Re: Need advice: want to enter the Embedded field

larwe wrote:

Jim Stewart wrote:


situation. Most (but not all) embedded projects
involve one or two engineers with only a small
need for tech management. Much more appropriate


Oh boy, do I disagree with this. It is /often/ the case in small
companies, where everyone is highly cross-functional, but it's
emphatically not the case for large companies. You need a tech manager
just to keep track of the schedule and ISO paperwork (a secretary won't
do - you need someone with the authority to whip engineering for
deliverables). That's not counting the need to manage across
departments. Average engineering project here - for small products - is
one SW eng, one HW eng, one mech eng, one PCB eng, one mfg eng, one
test eng, one HW QA eng, one SW QA tester or eng, plus disciples in
some cases. These people need to be supervised, and it must be by
someone who understands at least the rudiments of what the supervisees
are doing.

Your point and experience is well taken.

I've mostly worked for small companies. The
one medium-sized one I worked for pretty much
let the engineers self-manage.

However, I do agree with this:


than management skills are documentation, support
and tech writing skills. I suggest you forget about
the management goal until you've acually worked as
a hands-on engineer for a few years.


OP should work as a real engineer before presuming to try to manage
them. I'm lucky that almost all the mgmt hierarchy above me is real
engineering people. Occasionally a non-engineering MBA intruder sneaks
in and chaos ensues!


Any advice on how to get a job in the Embedded field? I'm also offering
$5,000 to any one who can get me a full time Embedded position. I know

Withdraw the $5,000 offer immediately. The business


Shucks Jim, this was reverse spam on his part and inoffensive from
where I sit. If someone says "Hi! Please fleece me!", you leave him
alone. He wants to pay $5,000 for a learning experience - well, he
WILL, one way or another! :)

True enough. And ack the smiley.

Nonetheless, every time I've taken in an
employee that said he'd work for free for
the experience, I got *less* than I paid
for. That was a learning experience too.
I hate to think what it would cost if I
*took* $5k :)

OTOH, I now have a very gifted and talented
engineer that came in the door wanting to
work for free. His resume showed no engineering
experience, but very good academics, good
social skills and the interests of a born
engineer. I told him I would not hire him
for free, but I would for $15/hr. I dare
not say more about the situation except that
he's kept me happy with his work and I've
kept him happy with increased compensation.











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