Would embedded systems engineer make good SREs?
Hi,
I currently work as an embedded systems engineer and been thinking of transitioning into SRE.
Me specifically I also have a stint as a Backend Engineer where I thought the fun parts were actually finding production bugs, from Chrome Dev Tools to Datadog logs, etc. Merging a PR that fixes a bug is more fun than doing one that adds a feature IMO.
So my backend experience brings something relevant I think but the embedded brings a lot too. For instance, I think embedded folks know a lot more about Linux than most SWEs. One day I might be working with filesystems, the other the networking subsystem, creating boot, initialization scripts, patching a kernel module, adding a driver to the kernel, etc. Moreover once that hardware is fully brought up, the work can pivot to tasks that are similar to SRE but to the edge not cloud like monitoring the device fleet (like how SREs monitor servers/VMs/pods idk), optimizing the CI pipeline, etc
In my mind there is a good intersection there. But I actually haven’t found too many examples of people who did this. Maybe because there is a class of SREs who are “embedded SREs” so search results become very mixed.
For me I’m interested in the change because modern software companies have better culture in my experience. And software has better margins and pay. In a SRE role I’d still use skills I like. I like Linux, networking, writing software, have solid CS fundamentals (even do good in leetcode interviews), but I haven’t worked with Kubernetes and many other tech you see in JDs (which I’m not even intimidated or anything but aware I don’t have the experience)
Any input appreciated