Hi blinders, I am in the final offer stages with two autonomous vehicle companies, X and Y. X and Y are neither Cruise nor Waymo X is offering me a Senior Systems Engineer (L5) role in their Behavior Prediction team and Y is offering me an L4 Software Engineer (Insert some Robotics specialization) role. The companies are nearly identical in terms of my perception of their probabilities to succeed. The compensation is definitely higher for the Senior Systems Engineering role. However, given that I now work in Software, I am not sure if moving to Systems Engineering is the most prudent move from a future growth opportunities pov. I am also afraid not coding for long periods of time might make it hard to transition back to SWE, should I not like SysEng What makes the Systems offer all the more appealing is that it does NOT have a coding component or at least very little of it. I have an Aerospace background and all the software I know, I learned on the job. I have never worked as a Gen SWE, it is always been SWE with some aero/math specialization. So when things get hard core, I quickly feel out of depth on the SW side of things I know this is a long post, sorry. I’d really appreciate some help here. tl;dr: person with aerospace lineage, currently working in SWE role with robotics specialization, weighing pros and cons of SWE vs Sys Eng in the AV sector TC: 350k YOE: 3 (masters, no PhD) #cruise #waymo #aurora
Systems role will specialize you more into the systems side for future work opportunities and thus may be limited but pay is usually higher. Also a good route to move to product management later in your career as you get the big picture and problem areas. Software will let you switch to another coding job which are more plentiful than systems. I personally prefer systems but software= more jobs and more chairs/slots to move up in later generally. Which one do you really like to do and what are your career goals?
When I started off, I didn’t like the SW part much. Thought it was the price I had to pay to get into companies that pay well. But with time, I have grown to like it. That said, I have almost zero experience in Systems Engineering. I have a sense for what the work might be like, but haven’t done in it in the day to day to know if I truly like it. Anyways, thanks for the well thought out response, appreciate it. Are you working systems now? If so, which field.
No, I am much older than most you all on this app. I worked in Systems ages ago and naturally transitioned to product management and business development and technical program management and other roles. No regrets except the systems work is domain specialized and it's hard to hop with as the industry shifts in tech sub speciality. Where as I hated coding but stayed that route it would be an easier path to like a SVP of Engineering now but development and coding is fairly consistent across these shifts. Also like I mentioned they need more people for these roles so there are more slots to apply into. If your long term goal is to be a VP of engineering type then the sw route is better. If your long term goal is VP of Product then systems is a better choice. Things they don't teach you in school.
Is your 350k TC current or new offer? Seems good for 3 YOE.
Current. Yeah, it is very good. I just don’t like the work, which is why I am interviewing. The new l4 offer is a tad bit lower than 350
I have done that transition myself and I am in the AV space for some time now. Here are a few insights from experience: - Sys work is specific to the domain but has a lot more breadth than depth. - in AV space, you cannot do a good job as a systems engineer because most of the companies don’t have the right processes in place to support systematic design and development. - most of the companies still have a startup mentality so rate of success is much higher as a SWE. Also, if you perform well and market your work you can quickly get promoted because there are so many people who doesn’t know what they are doing. - lastly, Sys engineering is a life choice. Might not pay you well in the long run, do it only if you enjoy the systems mindset and ready to swim against the current.
Thank you for sharing your experience. What was your motivation to transition? Do you have a non-CS background?
I had a similar fork in my life a few years ago ago. I was interested in leading a technical development roadmap for a system and this role gave me that. I ended up liking it more than my dev role just because of the breadth. ymmv
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