8 ms·

It can be very hard to hire good embedded developers (I know, we are trying). Also, until you reach a certain scale, the work load tends to be highly variable.

It can be very hard to hire good embedded developers (I know, we are trying). Also, until you reach a certain scale, the work load tends to be highly variable. What these places need to do is hire one of the many good design houses that can quickly knock out a production-worthy design from an Arduino prototype and put you in contact with reliable contract manufactures to crank out volume. My employer has an EE/embedded team of 3, and we still rely on a local design house to rev our PCB's, do the generic infrastructure components of the embedded s/w, and design test fixtures. We write specs for electronics and keep the "secret sauce" firmware in house. There are other benefits -- as I write this we have an expensive instrument that we could never justify purchasing sitting on our lab bench because we borrowed it from our design house. We can get a few hours of specialist time here and there for things like FCC compliance testing to augment our in-house expertise. One person who has been around the track enough laps to be able to write good specs and do program management is sufficient in the early days.

new299 9y ago
I can do embedded, but also do other programming and programming related jobs. Thing I've found with embedded, is the pay is generally not as good as other work, and it's generally not as flexible (no remote). If you can do either generic webdev, or other things, those often look like better options.
- Melanie_ 9y ago
  Im making over $7k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do, ========http://www.smartfinancemedia.com/?682 http://www.smartfinancemedia.com/?682
- dbcurtis 9y ago
  The remote part is hard because typically for embedded work you need at least a minimal EE workbench. Yes, the pay isn't as good for some reason -- which is odd given how hard it is to find good embedded people. Perhaps embedded developers as a group are poor negotiators. Personally, I couldn't stand doing generic webdev -- I'd rather spend eight hours a day poking myself in the eye with a sharp stick. I've always lived on the EE/software boundary. I suppose staring at logic analyzer traces is some other person's sharp stick, but it works for me.
  - ryandrake 9y ago
    Yea, a lot of the embedded guys I know (myself included) moved up the stack a little to iOS/Android because that's where the $$$ went.
    - rhodysurf 9y ago
      And tbh Android/iOS is soooo much easier (read: less stressful to debug) than embedded
      - occultist_throw 9y ago
        Alas.. that it is. I much prefer lower level programming, preferably programming the hardware I designed. I know the hardware limitations, side effects, and overall the how-to behind the hardware that allows the software to do its thing. Most software engineers I know have no want to understand the underlying mechanics (they're certainly capable of it - they just don't care). I'm currently trapped in a "devops full stack" with much of the tooling as NIH. My routine day is a mix of keeping the trains rolling on time, and getting horrid stuff like " my $database_root_password = <password> " out of SVN... I keep applying to positions in my wider local area (Midwest). But so far, only headhunters that want to waste my time with endless "pre-interviews". Tomorrow, it's back to tickets, high-ho!
  - rtx 9y ago
    Also due to margins. Generally hardware has lower margin than software.
  - TheCowboy 9y ago
    I'm just wondering if you offered salaries better than what webdev offers as an alternative?
  - comstock 9y ago
    I'd guess most people willing to do embedded dev remote would have their own workbench. It doesn't really cost that much and I wouldn't see it as a limiting factor. But it's kind of moot because the work isn't really available. That's great that you'd rather poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick than do web dev. But I have skilled embedded dev friends writing php because the alternative is working at a supermarket (they're not location flexible).
- RobertDeNiro 9y ago
  Yeah, I'm an embedded engineer and honestly the pay isn't that good and the job opportunities just aren't there. I'm seriously thinking of switching over to backend web development.
  - christophilus 9y ago
    It's what I did a long time ago. Well-- before the web, it was Windows system/application development. But yeah. In university, I enjoyed compiler design, embedded work and video-game development much more than anything else. Turns out the demand for compiler writers is tiny. The pay for embedded developers is sub-par, and the game industry is just awful. So boring business apps it was. Turns out to have been a decent career. In the end, programming is programming, and I have enjoyed most of it. There are always problems to be solved.
- coryrc 9y ago
  I'm in the same place. I have better equipment than some of the companies I have worked for, so I wish remote positions were available. I'm even open to burst-y work, so maybe I should be a consultant. But I'll probably go the web-dev route too.
- wiremine 9y ago
  > Thing I've found with embedded, is the pay is generally not as good as other work And the tooling is WAY behind where cloud and mobile is at.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- fma 9y ago
  Yep...it's been like that for a while. Undergrad in computer hardware engineering, masters in EE. Done plenty of embedded work in school and internships and thoroughly enjoyed it. Web dev/backend dev for the last 10 years. I often wonder who, in the long run, would be the ones to push the boundaries when you can get a very good pay doing some generic software engineering job (similarly I have friends go several years into a STEM phd to drop and go into CS masters program)
memnips 9y ago
Can you share some of the design houses you are recommending or are aware of? Thanks!
- t3f 9y ago
  Many metro areas have a handful of them, for example in Austin (in no particular order): * http://www.austinelectronicdesign.com/ http://www.austinelectronicdesign.com/ * http://www.technologykitchen.com/ http://www.technologykitchen.com/ * http://www.m3design.com http://www.m3design.com * http://www.concurrentdesign.com/ http://www.concurrentdesign.com/ * http://www.produktworksdesign.com/ http://www.produktworksdesign.com/ They all have their own specialties and pros/cons, but most of them deal with small startups to help bridge the gaps. As always YMMV so due diligence is required.
borgel 9y ago
I'm an embedded developer. What are you hiring for?
blister 9y ago
We used a shop exactly like you described: http://www.e3embedded.com/ http://www.e3embedded.com/ We used them to design and build a custom board for our Sumo robots that had our V1 built from an Arduino board and a custom board that plugged into the Arduino. We couldn't really afford to pay them a big chunk up front, but we negotiated a pretty pleasant royalty deal that comes out to a few dollars per board (which we get manufactured for less than $10/board). They did excellent work and I highly recommend them for that type of "prototype -> production" path.
smoyer 9y ago
Care to post a link to your open positions?

new299 9y ago

I can do embedded, but also do other programming and programming related jobs. Thing I've found with embedded, is the pay is generally not as good as other work, and it's generally not as flexible (no remote). If you can do either generic webdev, or other things, those often look like better options.

Melanie_ 9y ago
Im making over $7k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do, ========http://www.smartfinancemedia.com/?682 http://www.smartfinancemedia.com/?682
dbcurtis 9y ago
The remote part is hard because typically for embedded work you need at least a minimal EE workbench. Yes, the pay isn't as good for some reason -- which is odd given how hard it is to find good embedded people. Perhaps embedded developers as a group are poor negotiators. Personally, I couldn't stand doing generic webdev -- I'd rather spend eight hours a day poking myself in the eye with a sharp stick. I've always lived on the EE/software boundary. I suppose staring at logic analyzer traces is some other person's sharp stick, but it works for me.
- ryandrake 9y ago
  Yea, a lot of the embedded guys I know (myself included) moved up the stack a little to iOS/Android because that's where the $$$ went.
  - rhodysurf 9y ago
    And tbh Android/iOS is soooo much easier (read: less stressful to debug) than embedded
    - occultist_throw 9y ago
      Alas.. that it is. I much prefer lower level programming, preferably programming the hardware I designed. I know the hardware limitations, side effects, and overall the how-to behind the hardware that allows the software to do its thing. Most software engineers I know have no want to understand the underlying mechanics (they're certainly capable of it - they just don't care). I'm currently trapped in a "devops full stack" with much of the tooling as NIH. My routine day is a mix of keeping the trains rolling on time, and getting horrid stuff like " my $database_root_password = <password> " out of SVN... I keep applying to positions in my wider local area (Midwest). But so far, only headhunters that want to waste my time with endless "pre-interviews". Tomorrow, it's back to tickets, high-ho!
- rtx 9y ago
  Also due to margins. Generally hardware has lower margin than software.
- TheCowboy 9y ago
  I'm just wondering if you offered salaries better than what webdev offers as an alternative?
- comstock 9y ago
  I'd guess most people willing to do embedded dev remote would have their own workbench. It doesn't really cost that much and I wouldn't see it as a limiting factor. But it's kind of moot because the work isn't really available. That's great that you'd rather poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick than do web dev. But I have skilled embedded dev friends writing php because the alternative is working at a supermarket (they're not location flexible).
RobertDeNiro 9y ago
Yeah, I'm an embedded engineer and honestly the pay isn't that good and the job opportunities just aren't there. I'm seriously thinking of switching over to backend web development.
- christophilus 9y ago
  It's what I did a long time ago. Well-- before the web, it was Windows system/application development. But yeah. In university, I enjoyed compiler design, embedded work and video-game development much more than anything else. Turns out the demand for compiler writers is tiny. The pay for embedded developers is sub-par, and the game industry is just awful. So boring business apps it was. Turns out to have been a decent career. In the end, programming is programming, and I have enjoyed most of it. There are always problems to be solved.
coryrc 9y ago
I'm in the same place. I have better equipment than some of the companies I have worked for, so I wish remote positions were available. I'm even open to burst-y work, so maybe I should be a consultant. But I'll probably go the web-dev route too.
wiremine 9y ago
> Thing I've found with embedded, is the pay is generally not as good as other work And the tooling is WAY behind where cloud and mobile is at.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
fma 9y ago
Yep...it's been like that for a while. Undergrad in computer hardware engineering, masters in EE. Done plenty of embedded work in school and internships and thoroughly enjoyed it. Web dev/backend dev for the last 10 years. I often wonder who, in the long run, would be the ones to push the boundaries when you can get a very good pay doing some generic software engineering job (similarly I have friends go several years into a STEM phd to drop and go into CS masters program)

memnips 9y ago

Can you share some of the design houses you are recommending or are aware of? Thanks!

t3f 9y ago
Many metro areas have a handful of them, for example in Austin (in no particular order): * http://www.austinelectronicdesign.com/ http://www.austinelectronicdesign.com/ * http://www.technologykitchen.com/ http://www.technologykitchen.com/ * http://www.m3design.com http://www.m3design.com * http://www.concurrentdesign.com/ http://www.concurrentdesign.com/ * http://www.produktworksdesign.com/ http://www.produktworksdesign.com/ They all have their own specialties and pros/cons, but most of them deal with small startups to help bridge the gaps. As always YMMV so due diligence is required.

borgel 9y ago

I'm an embedded developer. What are you hiring for?

blister 9y ago

We used a shop exactly like you described: http://www.e3embedded.com/ http://www.e3embedded.com/ We used them to design and build a custom board for our Sumo robots that had our V1 built from an Arduino board and a custom board that plugged into the Arduino. We couldn't really afford to pay them a big chunk up front, but we negotiated a pretty pleasant royalty deal that comes out to a few dollars per board (which we get manufactured for less than $10/board). They did excellent work and I highly recommend them for that type of "prototype -> production" path.

smoyer 9y ago

Care to post a link to your open positions?