PAE vs Software Engineer

[sherif96]

I am currently working as an embedded SW developer in the automotive industry, working mainly with AUTOSAR and microcontrollers driver development, I am offered a position as a PAE in a semiconductors manufacturer, is the career shift worth it if I already like what I am doing and not sure about the PAE position? would it be more interesting and would be a better career path for example?

 

[barry]

I think you've answered your own questions. You like what you're doing. You are unsure about being a PAE (whatever that is).

How does anybody know what YOU would find more interesting??? How do YOU define a "better career path"?

 

[sherif96]

Well to be honest, I would define a better career path if the job is more interesting and you enjoy what you'd do + a good pay would be the best case scenario, I do not know much about being PAE thats why I was asking if maybe someone made the same switch or has some insights abou the job, from what i have figured PAE- Product Applications Engineer- are basically second line of support to the employer's customers, supporting the FAE- field application engineer- in topics they won't have knowledge in, as mainly FAE would typically have horizontal knowledge in a lot of topics with some depth, PAE would have in depth knowledge to a number of topics he is an expert in.
The PAE offer i got is around double my current salary, so its tempting, but I do not want to take it just for the money, I am more interested in whether I would enjoy it vs what I actually enjoy right now.

 

[barry]

Again, nobody but you can answer whether you'd enjoy it or not. Some people enjoy being actuaries; I would rather live in a tree than do that.

If you make twice as much money and are half as happy, is it worth it?

 

[dick_freebird]

Applications engineers (I don't know what "PAE" is, but "FAE" I do)
have the unfortunate role of dealing with angry, confused and
clueless customers (the happy and cognizant ones don't need
to call you). If you always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher
with a soldering iron, maybe it's for you. If you don't suffer
fools and their whining with a smile, it's surely not.

I had to do backup applications support for any chips I designed.
That's just how it was. Central Apps answered the phone and
sent out literature. Any detail questions always had to go back
to the designer until CentApps recorded the answer "for next
time".

You might inquire about career progression from this point
onward. If (say) it was a stepping stone to product design,
you might like it. If it's a stepping stone to "sit in the cubicle
and answer idiots' phone calls for the rest of your career",
maybe you wait for the next opportunity. In the middle,
can a deal be made? Like, you agree to the PAE role -if-
you also get entry level design work as part of your declared
role. If that was an interest and if the management was prone
to honor agreements. Then when you've got some design work
under your belt you can make a lateral move to a position
where you get to do what you really want.

 

[sherif96]

Applications engineers (I don't know what "PAE" is, but "FAE" I do)
have the unfortunate role of dealing with angry, confused and
clueless customers (the happy and cognizant ones don't need
to call you). If you always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher
with a soldering iron, maybe it's for you. If you don't suffer
fools and their whining with a smile, it's surely not.

I had to do backup applications support for any chips I designed.
That's just how it was. Central Apps answered the phone and
sent out literature. Any detail questions always had to go back
to the designer until CentApps recorded the answer "for next
time".

You might inquire about career progression from this point
onward. If (say) it was a stepping stone to product design,
you might like it. If it's a stepping stone to "sit in the cubicle
and answer idiots' phone calls for the rest of your career",
maybe you wait for the next opportunity. In the middle,
can a deal be made? Like, you agree to the PAE role -if-
you also get entry level design work as part of your declared
role. If that was an interest and if the management was prone
to honor agreements. Then when you've got some design work
under your belt you can make a lateral move to a position
where you get to do what you really want.

How do you rate the knowledge gained from being FAE in the chip's design, for example, you no longer design but you get the chance to look and what a variety of customers do and what they need, does that help you gain experience related to chips design? I am currently thinking about whether I would get experience related to SW since I will be a PAE supporting customers but from SW implementation point of view so I would get the chance to look at what variety of customers does with the products from SW perspective, but I am not sure whether that would give me good experience that I can use to get back to SW career path a few years later if I wanted, if I liked being PAE then I would continue normally then.

 

[dick_freebird]

In my experience doing apps support puts me more in touch with what the outer world wants and cares about. That makes better product designs. It's easy to focus so narrowly on the "top line performance challenges" that simple usability or some "wart" is missed. Time spent directly with customers can be educational. But like any education, it only becomes valuable when applied.