Embedded Systems: Does a computer engineer get preference over an electrical engineer for a firmware related job?

        Here is the order of Preference.        1. Electrical Engineer with in-depth C programming skill and developed firmware.       2. Electrical Engineer with in-depth C programming skill but not developed any firmware.       3. Computer Engineer who developed firmware.       4. Electrical Engineer who knows C programming       5. Computer Engineer who knows C programmingEdit 1:                Even though I mentioned Electrical Engineer, Electronics Engineer is also included in that.

I can only speak for the Indian job market. Short answer: Not much difference between computer engineer and electrical engineer. Long answer: It does not make a lot of difference if you have experience but there some other aspects to how you might land a job. It depends on specific scenarios. I will summarize some main areas. This is based on my experience on both sides of the recruitment process. If you have a few years of experience (5+) and the hiring company is looking for someone to actually develop firmware (or to do serious maintenance) then your degree does not make much difference. If you do not have an engineering degree in electrical or computer related subjects, your application may not make it out of the HR/recruiter pile. Not having some of the buzzwords on your resume that the company is looking for could also result in your resume being sent to the rejected pile by HR/recruiter. Your best bet in this case is to get someone in the company to refer you. Once you go past the HR/recruiter screening, the buzzwords or degrees do not make a lot of difference. If you have experience and the company is looking to throw bodies into an outsourcing contract, the buzzwords on your resume play an equal role as (sometimes more important role than) your skills and knowledge. Usually, the aim is to recruit the cheapest one with the experience level and skill sets (determined by buzzwords) promised to the client. If you are starting fresh i.e. you have just graduated and want to pursue a career in firmware development, it might make a difference. Some companies prefer electrical/electronics background especially if they are developing firmware for embedded control systems. This is because one might often have to read and understand schematics to see how the controls work. If you are developing systems from scratch, you might be working with minimal documentation. Or, if you are reverse engineering things. I once had a project where the client had only the assembly code with precious few comments and the board schematics for a system. The controller was 4 bit micro that went out of production five years ago. The task: build a unit with the same functionality using an 8 bit micro. Not easy if you do not know how to interpret schematics. Again, if you join one of the big outsourcing houses in India, irrespective of whether they are Indian brands or MNCs, your degree does not make a whole lot of difference in which domain you end up in. These companies usually put the candidates through a one to three month retraining process and then allocate them to projects/departments based on how the candidates performed and where the openings are. So, you will get mechanical engineers assigned to write/maintain display drivers, electrical engineers in financial software and in one case I know, an electronics engineer sent to monitor IDS logs, basically staring at a screen 8 hours a day. So, if you want to start working in firmware development, fresh out of college, go work with a specialized company.

Hate to say this but it really does depend on the person. But I have to say that I personally wold rather hire an electrical engineer with good, professional programming habits and style than a computer engineer for deeply embedded systems.