Hey, not sure where to post this but I’ll give it a try.
I’ve changed jobs many times due to the economics of the construction sector in Sweden going to shit. So now I’m all but ready to change my career.
Would it be wise to get a 2 yr degree and start over as an embedded dev? Other programming jobs have been scarce and I wonder if that applies even for embedded.
Thanks :)
I’ve never met a poor embedded software developer, it’s an awesome choice if you have skills for it.
Especially if you can solder and use multimeter even on a beginner level, and a special bonus if you can design circuit boards. These skills need sonething around one-two weeks to get to a basic level.
I think that I’ll do well, and I know that established ones make good money. The question I ask is more like this: am I going to study two years and then end up job-hunting for months/years on end? Is the job market still active, or does it suffer like the rest?
The education can be very hit or miss. The best way to learn is to work on an actual embedded project, as a junior or whatever, but you need to have at least some skill, so - hobby projects.
Universities with CS programs tend to teach generic programming and algorithms, but no skills how to assemble your own robot. If you choose some practical courses in a trade school it would be better, but again, many commercial courses stop being useful after first two months, because teaching people is less profitable than actually working, so the teachers do it by the book.
I know, it’s akin to other programming degrees. Granted that I start this one (two years, practical with placements once a year) then I feel fairly confident in that I will do the majority of my learning outside of school.
But again – is the job market as “dead”? All devs I know (that don’t do embedded) have warned of the shitty job market rn. I was imagining that embedded wouldn’t be as crowded, which is why I applied. Now I got accepted and would like to know if the hiring of junior embedded devs is not as rare as other devs.
I guess it depends on the location. In Ukraine you could probably change jobs every six months and still have people wishing to hire you.
Even as a junior?
You’ll be a middle software developer in six months, switching jobs at this point will get your salary increase by 30%
Yes but how is it to get the first job lmao. That’s what I’ve been asking all along
I guess you just need to know the right people. The whiteboard interview process has been broken for many years, yet no one wants to fix it, because it favors companies and gives recruiters plausible deniability. For me it was either getting hired on the spot after submitting CV and meeting the project manager, or rounds of useless interviews with 100% rejection at the end.