Embedded Software Engineer Position Overview

Considering the popularity of the Internet of Things over the last few years, the increasing demand of Embedded Software Developers doesn’t come as a surprise. When it comes to hiring an Embedded Software Engineer, the task is significantly different than hiring an engineer to work on application programs.

Embedded Software Engineers control various devices and machines that aren’t typically considered as computers. They are responsible for designing, developing and maintaining the software that runs on the micro-controller within an embedded system.

Qualifications to look for: 

• Bachelor’s degree in software engineering.
• Basic programming languages such as C, C++.

Experience to look for:

• Working experience in Embedded technology
• Experience in working with CSS, XML
• Experience in device driver development and support
• Understands hardware and real-time operating systems.
• Knowledge of OS system configuration, hardware management, and debugging code.
• Knowledge about  Networking protocols

Skills to look for:

• Analytical and problem-solving skills
• Software skills
• Team player
• Good communication skills
• Ability to design software application

Pick the candidate who exhibits a keen interest in learning new things and strives to stay on top of the latest developments. Enlisted below are some important Embedded Software Engineer interview questions that you must ask the potential contenders before hiring.

Computer Science questions

• What is RISC architecture?
• Why should we use multithreading polling instead of a single threading model?
• How computational modeling differs from analytical modeling?
• What is the difference between component-based and object-oriented design?

Job-specific questions

• How do you debug a system if it suddenly goes blank?
• How do you reduce memory requirements in embedded systems?
• Why would you choose Java in embedded systems?
• Name a few reliable code testing tools.
• Do you have experience working with software configuration management tools? If yes, name those tools and what you liked the most about them.
• How do you troubleshoot embedded targets? Give a step-by-step explanation.
• What is your experience with technical documentation?
• How do you identify hardware issues?
• What design software have you used and in what situations?
• What is your experience with QA engineering?
• How do you optimize the I/O performance?

Behavioral questions

• Mention some common issues that you have faced in embedded systems. How did you resolve them?
• Have you ever worked in collaboration with engineers and designers to deploy a new product? Elaborate it.
• How do you keep yourself up to date with latest technology trends?