Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Mobile application developer to embedded system designer

A mobile application developer already meets 56% of what the embedded system designer role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From mobile application developer
56 % overlap
Partial match
To embedded system designer
52 You already bring
12 Still to learn
78 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

56.1/ 100

1 How much of what an embedded system designer is expected to do is already part of a mobile application developer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the embedded system designer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

An embedded system designer role treats 5 of its required skills as things a mobile application developer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • analyse software specifications
  • create flowchart diagram
  • develop creative ideas
  • digital systems
  • tools for software configuration management

What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 52 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An embedded system designer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a mobile application developer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held SPARK information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held create flowchart diagram communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held Ansible information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held tools for software configuration management information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Apache Maven information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Puppet (tools for software configuration management) information and communication technologies (icts)

All 52 carried skills, including the 5 the embedded system designer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 26 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 information and communication technologies (icts) 4 required, 7 supplementary
  • still to learn real-time computing required
  • still to learn system design required
  • still to learn systems development life-cycle required
  • still to learn task algorithmisation required
  • optional, not held ICT network simulation optional
  • optional, not held ICT security standards optional
  • optional, not held ICT system integration optional
  • optional, not held network management system tools optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held tools for ICT test automation optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
02 engineering, manufacturing and construction 4 required, 5 supplementary
  • still to learn ICT communications protocols required
  • still to learn embedded systems required
  • still to learn engineering control theory required
  • still to learn signal processing required
  • optional, not held field-programmable gate arrays optional
  • optional, not held battery management systems optional
  • optional, not held engineering processes optional
  • optional, not held hardware architectures optional
  • optional, not held state estimation optional
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn create software design required
  • still to learn provide ICT consulting advice required
  • optional, not held build business relationships optional
04 information skills 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn interpret electronic design specifications required
  • optional, not held verify formal ICT specifications optional
05 management skills 1 required
  • still to learn define technical requirements required
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries an embedded system designer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 52 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held analyse software specifications skill
  • already held create flowchart diagram skill
  • already held develop creative ideas skill
  • already held digital systems knowledge
  • already held tools for software configuration management knowledge
  • already held ABAP knowledge
  • already held AJAX knowledge
  • already held APL knowledge
  • already held ASP.NET knowledge
  • already held Ansible knowledge
  • already held Apache Maven knowledge
  • already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held C# knowledge
  • already held C++ knowledge
  • already held COBOL knowledge
  • already held CoffeeScript knowledge
  • already held Common Lisp knowledge
  • already held Erlang knowledge
  • already held Groovy knowledge
  • already held Haskell knowledge
  • already held Java (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held JavaScript knowledge
  • already held Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
  • already held Lisp knowledge
  • already held MATLAB knowledge
  • already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
  • already held Objective-C knowledge
  • already held OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
  • already held PHP knowledge
  • already held Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Perl knowledge
  • already held Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Puppet (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
  • already held Python (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held R knowledge
  • already held Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held SAP R3 knowledge
  • already held SAS language knowledge
  • already held SPARK knowledge
  • already held STAF knowledge
  • already held Salt (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
  • already held Scala knowledge
  • already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held TypeScript knowledge
  • already held VBScript knowledge
  • already held Visual Basic knowledge
  • already held collect customer feedback on applications skill
  • already held computer programming knowledge
  • already held utilise computer-aided software engineering tools skill
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held field-programmable gate arrays optional
  • optional, not held ICT network simulation optional
  • optional, not held ICT security standards optional
  • optional, not held ICT system integration optional
  • optional, not held battery management systems optional
  • optional, not held engineering processes optional
  • optional, not held hardware architectures optional
  • optional, not held network management system tools optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held tools for ICT test automation optional
  • optional, not held verify formal ICT specifications optional
  • optional, not held build business relationships optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
  • optional, not held state estimation optional
36 held skills the embedded system designer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role Android (mobile operating systems) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role BlackBerry knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Eclipse (integrated development environment software) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT debugging tools knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT security legislation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Internet of Things knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Joomla knowledge
  • not needed by the target role KDevelop knowledge
  • not needed by the target role World Wide Web Consortium standards knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Xcode knowledge
  • not needed by the target role adapt to changes in technological development plans skill
  • not needed by the target role augmented reality knowledge
  • not needed by the target role debug software skill
  • not needed by the target role design user interface skill
  • not needed by the target role develop automated migration methods skill
  • not needed by the target role develop software prototype skill
  • not needed by the target role iOS knowledge
  • not needed by the target role identify customer requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role integrate system components skill
  • not needed by the target role integrated development environment software knowledge
  • not needed by the target role interpret technical texts skill
  • not needed by the target role migrate existing data skill
  • not needed by the target role mobile device software frameworks knowledge
  • not needed by the target role mobile operating systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role object-oriented modelling knowledge
  • not needed by the target role screen reader knowledge
  • not needed by the target role software anomalies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role use an application-specific interface skill
  • not needed by the target role use automatic programming skill
  • not needed by the target role use concurrent programming skill
  • not needed by the target role use functional programming skill
  • not needed by the target role use logic programming skill
  • not needed by the target role use object-oriented programming skill
  • not needed by the target role use query languages skill
  • not needed by the target role use software design patterns skill
  • not needed by the target role use software libraries skill
20 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn real-time computing required
  • still to learn ICT communications protocols required
  • still to learn embedded systems required
  • still to learn engineering control theory required
  • still to learn signal processing required
  • still to learn system design required
  • still to learn systems development life-cycle required
  • still to learn task algorithmisation required
  • optional, not held field-programmable gate arrays optional
  • optional, not held ICT network simulation optional
  • optional, not held ICT security standards optional
  • optional, not held ICT system integration optional
  • optional, not held battery management systems optional
  • optional, not held engineering processes optional
  • optional, not held hardware architectures optional
  • optional, not held network management system tools optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held tools for ICT test automation optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
  • optional, not held state estimation optional
Index

Other moves recorded from mobile application developer

Full index of moves from mobile application developer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a mobile application developer become an embedded system designer?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A mobile application developer already covers 56% of what an embedded system designer is expected to do: 52 skills carry over, 5 of which the embedded system designer role treats as required.

What skills does a mobile application developer need to become an embedded system designer?

12 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is real-time computing.

How hard is the move from mobile application developer to embedded system designer?

Its learning distance is 56.1 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.