What it does: The company designs and manufactures semiconductors and integrated circuits, then sells them to electronic manufacturers worldwide.
Mission: “To create a better world by making electronics more affordable through semiconductors.”
Size and presence: 13.000 employees (America).
Best known for: A company pioneering semiconductors and various integrated circuits manufacture.
The good bits: Annual salary rising. Career rotation programs for recent graduates. A ton of learning opportunities. Great deal benefit packages.
The not-so-good bits: Demanding work environment, especially in the manufacturing processes, since it serves customers globally.
Texas Instruments used to be known as Geophysical Service Inc, which was founded in 1930. However, TI’s foundation itself was happening in 1951, by the hand of Cecil H. Green, J. Erik Jonsson, Eugene McDermott, and Patrick E. Haggerty. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
In its earlier days, the company manufactured seismographs for the oil exploration industry before it began manufacturing semiconductors and integrated circuits. The company is involved in several noteworthy inventions through its brightest employee. For example, the integrated circuit was invented in 1958 by Jack Kilby, an employee in TI’s Central Research Lab. Another example is the invention of the hand-held calculator and the single-chip microcomputer, both in 1967 and 1971. The hand-held calculator was later sold and known as TI-30, and later, the TI calculator became a popular item among students. In 1954, the company built the world’s first transistor radio, and though it was just a prototype, TI and its partner managed to sell it to the public.
The company then continued its development in its manufacturing area, making products for consumer electronics and computers, defence electronics, artificial intelligence, sensor and controls, and software. It was recorded that Texas Instrument had gone through 13 acquisitions in the span of 1996-2021. It has 15 manufacturing sites worldwide and serves more than 100.000 customers.
Working in Texas Instruments will expose you to high-tech equipment and manufacturing processes that demand precision in each stage. Some former and current employees testified to having an enjoyable environment and friendly co-workers, though some of them complained about strict and demanding managers in a particular division. Some employees said that the company are struggling with the lack of manpower recently, thus, it is exhausting for employees in particular divisions to cover up the slack. However, overall testimony tells that the company is a nice place to work for graduates since it offers a lot of opportunities for improvement.
Texas Instruments is open about its hiring process, even willing to give some beneficial tips. Interns and recent graduates will have two rounds of virtual interviews. The company urged applicants to create a compact and comprehensive resume in order to get shortlisted. Here are some useful tips from the recruiter:
Once you’re shortlisted for the next stage. The company urges you to get a good preparation for virtual interviews. Make sure your internet connection is stable, and choose a place with minimum noise and neat background. Do research about the roles and the company, and prepare some questions to ask during the interview. Both the company and its current employees recommend candidates be confident and proactive. The recruiter expects the interviews to be done in two-way communications to evaluate not only your capability and skills but also your personality in the workforce.
On average, the hiring process in Texas Instrument will take approximately 18 days to 23 days.
Career opportunity in Texas Instruments goes beyond the engineering field. It offers various roles in its department. The company divided career path tracks into two categories; engineering tracks which consist of various roles in its manufacturing processes from testing to production, and then to marketing and sales, and business tracks which consists of various roles in management to human resources and communications. If you are an engineering graduate, there are a lot of roles you may want to consider, such as; analog design engineer, field application engineer, facilities engineer, product marketing engineer, and many more. Fortunately, Texas Instruments offers rotation programs for recent graduates to start off their careers. The program is solely designed to develop graduates’ skills, exposing them to various roles in business and engineering tracks, and helping them to choose which path is most suitable for them in the future.
Texas Instrument pays a considerable amount of salary to its employees, interns included. The salaries for interns are mostly ranging from $46.000, up to $89.000 per year. A facilities engineer receives $53.000-$61.000, an electrical engineer receives $76.000, an application engineer receives $58.000, a product engineer receives $63.000, an analog design intern receives $71.000, a design engineer receives $89.000, while human resources intern receives $54.000 annually.
Full-time employees receive a higher salary. Some employees testified that there will be an annual rising once you join the company. A product engineer will receive $108.000, an application engineer receives $112.000, an electrical design engineer receives $135.000, an analog design engineer receives $124.000, a financial analyst receives $88.000, and a technical sales associate receives $86.000, and a business planner receives $87.000 annually.
Texas Instruments developed its own university program dedicated to upgrading skills for educators, researchers, and students worldwide. The program allows its participants to experience real-world engineering. It provides teaching materials specially compiled for teachers, coursework materials for students while allowing participants to put engineering into practice, and other learning materials accessible to the public.
The company is also engaged in other kinds of philanthropic activities. Texas Instrument mainly invests in education, human services, racial equity, and arts initiatives. Though the company opens itself to fund nonprofit initiatives and activities, they put strict eligibility for organizations they choose to sponsor/invest in to ensure the fund they’re giving are used for the rightful recipients. For example, Texas Instruments will not support proposals that are handed by private foundations, political parties, organizations that discriminate against people, entertainment events, sports events, and many more.
In July 2018, the media published the resignation of Texas Instruments TI President and CEO Brian Crutcher, saying that the CEO committed a violation of the code of conduct that related to his personal behaviour. At that time, Crutcher had been working for the company for 22 years and had just been taking the role of CEO for two weeks. The company did not clearly explain on what Crutcher’s wrongdoing. However, his resignation affected Texas Instrument’s stock plunged up to 2,5 percent.