[rubylark]

Not that uncommon in my experience. Depends on the kind of microcontrollers/embedded computers. Weaker ones are closer to the bare metal and need some EE during development. More complex ones with a GUI or that run Linux are mostly application level work. And for mid-level microcontrollers (the kind I work on), once the drivers are there, it's all application work.

The problem for switching from pure software to embedded is that companies like you to have EE experience, even if the job doesn't require it at the moment, so you can use it if you need it. Of all my embedded coworkers, only one was a pure CompSci major. The rest were CompE or EE.

Personally I consider myself more SWE than EE, and half of my job titles have been "Software Engineer" instead of "Firmware Engineer" or "Embedded Engineer".