So what does a great firmware hire look like? It's not what you think.
It's not the 10-year veteran or the PhD from a top university. The best signal is often quiet, humble curiosity.
It's the engineer who, in the interview, asks more questions than they answer. "What does the hardware look like? What are the biggest timing challenges? Can I see the schematic?"
It's the engineer whose "personal projects" aren't just another SaaS app, but a custom-built keyboard firmware or a reverse-engineered drone protocol.
It's the engineer who, when faced with a bug they don't understand, says "I don't know, but I'm going to hook up the scope and find out."
That's the signal. Not a perfect CV, not flawless answers, but a deep, undeniable desire to understand how things really work. Hire that person. Thank me later.
What's the one non-technical signal that tells you you've found a truly great embedded engineer?
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