u/EmergencyFish5174

I've been working at an edtech company for the past 6 months as the only technical person on the team. No senior engineer, no mentor just me figuring things out independently. I learned a lot through that, but I always knew this wasn't the environment to grow deeply in embedded systems and firmware, which is where I genuinely want to build my career.

Recently the company went through internal restructuring due to budget constraints. I was offered a lateral move same salary, different team, same high-pressure environment. I turned it down because it didn't align with where I want to go technically. So I've decided to take this as an opportunity to make a proper move toward core embedded work.

Now I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach this transition. But I'm honestly unsure should I double down on a specific skill like bare-metal STM32 or RTOS before applying? Or is it better to start applying while building skills in parallel?

For engineers who've made this kind of transition early in their career what actually worked for you? What would you do differently?

For the past 6 months, I was working as the sole technical person at an edtech company. When I joined, I was genuinely excited I wanted to grow in embedded systems, firmware, and low-level programming. But I quickly realized there was no senior engineer or mentor to learn from. I had to figure out everything on my own, which slowed my growth significantly. I knew I needed to move to a core embedded company eventually.

Then in March, the situation got worse. The company hadn't been profitable the previous year, so management asked most of my colleagues to resign due to budget cuts. Strangely, they kept me which felt off. Something didn't feel right.

I decided to stay just long enough to finish the project I was working on. Two months later, once the project was complete, they asked me to resign as well. My manager was clearly uncomfortable doing it he told me the pressure came from higher management and he had no choice.

Now I'm actively looking for roles in core embedded/firmware companies. Six months of experience makes breaking into core product companies tough, but I'm putting in the work.

Help me to figure it out.