[lbayes]

I started on front end work early in my career (mid nineties), moved to full stack and now write C full time for embedded (STM32) and Linux (RPI & Nvidia). I've essentially been digging deeper and can't seem to put the shovel down.

I don't think I would have appreciated it at different times in my career, but for me, right now, I'm loving every minute of it.

The biggest issue I've faced (beyond the obvious issues of getting anything to work at all), is how to organize the concepts.

The "Data-Oriented Design" folks have had a huge impact on that. Specifically, talks from Andrew Kelley, Mike Acton and the book by R. Fabian.

The second thing is registers. Just toss the HAL mess, pick up the Reference Manual and start poking registers. It's so much more enjoyable (and reliable) for firmware work.

I don't know about job opportunities as I'm running my own hardware business, but if you're feeling pulled in this direction, I highly recommend taking a closer look.