The Plight of a Hardware Engineer
I always believed that a Hardware Engineer’s job is very demanding. As a Hardware Engineer, I find my job really challenging. But even more challenging is explaining the nuances of the job to the “not so technically literate”.
People (of the “not so technically literate” breed) feign to understand the concept of software. Each of them knows of some Software Engineer, either in India or in the U.S. Some of them are even aware of the Terminology. They make it a point to utter words like Java, Oracle, SAP, etc when you have a discussion with them. They all have scores of success stories of people in the Software domain. As a Hardware engineer, you’ll have to deal with species of this breed quite regularly. A few days back, I had a talk with my neighbour, and this is how it went.
Neighbour (N): Hey Sumanth, what do you do?
Me (S): I’m a Hardware Engineer
N: So, what do you do? Do you repair Computers?
S (After a long pause): Not exactly. I’m into writing Hardware.
N: What’s that?
S: I’m into Chip design and verification. I write codes to implement the Hardware and verify it.
N: Now, what’s a Chip?
S: Long long ago……………………………..
N: ??????????
N (a little disdainfully): Oh, so you are not into Software?
S: Yes.
N: Why don’t you make a career shift? I heard companies like Infosys are recruiting a lot.
S: I want to be in this field only. I want to be called a Hardware Engineer.
After this conversation, I felt like calling myself a “Software Engineer”. After all, that’s what I do, more or less. But then, I thought, I’ll not succumb to the pressure. I had some discussions on this with my friends in the same domain. One of my friends came up with his own experience. He had a chat with someone in his village which went on something like this
Villager (V): Hey man, what do you do?
My Friend (F): I’m a Hardware Engineer
V: I thought you did some M.Tech or something like that
F: Yes, you are correct
V: What happened then? You didn’t get a job in Infosys or Tcs?
F: Why? Can’t I work in a U.S based Hardware Company?
V: Ok Leave it. What do you do in this job? Do you supply Hardware to the Shops made by your company?
It took some time for my friend to realize that the Villager only knows of Hardware as in ‘Hardware and Sanitary’.
I started analyzing the cause for such a discussion. I was desperate not to get into such discussions again. The result of the post-mortem turned out to be the first dialogue (getting introduced as a Hardware Engineer). This was probably the reason in both the cases. Maybe, it is in the title that makes people feel that a Hardware engineer is someone who works with wires (as in my case) or something more unrelated (as in the case of my friend). Also, Hardware engineers are a rare breed. People know of a Software engineer, but they rarely know of a Hardware Engineer.
After much thought on this, I decided I would call myself an ASIC design engineer. This is atleast not creating a wrong notion. People will not get any information from this title (that’s a much better situation) whatsoever. People will atleast bother to ask me what an ASIC is, instead of making some unknown assumptions (as in the case of the villager). Above all, this title somehow sounds better than "Software Engineer" to my ears.
People (of the “not so technically literate” breed) feign to understand the concept of software. Each of them knows of some Software Engineer, either in India or in the U.S. Some of them are even aware of the Terminology. They make it a point to utter words like Java, Oracle, SAP, etc when you have a discussion with them. They all have scores of success stories of people in the Software domain. As a Hardware engineer, you’ll have to deal with species of this breed quite regularly. A few days back, I had a talk with my neighbour, and this is how it went.
Neighbour (N): Hey Sumanth, what do you do?
Me (S): I’m a Hardware Engineer
N: So, what do you do? Do you repair Computers?
S (After a long pause): Not exactly. I’m into writing Hardware.
N: What’s that?
S: I’m into Chip design and verification. I write codes to implement the Hardware and verify it.
N: Now, what’s a Chip?
S: Long long ago……………………………..
N: ??????????
N (a little disdainfully): Oh, so you are not into Software?
S: Yes.
N: Why don’t you make a career shift? I heard companies like Infosys are recruiting a lot.
S: I want to be in this field only. I want to be called a Hardware Engineer.
After this conversation, I felt like calling myself a “Software Engineer”. After all, that’s what I do, more or less. But then, I thought, I’ll not succumb to the pressure. I had some discussions on this with my friends in the same domain. One of my friends came up with his own experience. He had a chat with someone in his village which went on something like this
Villager (V): Hey man, what do you do?
My Friend (F): I’m a Hardware Engineer
V: I thought you did some M.Tech or something like that
F: Yes, you are correct
V: What happened then? You didn’t get a job in Infosys or Tcs?
F: Why? Can’t I work in a U.S based Hardware Company?
V: Ok Leave it. What do you do in this job? Do you supply Hardware to the Shops made by your company?
It took some time for my friend to realize that the Villager only knows of Hardware as in ‘Hardware and Sanitary’.
I started analyzing the cause for such a discussion. I was desperate not to get into such discussions again. The result of the post-mortem turned out to be the first dialogue (getting introduced as a Hardware Engineer). This was probably the reason in both the cases. Maybe, it is in the title that makes people feel that a Hardware engineer is someone who works with wires (as in my case) or something more unrelated (as in the case of my friend). Also, Hardware engineers are a rare breed. People know of a Software engineer, but they rarely know of a Hardware Engineer.
After much thought on this, I decided I would call myself an ASIC design engineer. This is atleast not creating a wrong notion. People will not get any information from this title (that’s a much better situation) whatsoever. People will atleast bother to ask me what an ASIC is, instead of making some unknown assumptions (as in the case of the villager). Above all, this title somehow sounds better than "Software Engineer" to my ears.
posted by sumanth at 7:00 PM
10 Comments:
Great one. I can surely sympathize with you. I had a few problems initially when I called myself a Software Engineer. Thanks to the widespread understanding now .. or the assumed knowledge of what software is, I no longer face those painful questions.
- Amar.
I think these problems arise because the word 'hardware' is ambiguous whereas 'software' is not. Hardware is not confined to computer hardware or chips and can mean anything from locks and keys to wardrobes and computer chips. On the other hand, software can only mean computer programming (colloquially). That's why your friend had to explicate further whereas your neighbour seemed to have no idea whatsoever about hardware ...The other thing is people in India probably think that only software engineers are cool because it could fetch you a job overseas..and they must have seen many such people from TCS or Infosys. I guess even if you said that you were a mechanical engineer or civil engineer, your neighbour would have said..."so, you are not a software engineer?". It surely is a pain to explain to them how cool and challenging your job is and how much you love your job....
- Kalyani.
Hey man,
People feel Software Engineer tag is an ornament.But i must admit,i also dont like to be called as Software Engineer.
Pavan
@ Vadina,
You are correct. That's the reason why i've stopped calling myself a "Hardware Engineer"
I had stopped myself calling an H/W S/W engineer long back ago ....now a days its only ASIC design engineer ......and when they ask what it is ..I just expand ASIC------and there it stops ...
This comment has been removed by the author.
yeah..i think u r some what lucky..at least they thougt u reapir some electronic goods..
u know what happend in my case...
just read this... my conversation with one of my village guy:
VG:what r u doing in hyd??
me:i am a hardware enginner
VG: i think..your job involves lot of hardwork..
me: yeah it is very difficult(i thought he knew some thing about h/w industry)
VG: what do u do other than ..windows..doors....
me: ???????????
he thought i was working for a big hardware shop which manufacture and sells door..windows...paints etc..
from that time i thought it was not a bad idea to introduce my self as a s/w engineer even though i dont like that tag...
Still, I rather prefer being called a student.
Mr.X: what do u do ?
Sid: I am a student. There it ends.
Why not call yourself a Chip Designer?
Hi Sumanth,
I do not know that you are such a good writer. No elaboration. Just to the point and very funny. If the topic is as such or your writing style, but I feel you have a good sense of humour.
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