

Ask HN: How do I transition to a different position? - hacknat

I am relatively new in my career as a Software Engineer. I started out doing contract web development on my own for 2 years. For the past 3 years I&#x27;ve been working as a full stack guy (with an emphasis on the front-end) for a mid-size company in Seattle. I got the chance to work on some projects that were much closer to the OS, and I really liked it. I&#x27;ve also been doing some projects in my spare time. Can someone give me some advice on how to transition into more of a systems or embedded position from where I am now? I am willing to be junior again if that&#x27;s what it takes, but I have no idea how to approach this. Should I contact a recruiter, hunt through Craigslist? Go to a meetup (which one)? Do I need to go back to school (my degree is not in CS, but I have a solid understanding of algorithms in data structures)?
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bliti
Embedded is a pretty big field. You could try and learn a bit of hardware
basics (like reading schematics and building small microcontroller based
boards (easier than it sounds)). With that, you would also pick up some basic
C and a bit of Assembler. That would allow you to work as a Junior in many
places. Though be aware that Embedded and Systems programming is very
different from Web programming. I find it more difficult, yet more rewarding.

One of the best ways to pick up some skills in the area is to start with hobby
level robotics. As it has you working towards a tangible goal (the robot), and
allows for results to be experienced in 3D (the real world). This place
[http://www.societyofrobots.com/](http://www.societyofrobots.com/) has some
very good forums and tutorials to get you started.

