How do you determine if you are a good fit or match for a particular job? I guess the natural thing to do is look at the skills needed. Here's a list of skills needed for an IoT Product Engineer job listing I saw today:
- Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design
- Bluetooth
- Python (Programming Language)
- C++
- Embedded Systems
- Electrical Engineering
- WiFi
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Product Development
Hmm. Interesting list of skills. A lot of element14 members have these skills. But skills list can be a tad bit deceiving. For instance, do you need every one of these skills to be competitive? Which ones are the most important? Which ones can be learned on the job? Something to think about.
Another way is to look a what would be a typical 'day in the life' of this IoT product engineer. Here it is:
- Lead and develop the Smart Products & IoT Technology.
- Technical responsibility for successful execution of projects aimed at developing Smart products and IoT solutions; such projects/products include fully developed commercial products, minimum viable products, rapid prototypes and proof-of-concepts.
- Provide technical leadership and collaborate with technical resources to lead IOT Product solutions and support IOT cloud, web and mobile solutions:
- Develop technical product specification based on VOC
- Develop technical design document for software development
- Develop functional block diagram for hardware design risk assessment
- Hardware design for IOT device & manage PCBA build
- Circuit design, simulation and analysis – experienced in EDAs (Altium, Microsim etc.,)
- Circuit and product risk assessment (P Diagram, FMEA)
Okay! It's quite a long list, but you get the idea. The question to ask yourself is not can i do these things, but do I want to do it? A big difference. Enjoying your job is as important in choosing a job for which to apply as having the skills to be worthy of applying. Again, something to think about.
Another way to see if you are a good fit for an IoT job is to learn what the employer has to offer. Here it is:
- Create career growth and rotational opportunities within various areas of the organization
- Pay competitively
- Provide on the job training and mentoring in proven best practices
- Offer health benefits & coaching
- Support your long term retirement goals through a competitive matching and stock purchase plan
- Offer employee discounts
- Protect you with life insurance and other options
All of the above sound great! Are these things important to you? Do you value them? If not, what do you value from an employer that's above and beyond the tasks you perform? Is it training? Is it working on a team? Is it building something you can be proud of?Something to think about.
The final thing to see if you are a good fit for an IoT job is to attend on Oct 10th element14's IoT Careers webinar. Click here to sign up: How To Start and Grow Your IoT Career Featuring Microchip Technology Inc and The Things Network
Hope to see you there!
Randall Scasny
Webinar Host