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What kind of engineer? It's hard to believe you are a software engineer and don't know what is going on in this industry.

I have articles, and books published in the software field and consider myself a good software engineer. Yet, I'm unemployed at this time. Some engineers have had to take minimum wage jobs to support their familes. If you haven't gone through any hard times in the past few years, consider yourself lucky.

Electrical. I also write a significant amount of code for embedded processors and DSPs along with manufacturing test and quality control. I mainly use assembly for the embedded processors and DSPs to get the most out of the hardware vs. cost.

Back during the dot-com bubble the demand for software engineers caused an over supply that is still correcting itself today. That oversupply also drew a lot of people into the business that weren't very capable leaving a lot of burnt businesses in their wake. Burnt as in unwilling to easily hire people in the field again.

I have a close friend that is a programmer here away from any major cities. He does very well for himself. He's started several businesses where the last sold to a much larger company that allowed him to basically retire.

There are opportunities out there. But you have to go out on a limb to give them a chance to develop.

When I started my business it took years before it was paying much more than the taxes. For a business that manufactures, growing capital equipment and inventory is very difficult because the taxes are due even though you take virtually nothing home.

It takes time, dedication and hard work. Yet millions do it and succeed as I did. And no it may not last. Those are the challenges...