as offering valid practical experience. This means the employment must offer learning and training value which is directly relevant to your area of degree study. Usually there is a commitment on the part of the employer for 1-2 semesters (6-12 months). Typically, there is a 4-8 week "evaluation period" in which the employer reserves the right to disengage the student, if it turns out they cannot perform or do not have a good work ethic. Internship work is paid, ranging anywhere from $9 per hour to $25 per hour, depending on the student's background, skill level, and aptitude.

A co-op arrangement is similar to internship, but longer term. Typically, this involves a commitment by the employer for 3 semesters or longer (18 months or more). In some cases, this involves an arrangement where the student works full-time for one semester, studies full-time for the next semester, then works full-time again, and so on.

Curricular Pratical Training applies only to international students who have F-1 or J-1 visa status, and can be either an internship or a co-op position. In addition to University restrictions, CPT employment is further governed by rules and regulations of INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services). INS defines CPT asemployment which is an integral or important part of your curriculum (i.e. meets the definition of internship, above). In addition to internships and co-op positioins, CPT can include other types of programs sponsored by the University and employers through contracts and agreements.

Part-Time Employment

Employment for 20 hours or less per week while you are enrolled for classes is considered part-time employment. Students must limit their work to no more than 20 hours per week. For international students, this is considered CPT and will be written on the back of the student's Form I-20 (work authorization). International students must be enrolled full-time (usually 6-9 hrs. minimum) while they work in order to keep their F-1 Status.

Full-Time Employment

Employment for more than 20 hours per week is considered full-time. Students may work up to 40 hours per week, and overtime is possible in some situations. For international students, this is considered CPT and will be written on the back of the student's Form I-20 (work authorization). International students may not be enrolled full-time, or may only require 3-6 hours of enrollment, to maintain lawful F-1 status.

International Student Definitions and Notes

The following are universities from which Signalogic regularly employs engineering and marketing students:

The H-1B visa is what international students who have studied in engineering and other technical areas typically apply for if they intend to stay and work in the U.S. after graduation. An H-1B visa must be sponsored by the company who has made the full-time job offer to the newly graduated student.

Unfortunately, H-1B visa applications are a complicated and problematic process. Here are some notes about this:

• H-1B Visas are Limited.   Currently, there can be no more than 95,000 H-1B visas issued each year. This number is an increase from 65,000 visas. This increase was approved by the U.S. Congress in mid-1998; the same legislation allows the maximum quota to increase to a maximum of 120,000 in 2003, and then requires it to decrease back to the original 65,000 value by 2005. With these limited number of visas, you must apply early.

• Restrictions.    H-1B visas applications must pass strict guidelines. This includes a "wage range" test to make sure the wages being paid are according to a wage survey, so that a U.S. citizen gets first option.

  An H-1B visa applicant is typically not a student, for the simple reason it would be rather unbelievable for a company to claim that the only qualified candidate available for the position is a student who does not have a BS or MS degree.

  Because of these restrictions and complications, normally the sponsoring company hires an immigration lawfirm to document the case and submit it to the INS. The lawfirm's cost is born either by the company, the applicant, or both.

  -lengthy delays Application for H-1B visa status should start immediately after graduation, because INS is so painfully slow.

• Abuse by Companies. The newly graduated student should be highly suspicious of any company that promises an application for H-1B visa, but procrastinates or delays the process. It is the employee's responsbility to persistently check on the progress of their H-1B visa application; the employee should have no hesitation about "bothering" their supervisor and human resources department on a regular basis until the application has been approved.