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Failure analysis engineer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Christi Patton Luks,

Christi Patton Luks

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical failure analysis engineer skills. We ranked the top skills for failure analysis engineers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 9.6% of failure analysis engineer resumes contained corrective action as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a failure analysis engineer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 failure analysis engineer skills for your resume and career

1. Corrective Action

Here's how failure analysis engineers use corrective action:

Planned and executed Electrical Failure Analysis activities to drive root cause analysis and corrective actions for Digital Signal Processing System products.
Characterized failures and design corrective action for medical devices, prepared Failure Analysis Reports and presented to other Engineering groups.

2. Failure Analysis

Failure Analysis is a step-by-step process of determining the reason for a particular machine or equipment failure by way of checking, identification, and examination. It means conducting a test within the system and perform a maintenance check that leads you to a conclusion. A failure analysis takes place to prevent further damages.

Here's how failure analysis engineers use failure analysis:

Participated in International symposiums and shared knowledge with co-workers on advances in semiconductor industry for failure analysis of advanced transistor devices.
Coordinate and perform failure analysis and developmental testing of custom ASIC memory devices for a global manufacturer in aftermarket imaging components.

3. Data Analysis

Here's how failure analysis engineers use data analysis:

Improved overall product yields by identifying and eliminating root causes of defect through recursive experimental redesign methodology and data analysis.
Specialized in AFP mapping and challenging direct device probing following by data analysis.

4. Test Equipment

Test equipment is a mechanical tool or a device which is used create signals and gather response from an electronic device under test. It helps in detecting any faults in the device and it also proves the proper operation of the electronic device.

Here's how failure analysis engineers use test equipment:

Performed failure analysis to signal level using routine test equipment and customized test environments.
Provided troubleshooting to test equipment to reduce production downtime.

5. Failure Analysis Techniques

Here's how failure analysis engineers use failure analysis techniques:

Trained other engineers and technicians in failure analysis techniques.

6. IC

It is an abbreviation for "integrated circuits" and is also called a microelectronic circuit or a chip. It is an assembly of electronic elements combined in a single unit in which devices like transistors, diodes, capacitors are built on semiconductor material like silicon.

Here's how failure analysis engineers use ic:

Completed die-level electrical analysis on defective IC's from quality failures, customer returns, reliability testing and yield improvement.
Performed electrical test/characterization on IC's using oscilloscope and curve tracer.

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7. Fault Isolation

Here's how failure analysis engineers use fault isolation:

Determine fault isolation and physical analysis at package level using application boards, switch boxes and electrical analysis.
Experience on non-destructive techniques, such as: optical imaging, x-ray imaging, and CSAM/TSAM and fault isolation.

8. Product Development

Product development is the complete procedure of creating a product from concept until release of the final product. Product development has many stages after which a product is released into the market. Identifying the need, creating the opportunity, conceptualizing a product, and providing a solution, all are different stages of product development.

Here's how failure analysis engineers use product development:

Major responsibilities include failure analyzing for new product developments from prototype to transferring to oversea for volume production.
Determined reliability requirements of components and systems and developed test plans for new product development and deployment.

9. Lab Equipment

Here's how failure analysis engineers use lab equipment:

Perform calibration and preventive maintenance on lab equipment.
Acquired capital lab equipment - Focused Ion Beam mill and parallel lap polisher.

10. RF

Here's how failure analysis engineers use rf:

Performed FA from system level to component level (CPU, GPU, RF components, and SMT).
Performed system diagnostics, including problem isolation within the RF and Network interfaces requiring spectrum and protocol analysis equipment.

11. CMOS

Here's how failure analysis engineers use cmos:

Identified, isolated, and verified circuit failure mechanisms for high-speed Bipolar and VLSI CMOS technologies.
Evaluated CMOS automotive devices from internal and external customers to determine root cause of failures.

12. Product Quality

Product quality is the basic element of a business. It means to add features in a product or service in such a way that it meets the needs and wants of the customers. Enhancing the product quality also means improve the goods from any existing defects to ensure customer satisfaction.

Here's how failure analysis engineers use product quality:

Evaluated product quality against defined specifications and validated test methods.
Challenged with increasing product quality, improving process flow, and reducing costs while maintaining or improving safety for Apple inc.

13. IR

Optics is a branch of physics that encapsulates everything about the science of light. Infrared, also called infrared light, is electromagnetic energy with wavelengths longer than visible light. Therefore, it is invisible to the naked human eye. IR is generally encompassing wavelengths from the nominal red edge of the visible spectrum around 700 nanometers, to 1 millimetre. Infrared (IR) optical fibres may be defined as fibre optics that transmit radiation.

Here's how failure analysis engineers use ir:

Utilized IR, laser, and probing techniques that led to the identification of new failure mechanisms.
Utilize highly sophisticated equipment (Scanning Electron Microscope, EDX, IR scope, etc.)

14. Customer Returns

Customer return refers to merchandise returned by customers after purchase to receive a refund in the original form of payment.

Here's how failure analysis engineers use customer returns:

Performed root-cause analysis of failed image intensifiers from both production and customer returns.
Investigated and analyzed design/manufacturing failures and customer returns.

15. Sectioning

Here's how failure analysis engineers use sectioning:

Performed mechanical parallel and lateral cross sectioning of dice to examine defects more closely.
Performed sample sectioning, mounting (hot and cold), polishing, and etching on a daily basis.

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What skills help Failure Analysis Engineers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What soft skills should all failure analysis engineers possess?

Christi Patton Luks

Professor (NTT) and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Teamwork and communication skills are key! Everything is done with a team. You may be the expert on the process side of the project, but you need to have great communications with the mechanical team, the financial team, and those in operations. Everyone has a slightly different skill set and point of view, so it is critical that you make your concerns clear to the rest of the team, no matter their background. Another helpful soft skill is the ability to work with people from other cultures. Many companies are multinational, or their clients are in different countries. It can be tricky to set up a time to meet as a group when dealing with multiple time zones, but the cultural issues can also be daunting. The best way to build those skills is to get to know people of different backgrounds. A friend whose parents were born in Country X or has done a lot of travel can be incredibly helpful in warning you of cultural pitfalls.

What hard/technical skills are most important for failure analysis engineers?

Christi Patton Luks

Professor (NTT) and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, Missouri University of Science & Technology

We teach a lot of facts and theories. All of those are useful, but really the ability to problem solve and pull together the different things you've learned is what makes the difference. When I worked in the industry, I may not have solved a differential equation, but I had solved enough problems in school that I could recognize when the patterns I was seeing in real life had the correct trends. If the trend wasn't what I expected, I got to dig deeper to figure out why. Curiosity and a desire to dig deeper to solve a problem really help.

Do you want to know more?

List of failure analysis engineer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a failure analysis engineer resume and required skills for a failure analysis engineer to have include:

Corrective Action
Failure Analysis
Data Analysis
Test Equipment
Failure Analysis Techniques
IC
Fault Isolation
Product Development
Lab Equipment
RF
CMOS
Product Quality
IR
Customer Returns
Sectioning
Continuous Improvement

Laser
RMA
Failure Mechanisms
Technical Reports
Product Reliability
Failure Modes
Power Electronics
Electron Microscope
Debugging
Level Analysis
FTIR
Test Data
Troubleshoot
Customer Satisfaction
Scanning Electron Microscopy
FMEA

PCB
Sample Preparation
Semiconductor Devices
R
ION Beam
Apple
DOE
QA
SSD
Technical Support
Test Procedures
Java
ASIC
Provide Engineering Support
Microelectronics

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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