Nobody teaches you how to break into chips.
The Hub does.
Learning guides, early-career roles and internships, mentors, and a community that answers real questions.
Your path through the Hub
Four steps for students and job seekers, from the first links to follow to what is new on the Hub today.
Where to start
- Read the guides →
How to get into the industry.
- Find an internship →
Roles built for early careers.
- Take a course →
Build skills employers ask for.
- Ask a question →
People who work in chips answer.
Training plan. Your first map of the chip industry and where you fit in it: outcomes, modules, exercises and self-checks built on the Hub's lifecycles.
In the Industry Review 2026
- Chapter 3: Process technology and the PDK roadmap
- Chapter 9: Talent and workforce
- Chapter 12: Design and EDA, including AI-assisted design
Other chapters (10)
- Chapter 1: Market and demand by end market
- Chapter 2: Capacity, fabs and siting
- Chapter 4: Advanced packaging and chiplets
- Chapter 5: AI accelerators and compute demand
- Chapter 6: Memory
- Chapter 7: Power and compound semiconductors
- Chapter 8: Supply chain, chokepoints and geopolitics
- Chapter 10: Funding, venture and M&A
- Chapter 11: Sustainability and emissions
- Chapter 13: Outlook and what to watch
The whole review: analysis, cited facts and live Hub data, chapter by chapter.
Lifecycles for you
The chip lifecycles that the training plan for Students and job seekers draws on most. Each one sets out its stages, the gates that check them and the work handed over.
- SoC and full-chip lifecycle →The whole chip, from its specification through IP integration, full-chip design and verification, tape-out, bring-up and qualification to production and end of life.15 stages, 22 gates
- Product lifecycle →The business lifecycle of a semiconductor product, from the first sign of a market opportunity through concept, definition, development, validation, sampling, qualification, launch, ramp, maturity and decline to end of life and the support that continues after the last shipment. The engineering lifecycles run inside it.13 stages, 31 gates
- Process technology (node) lifecycle →A manufacturing process technology, or node, from pathfinding and technology definition through module development, process integration, design kit releases at rising maturity, test chips and yield learning, and process reliability qualification to customer design enablement, risk production, high-volume manufacturing, continuous improvement and the node's end of life. The output is a qualified process and the design kit that customers build their chips on.12 stages, 18 gates
- Test program and ATE development lifecycle →The manufacturing test of a chip, from the test strategy and DFT alignment while the chip is specified, through the test plan, probe cards, load boards and sockets, pattern generation and conversion and a test program built before silicon, to first silicon debug and correlation, characterisation and limit setting, test time reduction and release to production, then yield and test data monitoring, maintenance and end of life.12 stages, 20 gates
- Soft IP lifecycle →One reusable block delivered as synthesisable design code (soft IP), made in-house or taken in from a supplier, from its specification through design, verification, implementation views and quality checks to a versioned release for SoC teams.8 stages, 10 gates
New to the lifecycle? Start here: the lifecycle in five steps, see the whole lifecycle on one page or look up a term in the glossary.
What the Hub brings
You do not need a parent or a teacher who works in chips. Everything below is free for you.
Pathways with no sign-up
Plain-language pages on what it is like to work on chips, how people usually get there, and where to go next. No account, no email and no download gate.
Internships and early-career roles
One click filters the job search to early-career roles or internships. Every internship states clearly whether it is paid, and an unpaid one must say what you will learn.
Experience briefs that become proof
Complete a real micro-project set by an employer. A verified mentor reviews it, you earn Chips, and a certificate with a public check code goes on your profile.
Skills you can look up
Every skill page gives a plain definition, how people acquire it, how much demand it has in live listings and which roles use it. Find out what to learn next.
Roles explained before you apply
Role pages describe a day in the life, typical backgrounds, skills and tools. Answer a short intake and get a shortlist linked to evidence, never a promise.
Which certificate is worth it?
A register of industry certifications states, for each one, the evidence that employers or industry bodies recognise it. Check before you pay for a course.
Ask, and get answers from the site
Ask the Hub answers from articles, threads and company pages already on the site, and says so when it cannot. Or post on a community board under a handle.
A hiring run you can join free
The Talent Wafer is a scheduled, curated hiring run. Applying is free, employers see a pseudonym until you accept their interest, and nobody can buy a place in it.
What changes for you
Job pages assume you already know the jargon.
Pathways, a glossary and skill pages are written for beginners and link on to real next steps.
You cannot tell which credential matters.
Each certification lists the evidence that employers recognise it, so you can judge before you pay.
Every site wants your email before you can read.
Read the pathways, roles and skills with no account, no email and no profile built about you.
Free to learn, apply and be hired
Students never meet a payment prompt on the way to learning, applying or being found by an employer.
No profile of you
Pathway pages have no sign-in, no email capture, no personalisation and no sponsorship.
Built for the first in the family
Written for readers with no technical parent or teacher to ask, and each page says what it does not cover.
Live on the Hub for students and job seekers
Ordered by what is most useful to you first. Sign in and opt in to personalization and it also reorders around your discipline and activity. Sign in
Open roles
6Early-career and internship roles only, newest first. You can see who hires juniors and apply without sifting through senior postings.
See all →
Upcoming events
4Upcoming talks, workshops and conferences where you can meet engineers, hear the field described first-hand and start building a network early.
See all →News
6Recent industry coverage that shows how the chip world actually works, with real developments to talk about in interviews and applications.
See all →Courses
0Published courses with level, hours and price shown up front. Pick structured learning that fills your skill gaps before you apply.
See all →Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Suggest a course or contribute content.
Experience briefs
0Short, skill-building projects from real teams that give you proof of ability and something concrete to show recruiters.
See all →Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Suggest a brief or contribute content.
Community
0Threads from the education board, where students ask questions and get straight answers on degrees, first roles and breaking into the industry.
See all →Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Start a discussion or contribute content.
Academic institutions
0Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Suggest an institution or contribute content.
Directory highlights
0Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Add a company or contribute content.
Research
0Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Suggest research or contribute content.
Funding & M&A
0Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Suggest a deal or contribute content.
Grants & incentives
0Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Suggest a programme or contribute content.
Target markets
0Work in progress. Nothing here for this audience yet. Suggest content or contribute content.
Start with a pathway
No account needed. Pick the kind of work that sounds interesting and read how people get there.