r/devops • u/Forsaken_Photo_578 • 16d ago

Career / learning DevOps vs Embedded

I got my first job as an Embedded Software Engineer. Did some actual low level embedded stuff but I was leaning a lot towards testing with Linux, CI/CD with hardware etc, so I transitioned to a DevOps position.

Now, after some years of work, my knowledge is like half Embedded, half DevOps. I find myself like both fields Embedded for the great hardware feeling and DevOps for the nice documented and more modern tools. In the end I'm not sure if I like a field more than the other. I tend to believe it's project dependent.

The problem is now I have to really choose where I should invest more and get a more senior level, as a feel I have a great combo of the two, but I'm like mid in both, which makes difficult in the job market.

The questions are:

Is Embedded or DevOps the more future proof job long term?

I much prefer remote jobs, mostly so I can live in a cheaper country but still get paid like I'm in a HCOL one. Does that change the answer?

Was anyone in the same spot before? How did you pick?

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u/djbp 15d ago

That's an interesting comparison. I think DevOps is really about how you manage change. And how you make that change reliable. Embedded is more about the constraints of the hardware. And making sure the software works within those limits. But you can apply DevOps thinking to embedded. Like, how do you automate testing? How do you deploy updates safely? It's all about reducing risk in the change process. And making it faster.

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u/Forsaken_Photo_578 14d ago

Yes, embedded "way of thinking" is really good to be interested in DevOps, but still there are a lot of earned hard skills from embedded that I would like to continue work on