Hello Experts,

I am a fresher with no industrial experience, and I'm looking for a mentor or observer to review some of the questions and answers I've provided during embedded systems interviews. I’d appreciate your feedback to ensure my responses are accurate and relevant.

Below is an example of a recent interview

Interviewer: Can you explain what UART is and how it works?

Me: Sure! UART stands for Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter, and it’s hardware commonly used for serial communication.

It uses two lines: TX to send data and RX to receive it.

The data is transmitted in a frame format, which includes a start bit, data bits, an optional parity bit for error checking, and a stop bit.

A common example is when we send data from a microcontroller to a personal computer.

Interviewer: Can you explain some of the key features of UART?

Me: Of course. UART operates in asynchronous mode, meaning no clock signal is needed for synchronization; instead, communication happens at a predefined baud rate.

It also supports full-duplex communication, so data can be transmitted and received simultaneously.

However, UART has limitations in error handling. It can only detect single-bit errors using the optional parity bit, but it can’t correct them.

Opinion
I want to get yours opinion if my answers are too long, too short, or just right. Do they come across as clear and relevant, or do they seem boring and overly detailed?

I’d appreciate any feedback on how I could improve.

Note: MOD please do not move this thread to another category.

 

boring and overly detailed

You still sound like have memorized Wikipedia.

I’d appreciate any feedback on how I could improve.

I gave plenty of that in the previous thread.

You don’t seem have gotten any what have been saying. Though your answers are correct, they do not demonstrate understanding or creativity. I have been an interviewer, and I would not even consider someone who answered like that. I would be looking for someone who thinks for himself and can express his own understanding of the subject in his own words . This may be harsh, but AI bots sound more human than you do.

 

You still sound like have memorized Wikipedia.

I gave plenty of that in the previous thread.

You don’t seem have gotten any what have been saying.

Thank you for your opinion

When I give short answers during interviews, I have noticed that it creates a negative impression that I don't have enough knowledge of the subject.

For example, if I’m asked ‘What is UART?’ and I respond with just 'It’s a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter', it come across negatively to the interviewer, as I’m not able to explain the concept in sufficient detail. I realize that providing more context and elaboration help demonstrate my understanding better

 

For example, if I’m asked ‘What is UART?’ and I respond with just 'It’s a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter', it come across negatively to the interviewer

Of course. The only knowledge you have conveyed there is the expansion of the acronym.

My answer would like something like this:

A UART is a hardware peripheral that facilitates serial communication.

Serial communication is done on a single wire (plus ground, of course) by using two voltage levels, called Mark and Space. When nothing is being transmitted, the line is held at Space.

When a byte of data is transmitted, it starts by holding the line at Mark for 1 period. That is called the start bit. The next N periods are the data, Mark meaning 1 and Space meaning 0. The period (baud rate) and the N have be agreed upon by the sender and receiver. After the data bits, there may or may not be a parity bit, which helps with error detection.

I would expect to get a question at that point or before, but if not I would try to determine what whether he is following me or not. If no question and he seemed bored, I would ask “Is this what you’re looking for?”. If not, I would continue to talk about how the receiver works…

I said this before, and you need to take this to heart. An interview is a conversation, not a request for you to give a lecture.

 

Is this interview on line? If so, I would suspect you were reading the answer.

 

I said this before, and you need to take this to heart. An interview is a conversation, not a request for you to give a lecture.

I am following the advice you gave me in the previous thread. I keep the interviewer active during the conversation, so whenever they ask me, 'What is blah blah?', I start by saying, 'Okay, I’ll give you a high-level description. If you need a more detailed answer, please let me know

 

Is this interview on line? If so, I would suspect you were reading the answer.

Most of my interviews have been conducted online via Microsoft Teams, where they can see me.

The information I provide is based on my own understanding, which comes from hands-on experience and study. Since English is not my first language, it’s possible that my responses may seem a bit formal or not as natural,

 

Okay fine. I guess I cannot help you then.

But one more try. Put yourself in the place of the interviewer, and look at your answer and mine. Which one seems to convey more understanding? Also, could you have given the answer I did?

I told you before that I had failed to get an offer in exactly two job interviews. In both cases, I was not interested in the job and conveyed that, so the lack of an offer was by mutual consent.

In every other case, over 40 years, I did get an offer. So I think I am pretty good at interviews.

Oh wait, there was one other interview I failed at. In high school, I applied for a summer job as an ice cream truck driver. The interviewer told me to come back after I get a haircut. I did not go back.

 

I guess I cannot help you then.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any offers yet. As a fresher, it’s quite difficult to get a chance, but I’m working hard to get opportunity. Your guidance means a lot to me, and I’m grateful for all the help you are providing

 

Unfortunately, I don’t have any offers yet. As a fresher, it’s quite difficult to get a chance, but I’m working hard to get opportunity. Your guidance means a lot to me, and I’m grateful for all the help you are providing

You may be shooting too high. What experience level do the job postings specify?

Are these known international companies?

You may need to work first at a less prestigious company than you are trying for.

 

You may need to work first at a less prestigious company than you are trying for.

I apply if my qualifications match with the requirements. If shortlisted, I attend the interviews

I understand your point about starting at a less prestigious company. My main goal is to gain practical experience and build my career in embedded systems, and I’m open to working at companies where I can grow and contribute.

 

Interviewer: Can you tell me what the baud rate refers to in UART communication?

Me: The baud rate is basically the speed of data transmission or reception. It’s how fast the data is being sent or received.

Interviewer: So, what does a baud rate of 9600 mean?

Me: At 9600 baud, it means the device can send or receive 9600 bits every second.

Interviewer: What’s the bit rate then?

Me: I'm not sure but I guess it tells us the time device takes to transfer or receive a single bit.

I want to get your opinion- specially on last answer

 

Bit vs baud rate is a silly distinction, if you ask me. I am not even sure what it neans. It may be the max rate at which data bits are sent, not counting start, stop, and parity bits. Who knows?

 

For two-state signaling the baud rate and the bit rate are the same.

Bit Rate And Baud Rate are not the same thing. Find out the difference between the two. | Electronic Design

Here is a quate from the article:

NRZ binary has two symbols, one for each bit 0 or 1, that represent voltage levels. In this case, the baud or symbol rate is the same as the bit rate. However, it’s possible to have more than two symbols per transmission interval, whereby each symbol represents multiple bits. With more than two symbols, data is transmitted using modulation techniques.​

​

QAM, or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation is a way of encoding multiple bits per symbol.

Quadrature amplitude modulation - Wikipedia

 

For two-state signaling the baud rate and the bit rate are the same.

Thank you so much Papabravo , I’ve gone through the link you shared but I’m still unclear about the difference between baud rate and bit rate. I’m particularly interested in understanding more about the bit rate in the context of UART. If you can help me further with an example for bit rate in Uart, I’d really appreciate it!

 

hi,

Baud rate is the measure of the number of changes to the signal (per second) that propagate through a transmission medium. The baud rate may be higher or lower than the bit rate, which is the number of bits per second that the user can push through the transmission system.


Bitrate, as the name implies, describes the rate at which bits are transferred from one location to another. It measures how much data is transmitted in a given amount of time. Bitrate is commonly measured in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (Kbps), or megabits per second (Mbps).
E

 

Bitrate, as the name implies, describes the rate at which bits are transferred from one location to another.

Thank you so much Ericgibbs, I just want to some explanation from you

Assume below
Baud rate: 9600 bits per second
Data bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop bits:1

If the sender is transmitting two characters, what would the bit rate?

 

If the sender is transmitting two characters, what would the bit rate?

Hi,
What do you consider the bitrate to be?
Refer to the last posted image.

E
This may help.
https://www.best-microcontroller-projects.com/how-rs232-works.html

 

Hi,
What do you consider the bitrate to be?
Refer to the last posted image.

Left side image: The baud rate is 10, and the bit rate is also 10 bps, showing that each signal change transmits 1 bit of information.

Right side image: The baud rate remains 10, but the bit rate increases to 20 bps. Here, each signal change transmits 2 bits,

 

hi,
So what is the bitrate per second for the two examples?

E