Firmware Engineering

Oct 10, 2020 47 Comments

Getting to know myself more, I realized I want to become a firmware engineer. Im a recent graduate. Any advice? What subjects should I absolutely master to transition?

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TOP 47 Comments
  • Apple
    krooks

    Go to company page Apple

    krooks
    Don't do it. You end up in a rabbit's hole and the domain expertise is pretty useless for interviews.
    Oct 10, 2020 6
    • OP
      Thanks Alpha_7. I thought the same so thanks for solidifying my initial thoughts.
      Oct 11, 2020
    • @sha1234567 Not exactly. Having the EE/CE foundation, makes you a better candidate. Domain expertise is useless, if you want to jump on board the "latest and greatest tech" train.

      If you want to do some FPGA dev, you'd be hesitant picking someone who spent a majority of their time working on "cloud" stuff.
      Feb 8, 2021
  • Apple
    YuDw51

    Go to company page Apple

    YuDw51
    OS
    Oct 10, 2020 4
  • Google / Eng
    ABC-CEO

    Go to company page Google Eng

    ABC-CEO
    Don't go into it, and if you're already doing it then by God stay away from firmware update.
    Oct 10, 2020 4
    • I'll be joining Google next week to work on the networking HBA drivers and firmware that powers the entire Google fleet. Yes it's hard, but think of the impact if you can speed it up by just 1% - it could pretty much speed-up EVERYTHING.

      I wouldn't say it's thankless job since I got an offer at L6 about $500K TC during COVID era and it only took 1 week to team match (while a lot of the generic SW engineer are not getting any team match for many months from what I've heard). It is pretty good IMHO, considering I've started with just $40K a year working for a start-up 15+ years ago to break into this business.

      Another great thing working at platform-level software is that things do not change very quickly, so it's unlikely your skills become obsolete any time soon. There's also less competition since not a lot of people are into this, and you can't just go to a coding bootcamp and become proficient in the embedded space.

      I'd say go with what you're passionate about - you'll make those extra miles without realizing it since you're having fun.
      Oct 11, 2020
    • Zoox
      stephfurry

      Go to company page Zoox

      stephfurry
      After working in robotics for years I can say It's hard as fuck to find firmware engineers. But also every company also wants 10+ years of experience cause apparently new grad firmware engineers are worthless.
      Oct 14, 2020
  • Computer architecture
    Oct 10, 2020 2
  • Roblox
    robloxcop

    Go to company page Roblox

    robloxcop
    Isn’t firmware less challenging than software overall?
    Oct 19, 2020 3