Regarding Tools:
Companies expect you to make the best designs. They don't bother about the tool being used. A tool can help you in designing but it never makes the best design. It is always human who thinks not the tool. There are many websites from which you can learn VLSI very easily without going to a training institute.
Example 1:
Every one of us have learnt C programming at some point of time. Which tool did you use for C programming?
The answer can be any of the following:
1. borland C
2. AMPC
3. Clang
4. lcc
5. GCC
6. Turbo C
7. Quick C
8. Microsoft C
A beginner on C never bothers which C compiler he is using when learning C.
What he really worried is
1. how to declare variables
2. how to assign values
3. how to use conditional statements, loops, functions, ...
etc etc . . .
99% of the code remains same in all the C compilers.
Example 2:
Every one of us uses email. Which email tool did you use?
The answer can be any of the following:
1. gmail
2. yahoo mail
3. rediff mail
A beginner on email is worried about
1. what is email
2. what is an attachment
3. what is inbox, sent, drafts, spam, trash
etc etc . . .
if you know the idea of yahoo mail, you can quickly jump onto gmail, rediff mail, . . .
Example 3:
if you know the idea of orkut, you can quickly jump onto facebook, linkedin, . . .
For a designer tool is just a button. Since VLSI is still a research area and tools are under development. Every tool has got some bug or other. Some companies believe in Cadence tools, some believe in Synopsys tools and some on Magma's tools.
Big companies like Intel, TI, NXP, AMD, Cisco, Nokia, LSI, have their own internal tools.
In general the funda is as follows:
1. Start ups prefer Cadence tools
2. rich companies prefer Synopsys tools
3. high-end product making companies prefer Magma's and Mentor's tools