Ask HN: Am I harming my career prospects by working in computer architecture

7 points by tinktank 6y ago ↗ HN

I'm a SW engineer by trade, having worked in the area of hardware-software interface for the last decade. Recently (last 1.5 years) I've a new role that is leading to my contributing more at the hardware architecture level. I'm really enjoying it but worry that I might get pigeon-holed or it might work against me in the long term. Anyone else been through this sot of thing? Any recommendations?

4 comments

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nickthemagicman 6y ago ↗

It will just amplify your opportunities in my opinion. You'll still be a software engineer, you'll just have hardware experience as well.

jackfraser 6y ago ↗

Agreed. There's tons of employment for people that can work with microcontrollers, FPGAs, ASICs, bespoke control hardware, etc. which are often harder to get into than traditional software engineering.

bibabaloo 6y ago ↗

Tends to pay a lot less, though.

hindsightbias 6y ago ↗

Devs who grok the 10 layers below “full stack” are always going to be in demand, but ops might be more geo-limited. Just make sure some layer you’re dealing with is in fashion (all the hw people I know do python now).