Career switch from electronics test engineer to control engineer

[vinodh80]

Hi all,
I had been working as a CPU validation\test engineer for 5 years in Intel. Below are my skillsets:
1) Strong background in PC system architecture and experience in hardware-software interfacing.
2) Good grasp on Processor Architecture, Integrated Graphics Architecture and x86 instruction sets.
3) In depth knowledge of validation/test concepts mainly post-silicon hardware validation, execution and debug methodology.
4) Excellent problem solving skills in finding and resolving silicon and platform failures.
5) Strong software development skills in the Windows and Linux environment.
6) Proficiency in programming with x86 assembly language, C, C++, C#, HTML, Perl and Python scripting languages.
7) Familiarity with debug tools such as Oscilloscopes, Tektronix Logic Analyzers and JTAG tools.
8) Ability to perform root cause analysis on hardware and software failures at the Operating System (OS), Basic Input Output System (BIOS) and drivers.
9) Demonstrated ability to make solid technical decisions consistent with the project goals and schedule.
10) Ability to define, conduct DOE (Design of Experiment) and propose recommendations (critical thinking) based on data collection.
11) Experience in utilizing and automating CPU and graphics benchmarking tests (commercial content) for validation.
12) Experience in automating custom and commercial content for execution phase.

Currently, I am thinking of a career switch as it is not the field that I am interested in. I am wondering how to switch to automation\control engineering field with lesser impact on my salary. I am thinking of utilizing the experience that I already have as a test engineer in control engineering field. Is that possible? Which career path within control engineering will suit me with the experience that I have at the moment?

 

[Henneshoe]

From what I understand, In the US the salaries on average are less in controls engineering then they are in solid state design. I am not sure how they compare to solid state validation/test. However, salaries are going to vary depending on responsibilities, knowledge, location, and luck. If I were you, I would expect a salary drop when switching focus (esp because you are moving from a field which you have experience to one where you do not.) It doesn't hurt to go to a few interviews and see what people will offer you for a salary.

In my opinion, some of the experience you have listed will be helpful in a controls position, some will not. 1,5,6,7,9,11,12 could be helpful. From what you wrote in your post, I would say you are better suited for the SW side of controls engineering. Most of your HW experience seems to low-level to be useful on a daily basis in a controls position.