How to Apply to VMware

9 min read Last updated March 7, 2026 156 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Apply through Broadcom's Workday portal (broadcom.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com) and search for VMware-specific keywords — there is no separate VMware careers site
  • Format your resume as a single-column .docx file and manually verify all auto-parsed fields in your Workday profile before submitting
  • Mirror the exact product names and technology terms from the job posting — 'vSphere 8.0,' 'NSX-T,' 'Tanzu Kubernetes Grid' — throughout your resume and profile
  • Prepare for interviews that emphasize execution speed, measurable outcomes, and deep technical domain expertise over general problem-solving
  • With only a handful of active VMware roles, consider leveraging LinkedIn to connect directly with Broadcom/VMware hiring managers and request referrals — employee referrals significantly increase visibility in Workday's candidate pool
  • Demonstrate adaptability to post-acquisition environments in both your resume and interviews — Broadcom values candidates who thrive in lean, fast-moving organizations

About VMware

VMware, now a division of Broadcom following the landmark acquisition completed in November 2023, remains one of the most influential names in enterprise technology. Originally founded in 1998, VMware pioneered x86 virtualization and grew into a global leader in cloud infrastructure, digital workspace technology, and software-defined networking. Its flagship products — including vSphere, NSX, vSAN, and the broader VMware Cloud Foundation — underpin the IT infrastructure of the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies. Under Broadcom's umbrella, VMware operates as the VMware Cloud Foundation division, with a sharpened strategic focus on large enterprise customers and a streamlined product portfolio. The cultural landscape has shifted post-acquisition: teams are leaner, roles are more targeted, and the hiring bar has risen considerably. Broadcom's operational philosophy emphasizes efficiency, margin optimization, and deep technical excellence, which means every hire is expected to deliver outsized impact from day one. For engineers and technical leaders, VMware still offers the chance to work on hypervisor technology, cloud-native platforms, and infrastructure software that runs at massive global scale. The Palo Alto roots remain, but the company now operates within Broadcom's decentralized divisional structure, offering competitive compensation packages that frequently include equity in Broadcom (AVGO). With only a handful of active roles at any given time, landing a position here is exceptionally competitive — but for those who do, the opportunity to shape enterprise infrastructure at planetary scale is unmatched.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Identify Roles on Broadcom's Unified Careers Portal

    VMware no longer maintains a separate careers page. All positions are listed on Broadcom's Workday-powered careers portal at broadcom.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com. Use the search filters to look for keywords like 'VMware,' 'Cloud Foundation,' 'vSphere,' or 'virtualization' to surface VMware-division roles specifically, as they are mixed in with Broadcom's semiconductor and infrastructure software positions.

  2. 2
    Create or Log Into Your Workday Candidate Profile

    Broadcom uses Workday Recruiting (WD1 instance), which means you'll need to create a candidate profile before applying. Upload your resume, which Workday will attempt to auto-parse into structured fields — review every parsed field carefully, as Workday's parser frequently mishandles multi-column resumes and non-standard formatting. Your profile persists across all Broadcom and VMware applications, so invest time getting it right the first time.

  3. 3
    Tailor Your Application to the Specific Role

    With only a small number of active VMware positions at any time, each role receives intense competition. Customize your resume and any supplementary fields to mirror the exact language used in the job description — Workday's screening relies on keyword matching and recruiter-configured knockout questions. Pay special attention to required certifications (VCP, VCAP, CKA) and specific technology stacks mentioned in the posting.

  4. 4
    Recruiter Screening and Initial Assessment

    If your application clears Workday's initial filters, a Broadcom talent acquisition partner will typically conduct a 20-30 minute phone screen. Expect questions about your direct experience with VMware or competitive technologies (Hyper-V, KVM, Nutanix), your motivation for joining a post-acquisition VMware, and basic compensation alignment. Broadcom recruiters commonly move quickly — response times of 1-2 weeks are typical for shortlisted candidates.

  5. 5
    Technical Interview Rounds

    VMware/Broadcom engineering roles typically involve 2-4 technical interviews, often conducted via video call for remote candidates. For software engineering positions, expect deep-dive coding sessions (C/C++ for systems roles, Python/Go for cloud-native), systems design questions involving distributed systems and hypervisor architecture, and scenario-based debugging exercises. Senior and staff-level candidates will face architecture whiteboarding sessions where you'll be asked to design systems at VMware's scale.

  6. 6
    Hiring Manager and Cross-Functional Interviews

    Beyond technical evaluation, you'll meet with the hiring manager for a behavioral and leadership assessment. Broadcom's culture places heavy emphasis on ownership, execution speed, and business impact — be prepared to articulate how your work has directly affected revenue, customer retention, or engineering velocity. For manager-level roles like Senior Engineering Manager, expect a dedicated leadership panel assessing your ability to manage teams through organizational change.

  7. 7
    Offer, Background Check, and Onboarding

    Offers from Broadcom/VMware typically include base salary, annual bonus, and Broadcom RSUs (restricted stock units). Background checks are thorough and can take 1-2 weeks. Onboarding is managed through Broadcom's centralized systems, and new hires joining VMware-aligned teams should expect to ramp up on both VMware's technology stack and Broadcom's operational cadences, including their rigorous quarterly business review process.

Resume Tips for VMware

critical

Use VMware and Broadcom Product Nomenclature Precisely

Workday's keyword matching and recruiter searches rely on exact product names. Write 'VMware vSphere 8.0' rather than 'server virtualization platform.' Reference 'NSX-T' not just 'SDN,' and 'vSAN' not just 'hyper-converged storage.' If you've worked with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), Aria Operations, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, or Carbon Black, use those exact brand names. This precision signals insider fluency and improves your Workday match score.

critical

Adopt a Single-Column, Workday-Optimized Format

Broadcom's Workday WD1 instance parses resumes into structured data fields. Multi-column layouts, tables, headers/footers, and text boxes consistently break Workday's parser, resulting in garbled profile data that recruiters may not bother to correct. Use a clean single-column layout with standard section headers: Summary, Experience, Skills, Education, Certifications. Save as .docx for optimal parsing — PDFs are accepted but parse less reliably in Workday.

critical

Quantify Infrastructure-Scale Impact

VMware's technology operates at massive scale — thousands of VMs, petabytes of storage, global distributed deployments. Your resume should speak this language. Instead of 'Managed virtual infrastructure,' write 'Administered vSphere environment spanning 2,400 VMs across 3 data centers with 99.99% uptime SLA.' Broadcom values engineers who think in terms of efficiency, cost reduction, and measurable business outcomes.

recommended

Highlight Relevant Certifications Prominently

VMware certifications (VCP-DCV, VCAP-DCV, VCDX) carry significant weight and are often used as Workday filter criteria. If you hold any VMware certification, list it in a dedicated 'Certifications' section near the top of your resume. Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD) are increasingly relevant for Tanzu-aligned roles, and cloud certifications (AWS SAA, Azure Solutions Architect) demonstrate multi-cloud competency that VMware's hybrid cloud strategy demands.

recommended

Demonstrate Post-Acquisition Adaptability

Broadcom has significantly restructured VMware since the acquisition, and hiring managers are keenly aware that new hires must thrive in a leaner, faster-paced environment. Include examples on your resume of navigating organizational change — M&A integrations, team restructurings, product pivots, or rapid scaling. A line like 'Led engineering team through post-acquisition integration, consolidating 3 CI/CD pipelines into a unified platform within 90 days' speaks directly to VMware's current reality.

recommended

Mirror the Job Description's Technical Stack Exactly

With so few open roles, each posting has been carefully scoped. If a Senior Software Engineer role specifies 'C++ 17, Linux kernel development, and KVM/QEMU,' your resume must reflect those exact technologies — not just 'C++ and Linux.' Workday's screening questionnaires often include knockout questions tied to specific skills. Copy the precise phrasing from the job description into your skills section and experience bullets where truthfully applicable.

nice_to_have

Include Open Source Contributions for Engineering Roles

VMware has historically been a significant contributor to open-source projects including Kubernetes, Spring Framework, Harbor, and the Linux kernel. If you have contributions to any of these or adjacent projects, include a brief 'Open Source' section with links to your GitHub profile or specific pull requests. This is particularly valued for R&D Engineer and Senior Software Engineer roles, where upstream community engagement is part of the job.

ATS System: Workday Recruiting

Broadcom uses the Workday WD1 tenant for all recruiting across its divisions, including VMware. Workday Recruiting processes applications through resume parsing, structured knockout questionnaires, and recruiter-driven candidate searches using keyword and criteria filters. Unlike some ATS platforms, Workday does not use a traditional 'score' — instead, recruiters search the candidate pool using specific terms, making keyword alignment essential for visibility.

  • Use .docx format for resume upload — Workday's parser handles it more reliably than PDF, reducing the risk of garbled data in your candidate profile
  • After uploading your resume, manually review every auto-populated field in your Workday profile, especially job titles, dates, and skills — parser errors are common and unfixed errors can disqualify you
  • Avoid tables, columns, graphics, icons, and text boxes entirely — Workday's parser reads content linearly and cannot process complex formatting
  • Complete every optional field in the application, including the 'How did you hear about us' field — partially completed profiles are often deprioritized by recruiters
  • Use exact keyword matches from the job posting in both your resume and Workday profile fields, as recruiters search candidates using specific technology terms like 'vSphere,' 'Kubernetes,' or 'ASIC verification'
  • If applying to multiple Broadcom/VMware roles, tailor your resume for each submission — Workday stores each application separately, and recruiters reviewing one role won't see your other applications unless they search for you specifically

Complete Workday Recruiting Resume Guide →

Interview Culture

Interviewing at VMware post-Broadcom acquisition reflects Broadcom's results-driven, no-nonsense engineering culture — a significant shift from VMware's historically more collaborative and exploratory interview style. Expect a streamlined process with fewer rounds than legacy VMware but higher intensity in each session. For engineering roles (R&D Engineer, Senior Software Engineer, Senior IC Verification Engineer), the process typically involves 3-4 rounds: an initial recruiter screen, a technical phone screen with a team member, and 1-2 virtual or onsite panel interviews. Technical interviews emphasize depth over breadth — you'll be expected to demonstrate mastery of specific domains rather than general problem-solving. Systems-level roles will probe your understanding of hypervisor internals, memory management, I/O virtualization, and kernel development. Software roles increasingly test Kubernetes, containerization, and cloud-native architecture knowledge alongside core computer science fundamentals. For management positions like Senior Engineering Manager, expect a stronger emphasis on execution metrics and team leadership under constraints. Broadcom interviewers commonly ask candidates to walk through specific examples of how they've driven engineering efficiency, managed headcount decisions, and delivered products on compressed timelines. The 'tell me about a time' format is standard, but interviewers expect precise metrics — team sizes, sprint velocities, defect rates, and release cadences. Solution Engineer roles blend technical depth with customer-facing skills. Expect scenario-based questions like 'A customer is migrating from on-premises vSphere to VMware Cloud on AWS — walk us through your technical approach and how you'd handle objections about data sovereignty.' Culture fit at post-acquisition VMware means demonstrating comfort with ambiguity, lean operations, and a bias toward action. Interviewers look for candidates who can operate independently, make decisions with incomplete information, and deliver measurable outcomes without extensive process scaffolding. Asking thoughtful questions about Broadcom's integration roadmap and VMware Cloud Foundation's strategic direction signals genuine engagement.

What VMware Looks For

  • Deep expertise in virtualization, cloud infrastructure, or semiconductor engineering — generalists rarely advance past screening for VMware/Broadcom roles
  • Demonstrated ability to deliver measurable business outcomes, not just technical outputs — Broadcom's culture demands engineers who connect their work to revenue and efficiency metrics
  • Comfort operating in a post-acquisition environment with evolving priorities, lean teams, and minimal bureaucracy
  • Mastery of specific technology stacks listed in the job description — vSphere, NSX, Kubernetes, C/C++, Python, or IC verification tools depending on the role
  • Strong ownership mentality with evidence of driving projects end-to-end without extensive management oversight
  • For management roles: proven track record of building and retaining high-performing engineering teams through organizational change
  • Customer-facing roles require the ability to translate complex VMware architectures into business value propositions for enterprise decision-makers
  • Familiarity with VMware's product ecosystem and competitive landscape (Nutanix, Hyper-V, AWS/Azure/GCP native services)

Frequently Asked Questions

Does VMware still hire independently, or do I apply through Broadcom?
VMware no longer operates an independent hiring process. Since Broadcom completed the acquisition in November 2023, all VMware-division roles are posted on Broadcom's unified Workday careers portal. Your application, candidate profile, and interview process are all managed through Broadcom's talent acquisition team. When searching for VMware-specific roles, use product and technology keywords like 'VMware,' 'VCF,' 'vSphere,' or 'Cloud Foundation' in the Workday search bar, as roles may not always have 'VMware' in the title.
Why are there so few open positions at VMware/Broadcom right now?
Broadcom's acquisition strategy historically involves significant workforce optimization to improve operating margins. Following the VMware acquisition, Broadcom reduced headcount substantially and restructured teams around core product lines, primarily VMware Cloud Foundation. The small number of active listings (currently around 6) reflects this leaner organizational model. Each open role represents a carefully justified headcount addition, which means competition is fierce but the roles carry significant scope and impact. Monitor the careers page regularly, as new positions tend to fill quickly.
What resume format works best with Broadcom's Workday ATS?
Broadcom's Workday WD1 instance performs best with single-column .docx files using standard section headers (Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications). Avoid tables, multi-column layouts, headers/footers, and embedded graphics entirely — these elements consistently cause parsing failures. After uploading, always review the auto-populated fields in your Workday candidate profile, as the parser frequently misassigns job titles, dates, and company names. Correcting these errors before submission ensures recruiters see accurate information when they search the candidate database.
Should I include a cover letter when applying to VMware/Broadcom?
Broadcom's Workday application typically does not include a dedicated cover letter upload field, and engineering-focused roles at VMware rarely require one. Your effort is better invested in tailoring your resume to the specific role and ensuring your Workday profile is complete and accurate. However, if the posting includes an 'Additional Documents' upload option, a concise one-page letter explaining your specific interest in VMware's technology and how your experience aligns with the role can differentiate you — particularly for customer-facing roles like Solution Engineer where communication skills are directly assessed.
How long does the VMware/Broadcom hiring process typically take?
Based on candidate reports, the end-to-end process from application to offer typically ranges from 3-6 weeks for standard engineering roles, though this can vary significantly based on role seniority and team urgency. The recruiter screen usually happens within 1-2 weeks of application if you're shortlisted. Technical interviews are often scheduled within a single week to minimize candidate burden. Senior leadership roles and positions requiring security clearances or complex visa processing may take longer. If you haven't heard back within 3 weeks, it's appropriate to send a brief follow-up email to the recruiter.
What technical skills are most in demand for VMware engineering roles right now?
Post-acquisition, VMware's engineering focus has consolidated around VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as the primary product platform. The most sought-after skills include C/C++ systems programming for hypervisor and kernel-level development, Kubernetes and container orchestration for Tanzu-related work, network virtualization (NSX-T, SDN), and storage systems (vSAN). For IC Verification Engineer roles, expertise in SystemVerilog, UVM, and formal verification is essential. Python and Go are increasingly valued for automation and cloud-native development. Familiarity with Linux kernel internals is a common thread across most engineering positions.
Do I need VMware certifications to get hired?
VMware certifications (VCP, VCAP, VCDX) are not strictly required for most roles, but they provide a meaningful advantage — especially for Solution Engineer and customer-facing positions where demonstrating product expertise is part of the job. For pure software engineering roles, deep hands-on experience with the relevant technology stack matters more than certification status. That said, certifications serve as effective Workday keywords that recruiters use when searching for candidates, so listing them can increase your visibility even if they're not listed as requirements. If you're deciding where to invest, prioritize VCP-DCV for infrastructure roles and CKA/CKAD for cloud-native positions.
Are there remote work opportunities at VMware/Broadcom?
Broadcom's approach to remote work varies by division and role. Post-acquisition, Broadcom has generally favored a return-to-office model for many teams, though specific policies depend on the role, team, and geographic location. Engineering roles based at major VMware office locations (Palo Alto, Bangalore, Sofia, Singapore) may require onsite presence. Each job posting on Workday specifies the location and work arrangement — look for 'Remote,' 'Hybrid,' or specific office locations in the posting details. Roles listed in multiple locations may offer more flexibility. Discuss remote work expectations directly with the recruiter during your initial screen.
Can I apply to VMware/Broadcom roles if I don't have enterprise infrastructure experience?
While enterprise infrastructure experience is strongly preferred for most VMware-aligned roles, it's not universally required. Candidates with strong fundamentals in systems programming, distributed systems, or networking can transition successfully — particularly for R&D roles where problem-solving ability and low-level technical depth matter more than specific product experience. However, given the extremely limited number of open positions and the high competition, candidates without direct VMware ecosystem experience should compensate with demonstrable expertise in adjacent technologies (KVM, containers, Linux networking) and be prepared to articulate how those skills transfer. Entry-level candidates will find very few opportunities, as Broadcom's current VMware hiring skews heavily toward senior and staff-level engineers.

Sample Open Positions

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 156 open positions at VMware

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Sources

  1. Broadcom Careers — VMware Division Job Listings — Broadcom / Workday
  2. VMware Official Website — Products and Solutions — VMware (Broadcom)
  3. Broadcom Completes Acquisition of VMware — Broadcom Inc. Investor Relations
  4. VMware Interview Reviews and Company Ratings — Glassdoor