It's the best possible bootcamp for engineers if you are lucky enough to land a role in systems engineering (or its equivalent). If you actually pay attention and participate, you will learn about ways of troubleshooting that will stick with you forever. The notion of making an assumption is completely exorcised from your body - in this industry, the consequences of bad assumptions cost at least a million bucks always. You might also learn helpful terms like "value-add" that will guide your business sense for the rest of your life.

I can see why a lot of people hate the idea of semiconductor manufacturing. It is the apex of "by the books" while simultaneously exhibiting the most incredible shiny technology on the face of the planet. Being forced to follow all of these rules and procedures to get at the shiny tech rubs a lot of people the wrong way. "What do you mean I can't take my smart phone into the office? Y'all make its memory here." The pay is also arguably pretty bad unless you lock in for life.

I would say you get what you want out of it, just like anything. If you walk in with an entitlement mindset and expect the knowledge to be forced into your brain, you are in for a really shitty ride just as you describe. If you walk in thinking "I'll bust my ass here for 3-5 years and learn what I can", you will have a much better experience.

I didn't even know I wanted to write software full time until I was sitting in a cubicle at Samsung's ATX office for a few years. In my opinion, if you aren't sure what you want to do but you really love all things tech, why the hell not? Try it out. It was a great stepping stone for me.