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Firmware test engineer vs performance engineer

The differences between firmware test engineers and performance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a firmware test engineer and a performance engineer. Additionally, a performance engineer has an average salary of $101,647, which is higher than the $84,319 average annual salary of a firmware test engineer.

The top three skills for a firmware test engineer include python, firmware and test automation. The most important skills for a performance engineer are java, linux, and performance issues.

Firmware test engineer vs performance engineer overview

Firmware Test EngineerPerformance Engineer
Yearly salary$84,319$101,647
Hourly rate$40.54$48.87
Growth rate5%11%
Number of jobs25,69995,652
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does a firmware test engineer do?

Firmware engineers are technical experts who work on programming various devices. They have extensive knowledge of coding and software development. Firmware engineers must understand several programming languages, with the specifics depending on their industry. Designing code and testing proper functionality are additional job responsibilities.

What does a performance engineer do?

A Performance Engineer validates system stability and its performance by carrying out load tests. They analyze test outcomes and work diligently with different engineers and developers to deliver excellent bug fix results. These professionals improve system capacity, scalability, reliability, and performance by offering technical assistance. Besides undertaking root cause evaluation of the system's performance problems and giving corrective actions, a performance engineer also recommends system improvements after evaluating the system performance. Also, they oversee the performance lifecycle and then recommend the right improvements.

Firmware test engineer vs performance engineer salary

Firmware test engineers and performance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Firmware Test EngineerPerformance Engineer
Average salary$84,319$101,647
Salary rangeBetween $62,000 And $114,000Between $76,000 And $134,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyStart-up

Differences between firmware test engineer and performance engineer education

There are a few differences between a firmware test engineer and a performance engineer in terms of educational background:

Firmware Test EngineerPerformance Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaGeorgia Institute of Technology

Firmware test engineer vs performance engineer demographics

Here are the differences between firmware test engineers' and performance engineers' demographics:

Firmware Test EngineerPerformance Engineer
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 89.2% Female, 10.8%Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between firmware test engineer and performance engineer duties and responsibilities

Firmware test engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage firmware of automate bench top devices that utilize a microprocessor.
  • Validate the FPGA, GPIO, SPI, and I2C.
  • Develop test tools to load new kernels, update file systems, and test RF equipment.
  • Create a robot control by a FPGA.
  • Maintain Linux WiFi device drivers for Qualcomm/Atheros AR9xxx.
  • Develop one-touch bootable Linux environment with a small, custom kernel.
  • Show more

Performance engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage SharePoint inter-office documentation in relation to projects and internal processes.
  • Prepare load runner scripts base off of the test cases that the QA team and the BA prioritize.
  • Collaborate with product managers and QA resources to create test scenarios for each and every function of the project.
  • Coordinate with DBA for optimizing UNIX server for querying data in SQL and running scripts.
  • Measure and characterize performance for TCP/IP file subsystem, and other system components of OSF1 UNIX.
  • Used Linux commands and shell scripts to perform testing of the command line module of the search engine.
  • Show more

Firmware test engineer vs performance engineer skills

Common firmware test engineer skills
  • Python, 18%
  • Firmware, 13%
  • Test Automation, 6%
  • Test Results, 5%
  • Linux, 4%
  • Test Scripts, 4%
Common performance engineer skills
  • Java, 16%
  • Linux, 6%
  • Performance Issues, 5%
  • Performance Analysis, 5%
  • Profiling, 4%
  • JMeter, 4%

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