I have a question which is slightly off topic.  It has to do with
chip selection.

How do design engineers choose chips?  For example, if a design
requires an A/D conversion, how does the engineer decide which
chip to use?  Does he/she just look through the databooks of
any manufacturer at all and choose one that meets the required criteria
or are there certain standard chips that are "in" and are commonly
used?

The reason I'm asking is that I graduated from electrical engineering
two and a half years ago and I ended up in a real sucky job (the
interviewer made it sound so good!) that is more software support
oriented than anything else.  Now I want to get into a real EE
job, but everybody wants lots of experience.  I can get the
experience on my own, but I need to know how things are done
in real-world commercial design environments.  Any advice from
anyone?

Thanks,

John