This article almost condenses the essence of my more than 10 years of experience in the industry, covering my experience of changing careers, working part-time, and starting a business.
It is recommended not to miss a word from the beginning to the end, because the experience between the lines may become an important turning point in your life.
The full text is more than 3,700 words, and it took more than 6 hours to write. If you are in a hurry, it is recommended to like + bookmark first to prevent you from finding it.
The root of many people's suffering is the fear of suffering.
Believe me, I'm older than you guys, even though I've always felt like I was in my 20s.
The first half of my life has passed, and my biggest feeling is that as long as I am alive, I will continue to encounter problems and then solve them .
The problem will only be late, not absent. The problem you escaped today will appear in another more cruel form later.
I would like to take this opportunity to briefly review my past 12 years. After reading it, you will feel that it is not you who are unlucky, but everyone has suffered so much.
It's just that some people choose to stay on one track and persevere until they break through the bottleneck and achieve higher attainments.
Some people give up halfway and change to a new track. It is really easy at the beginning, but it is difficult to find out later, and finally falls into a vicious circle of pain.
1. Changing careers
Since I entered the industry in 2011, I have been developing single-chip microcomputers for 12 years, and I have suffered a lot during this period.
Let’s start with entering the industry. I’m an electrical major. When I saw those seniors working during my internship, they were either disgraced or sweating profusely, and my whole body was full of dickishness. The key salary was still low, and the dog shook his head when he saw it.
I am full of rejection for this kind of work where the pay and reward are seriously out of proportion.
But I don't mean to hack the industry. This is my understanding of the industry in my early 20s.
I thought, at least find a better working environment, such as sitting in the office and playing computer games, and the salary is high.
This kind of career, perhaps only programmers are more suitable for me.
At the beginning, I didn't know about single-chip microcomputers, but I chose java, because it was really popular at the time.
In the past, poor students had no money to enroll in classes, so they could only buy a book and read some free tutorials online to get started.
After several months of self-study, I finished learning Java SE, and I also learned mysql and oracle.
Just like many novices learning single-chip microcomputers now, after learning c language and single-chip microcomputers, they will be confused when they start a project, and they will have no idea to write programs.
Now that I have been working in technology for more than 10 years, I realize that this is nothing more than normal, and every engineer will experience it.
The solution is to do more projects, first do some small projects, then do complex ones, and accumulate slowly.
This is a turning point. Many people just don't cross this step, thinking that they are not suitable, so they give up.
Maybe if I persisted and found some projects to do, I would succeed.
I did some research later, and it turns out that Java SE is just the foundation, and after learning this is just the beginning, you have to choose Java EE and Java ME to continue learning.
My TM mentality is a bit broken, and it took a few months, it seems that I didn't even get in.
Then I didn't care about it. I tried to find a job, but I kept hitting a wall. At that time, I didn't even know what position to look for.
A training institution in the back asked me to go for an interview, and I was lucky to finally be blind.
After going there, after a wave of routines, I figured it out. It turned out that it was recruiting students.
It is to use your shortcomings to hit you first. You are not competitive in finding a job at your level, and you need to go to them for retraining and improvement before you can get a job.
I said I didn't have any money, but he said it's okay, you can take a loan first and pay it back when you find a job.
Sounded good enough that I ended up leaving because this "teacher" came across as a liar to me.
Confused, anxious, and confused, I don't know how long it will be...
Forced by life, I had to continue to toss.
Anyone who has experienced the Nokia era should know that there was a blue ocean of mobile phone applications at that time.
So, I try to choose the path of Java ME to go down.
The reality is much more complicated than I imagined, there are few tutorials, and there is no master to guide the way, novices can't get in by self-study.
By mistake, I slowly learned about single-chip microcomputers through Java ME.
After a deep understanding, I found that this thing seems to be simpler than java, and only needs to know the c language.
Later, I bought a STC89C52 development board, and the first LED was quickly lit up with the java foundation.
Immediately aroused my interest, I feel that it is much more interesting than java, and I can even control the hardware through the program.
I believe that when many single-chip microcomputer engineers enter the industry, they are just like me, driven purely by interest.
If you look at the salary, many people are unwilling to learn, because the salary of making a single-chip computer is much lower than that of pure software.
I probably forgot about it after a few months of learning, but it should not exceed 3 months.
The learning process was not so smooth, especially the analog circuit. I didn't understand it at all and almost gave up.
Fortunately, when learning the development board, a lot of knowledge about analog circuits is not available, you only need to roughly understand the schematic diagram.
I learned c language, 51 single-chip microcomputer, basic circuit, Protell99SE and then went to find a job.
At that time, it was not popular to submit resumes online. They all went to the talent market, bought tickets to submit resumes, and then had on-site HR interviews.
Backfired, if nothing else, it must be an accident that I was able to find a job.
The reasons for rejection are basically education, major, work experience, project experience and so on.
After being rejected by more than 10 companies in a row, what kind of experience is it like?
At that time, I went to look for it with a friend, but neither of the two brothers and sisters could find it. Then we went to the grilled fish shop and ordered a grilled fish. We drank 2 or 3 bottles of beer (too much to drink), and half of a grilled fish was eaten by two men. Not finished.
I was so anxious that I couldn't eat, and then I kept questioning myself, is it impossible for someone like me to change careers successfully?
My friends also advised me that if others can't find it in this major, how can you find it.
Would it be better for me to start screwing first and accumulate some work experience before transferring?
Later, I really did this. I went to a DVD repair company, and I was like a robot, testing the machine and listening to DJ dance music every day.
After working for a week, I ran away with a bucket, because a colleague brainwashed me, saying that I can do this with a single-chip microcomputer, what a waste of time.
After resigning, I calmed down for a while, thinking about how to enter the industry.
After I figured it out, I couldn't change my education, major, or work experience.
But the project experience can be changed. Who stipulates that only work can have project experience, even if it is an amateur project, it is better than nothing.
Finding this entry point, I chose a smart car project.
Fortunately, Mobao still keeps my order information from more than 10 years ago, otherwise everyone would think I am bragging.
Some of the drawings and procedures of this project are still preserved.
After I finished it, I thought it was not awesome enough, so I taught myself VB later, and made a host computer to control the car, but this piece of information has been lost, and the website for taking notes was also closed at that time.
This project allowed me to find a job smoothly and successfully enter the industry, although the monthly salary is only 1.8K.
Let me summarize this phase:
If you are still at this stage, you might as well be firmer, be more emotional, set a goal and rush forward as hard as you can.
Why do you find it difficult?
I think there is a high probability that you have taken a detour, because you have no experience and no experience, so you don't know how to solve the problem, and you don't know if you can solve it.
If someone who has experienced it tells you directly that he has encountered this kind of problem before and tells you how he solved it, I believe you will grow like a cheater.
2. R&D career
Although I have entered the industry, there are still a lot of troubles, but I changed a form.
In the first 1-2 years, I had problems implementing product functions and programs independently. My goal is to reach the level of independent software development.
By the third or fourth year, most of the product programs can be developed independently, and I feel that my code is poorly written.
The most fearful thing is that it is hard to test stability, and the leader said that the function should be changed. Looking at the messy code, there is an urge to resign.
At this stage, I have a new goal, which is to write the code structure better, and it is very convenient to expand functions and transplant to other projects.
This stage takes the longest time, because there are no such tutorials on the market, and there are no good masters around.
Breaking through this stage in the future depends entirely on the accumulation of time and projects .
Regarding the program architecture, I also recorded a relatively systematic video in 2019. I originally wanted to sell it at the time, but I was delayed due to busy work later. Now I directly open source it to give back to fans.
Whether it is dry goods, hardcore enough or not, you will know after you have a look.
You can directly find the Wuji MCU programming at Xiaopo Station, and you can watch it.
After I have the ability to design program architecture, my life is much easier, because to do a new project is to copy and paste, and then add some product-specific function code.
When I came to a new project, the boss asked me how long it would take to make it. I usually answered 3 or 4 months, and then it might be finished in 1 month, leaving 2 or 3 months to fish.
The above is the technical side.
But the work is not limited to the technical side, and there are many other troubles, such as being too small in a small company, suppliers who don’t care about us, frequent obstacles in doing projects, big companies intrigues, forming cliques, and asking for a leave of absence.” Only one person from the village can sign for approval.
For example, I always rely on this technology to make a living, and at the same time scold this industry for rubbish (low wages), which is always several thousand lower than my classmates who do java.
But these are small problems, the most difficult problem is the technical aspect and breaking through the income bottleneck .
Let’s not talk about the technical aspects. We have a special training camp for project actual combat in Wuji MCU. We will take out the project that has improved us the most in our R&D career. Just do it if you believe it. Don’t talk about it if you don’t believe it. Fate depends on quality.
What is the income bottleneck of MCU engineers?
This is really hard to say, it has something to do with education, ability, city, industry, and opportunity . The most reliable way is to search for MCU engineers on relevant platforms to see what the average is.
Let me give a reference value, the first-tier cities, probably between 25-40K.
3. Entrepreneurship
Why should I come out to start a business?
After working for 10 years, the salary has already reached the bottleneck.
Many people ask me if there is an age crisis in MCU development, and whether I can work until I am 45 years old.
I say you can do it until you don’t want to, because most people get tired of doing it when they reach the age of 35, and they either switch to management, sales, or start a business.
I am a living example. I don't want to continue working because I think my time should be more valuable.
I chose the road of entrepreneurship. Technology entrepreneurship is like betting on dogs. Ten out of ten bets lose nine times.
If you stand from a rational point of view, you will definitely not choose to start a business. If you ask the people around you, nine out of ten would not recommend it. Is it not good to be a technical worker with high and stable wages?
So at the beginning, it is relatively easy to succeed by being an emotional and stubborn idiot .
Those who are too smart, have a lot of ideas, and have a lot of tricks and tricks will have a high probability of failure.
Thinking back to when I changed careers, and now I have started my business for more than 2 years, which time was I not full of enthusiasm, just care about him, and die like a fool on the road with no hope in sight .
If you rationally analyze the pros and cons of everything, you will find that there is nothing suitable for you in this world.
However, those who don't know me, don't be brainwashed by me, and don't imitate. You must know the risk threshold you can bear. It is also very important to balance this point.
In the early days of starting a business, I completely changed careers and worked in other industries.
Fortunately, I have income from the second month, although it is only a few thousand yuan a month.
You may feel fake, what? Have income from the second month of starting a business?
My method is to spend money to apprentice, spend money to buy projects, and spend money to improve awareness.
Some classes are useless to me for a while. At first, I felt that it was not enough, and I stepped on the pit.
But later, through continuous project practice, I gradually realized that I was able to string together these knowledge to form my own knowledge system, and finally apply this system to different projects.
The more industries I get in touch with, the more I find that all industries are seriously involved in the industry.
Now I am very fortunate to have mastered this skill, which allows me to have barriers to competition. I can advance and retreat or defend. If I fail to start a business, I can go back to work and get a high salary, so I can secure a batch.
But this skill, to me, is just a tool.
Therefore, many people say that there is no future in being a single-chip microcomputer, and that the salary of a single-chip microcomputer is not as high as that of Linux.
I choose to be silent, after all, everyone sees the world differently .