Samsung seeking creative engineers

A mobile device's hardware is typically the main reason a consumer picks one phone over another. Whether it's a sleek design, smaller size or touch screen, consumers are characteristically driven by aesthetics. It's why Apple sold more than 6 million first-generation iPhones. Like it did with the iPhone, however, that is starting to change as applications and software become the differentiating factors. For Samsung Mobile, this means seeking a new class of engineers, one that Scot Poorman, senior director of Human Resources for Samsung Mobile, labels ‘creative engineers.'

"It's the creative programs, creative widgets that you can download, that are going to be the differentiator between all the different carriers' phones," Poorman said. "We are looking for folks that can align with the consumer, find out what they want in a phone then help create that software."

Like most handset makers, Samsung employs system engineers, electrical engineers and mechanical engineers, but the evolving form and function of the mobile phone means these skill sets are no longer enough. On one hand, Samsung has seen the form factor of its hardware become more complex, requiring engineers with a strong background in design. But on the other hand, software advances are creating challenges equally as pressing, requiring widget designers and software-focused engineers. If Samsung can find someone with both skill sets, it's a win-win hire, Poorman said. That individual, however, is hard to come by.

"We need engineers with creative and innovative ideas," Poorman said. "We can help them once they get to Samsung. What we are looking for right out of school is a real solid understanding of the engineering principals, and then we can help them with the creative parts once they get to Samsung."

The handset maker has never had a problem finding talented engineers, he added. If anything it's a quality-over-quantity challenge the company is facing. It's harder to judge a potential employee's ability to take risks and think creatively than it is to pick out someone with a resume packed with mechanical-engineering experience. Through Samsung's Genius Scholarship program at a Korean and a Russian university, Poorman has had a chance to see the engineering curriculum. He said they are still teaching the solid-stakes, basic hardware as it relates to mobile phones but recently have started incorporating more software. Some of the major universities even have classes specifically focused on innovation and creativity, he said.

"Hardware will always be important, especially design and then quality," Poorman said. "You have to have a great quality phone even if they end up looking similar. Over time, three or five or 10 years, the hardware will still be important, but software will be more important than it is now. [It'll be a] bigger differentiator than hardware."

While it may be important to understand both hardware and software today, in the not-too-distant future, even that won't be sufficient. Carriers are putting more emphasis on convergence and three-screen integration, and an equipment vendor like Samsung could be responsible for all parts of the ecosystem. For that reason, Poorman said an engineer who understands the need for versatility and can graph the network infrastructure part of the equation, as well as the devices and software on top of it, will be the leading candidate.  

"The carriers want the total package," Poorman said. "They don't want to see the network person, then the cell phone person, etc. They want Samsung to come in and sell them the converged product line. For the candidate who has experience in multiple divisions, that is a big plus for them."