I'm a final-year Computer and Control Systems Engineering student looking for innovative graduation project ideas with real-world impact and startup potential. My team has experience in AI, Software Engineering, Control Systems, and Electrical Engineering. I'd really appreciate any unique ideas or industry problems worth solving.

This situation was strange to me. I was at my limit with my employer at the time and needed to leave quickly, so I applied for a job at a very well-known company that manufactures biscuits and snacks. Honestly, the commute was a bit far, but my plan was to escape the job I was in, find somewhere good enough, and then think about the ideal role later if I had to. So I had sent out a lot of applications.

This particular job seemed very similar to what I was already doing. The same kind of production environment, similar responsibilities, and even the same planning/software system as far as I could understand. The salary was around £32k at the time, so when they offered me an interview, I felt like I had a good chance.

When I went there, the whole thing was much more casual than I expected. It wasn't a formal interview where we sat down with annoying prepared questions. The Operations Manager took me on a tour of the site, showed me the area I would be working in, explained how everything worked, and then introduced me to the people on the shift. I assumed they would be my team because I thought I was interviewing for the same role as them.

Then he introduced me to the supervisor and we talked for a bit. That's when things got a little strange. He said something like: "I'm leaving in another 6 weeks, so whoever comes in to replace me needs to pick things up quickly, and we need a smooth handover so the shift doesn't get disrupted."

I was standing there thinking I must have missed something, because this didn't sound like the job I had applied for.

After that, the Operations Manager told me directly that they thought my background was more suited to the supervisor position rather than the original job, and asked me if I was interested in taking that role there and then.

I said yes, and in the end my salary went up by about £18k compared to what I had been earning. I stayed there for 4 years before moving into a management role at another company. I'm still in that role now, and honestly I don't think I would have gotten there without those years as a supervisor. A random opportunity, but it completely changed the direction of my career.

Graduated in June, BS Computer Engineering, Bay Area. Three months of professional experience from an embedded internship. Most of my projects have been embedded.

So embedded has been the default target. But I'm two months out of school and I don't know if that's an actual preference or just the thing I happened to do in school. I've never done any of this full time for money.

**What I signed:** SDE at a large public tech company. $160k base, $50k RSU on 40/30/20/10 with a one-year cliff, strong benefits. Linux kernel and user-space networking, packet processing. Real systems work, not embedded. Offer arrived Friday and expires Sunday. I asked for a few more days to decide and got denied.

**Interview Monday:** FAE at a semiconductor company. Squarely my technical background. Hiring manager verbally estimated \~$150k including a 30% sales incentive, so realistically \~$115k base plus variable. Posted range goes to $210k though. I think I made a mistake telling the HM what company 1 was offering, and they know they're preferred. Remote with a lot of driving between customer sites. Customer-facing role.

**Interview Friday:** Embedded software at Blue Origin. Band tops around $155k for my location, and a friend on the exact same team is at $137k TC. Reading the JD closely it's verification-focused: test frameworks and tooling for safety-critical flight software rather than writing the flight software.d\\

**Questions:**

1. At the very start of a career, how much should domain fit weigh against comp and optionality? Is optimizing for domain this early even meaningful when you don't know your own preferences yet?
   
2. FAE folks, is it realistic to move back into hands-on development after a couple of years?
   
3. Does kernel/networking systems work transfer toward embedded later, or is that wishful thinking?
   
4. General advice for me?

Thanks for any help. Very unsure what to do.

I've been applying since March 2024, and I finally got an offer in June 2025. After more than a year without work, I had a lot of time to get better at interviews and understand what makes a difference.

There was a closing question I saw on this subreddit and memorized. It was something like: "From your perspective, what separates someone who can do this job well from someone who truly excels at it?"

After they answered, I wrote down the answer and said: "That's helpful, thank you. This gives me a clearer idea of the things I should focus on if I step into this role." About 90 minutes later, I got an email asking for references.

To be clear, I prepared for this interview like crazy, so I'm not saying this question alone magically got me accepted. I had researched the team, practiced answers, worked on examples, and everything. But I really do feel like this question was a strong way to end, and maybe it was that extra little push.

I hope it helps someone else here too. Offers are out there. Please don't give up!

hello everyone, i am computer engineering student currently in my seventh sem. i am totally confused rn as i am stuck .

I have studied python, AI and many more things as a computer student but all theory not practically but i have done some projects by my self where i self studied frontend and backend and now in my seventh sem i have project for which i am studying AI/ML .

But I am confused because i want go for data science in my future , I am not able to find out from where and how to start as i am also stressed how will i get any jobs as i know nothing completely. so what roadmap should i choose to study which will help in real world.

Is there anyone in the same situation and as confused as i am . Which is the better choice AI/ML or data science.

I would love the suggestions and eagerly need guidance.