Hardware/Firmware Engineer Overview
Working as a Hardware/Firmware Engineer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a hardware/firmware engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $49.15 an hour? That's $102,227 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 4,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Hardware/Firmware Engineer Do
There are certain skills that many hardware/firmware engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, problem-solving skills and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a hardware/firmware engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 15.1% of hardware/firmware engineers included firmware, while 6.8% of resumes included python, and 5.3% of resumes included fpga. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the hardware/firmware engineer job title. But what industry to start with? Most hardware/firmware engineers actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries.
How To Become a Hardware/Firmware Engineer
If you're interested in becoming a hardware/firmware engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 51.1% of hardware/firmware engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 42.2% of hardware/firmware engineers have master's degrees. Even though most hardware/firmware engineers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a hardware/firmware engineer. When we researched the most common majors for a hardware/firmware engineer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on hardware/firmware engineer resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a hardware/firmware engineer. In fact, many hardware/firmware engineer jobs require experience in a role such as firmware engineer. Meanwhile, many hardware/firmware engineers also have previous career experience in roles such as software engineer or senior software engineer.
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Hardware/Firmware Engineer Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a hardware/firmware engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as firmware engineer, progress to a title such as senior software engineer and then eventually end up with the title senior engineering manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Hardware/Firmware Engineer
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Cybercoders Hardware/Firmware Engineer Hardware/Firmware Engineer | Cybercoders Cybercoders | 06/26/2019 06/26/2019 | $75,00006/26/2019 $75,000 |
UICO LLC Embedded Hardware and Firmware Engineer Embedded Hardware and Firmware Engineer | UICO LLC UICO LLC | 04/18/2019 04/18/2019 | $77,00004/18/2019 $77,000 |
Smartdrive Systems, Inc. Engineer, Firmware and Hardware Quality Engineer, Firmware and Hardware Quality | Smartdrive Systems, Inc. Smartdrive Systems, Inc. | 03/21/2019 03/21/2019 | $85,00003/21/2019 $85,000 |
Integrated Design Tools, Inc. Hardware/Firmware Engineer (Digital Camera Designer) Hardware/Firmware Engineer (Digital Camera Designer) | Integrated Design Tools, Inc. Integrated Design Tools, Inc. | 03/21/2019 03/21/2019 | $150,00003/21/2019 $150,000 |
Integrated Design Tools, Inc. Hardware/Firmware Engineer (Digital Camera Designer) Hardware/Firmware Engineer (Digital Camera Designer) | Integrated Design Tools, Inc. Integrated Design Tools, Inc. | 03/18/2019 03/18/2019 | $150,00003/18/2019 $150,000 |
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Top Colleges for Hardware/Firmware Engineers
1. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
2. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
3. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Public
4. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
5. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
6. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Pomona, CA • Public
7. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Tallahassee, FL • Public
8. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
9. Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, MN • Public
10. Texas A&M University
College Station, TX • Public
Top Skills For a Hardware/Firmware Engineer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.1% of hardware/firmware engineers listed firmware on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and problem-solving skills are important as well.
- Firmware, 15.1%
- Python, 6.8%
- Fpga, 5.3%
- Hardware, 5.0%
- RF, 4.5%
- Other Skills, 63.3% See All Hardware/Firmware Engineer Skills