Career advice

I have a BS in Computer Engineering, and wish to become a "mixed-signal
design engineer" or "system-on-chip (SoC) engineer."

I have done some contract work for a semiconductor company,
(digital/analog/logic programming, a good gig!), but nothing permanent as of
yet.

I have some specific questions:

Is there such thing as a mixed-signal (SoC) design engineer? Or is this a
description of a team of both analog and digital designers?

Is there a way to prepare oneself, and put oneself on the market as an SoC
design engineer, or should I just focus on digital or analog and then try to
join a company that has SoC projects?

Is an SoC design engineer just an engineering manager who manages a team of
both digital and analog designers to make sure they can work together on the
same chip?

Should I just start designing filters in my spare time and then apply to ___
Inc. just to get my foot in the door?

Is it better to just start learning .NET programming and forget about EE
design since I have little to no experience at all?


thanks.