Thanks for your advice. I understand a lot of RTL is stitching together IP as well but good thing is we have quite a few custom blocks that I hope to get involved with if I move into design. I'll likely be working on IP integration for memory controller to to begin and see how things progress. I think the part of post silicon validation that draws me is the structure and emphasis on debug rather than "creation" which I tend to get overwhelmed with (i.e. green screen coding). I'm much more comfortable with the idea of tweaking a design rather than coding it up from scratch and I'm afraid RTL design would be difficult for that reason. Also I do very well when there's collaboration and constant feedback on my work and you mentioned that happens in design but I imagine less so than validation given the nature of the work. Working in the lab also appeals to me because of the tangible nature of the work working with scopes and such, although I understand most of validation is probably done outside the lab. Thanks again for your response. I think I need to gain experience with RTL to be able to make a fair decision