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The Machine Learning Job Market

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Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#71

Post by going_ham »

This post feels like author is insecure about his position and wants to establish some validity. Having going through it all, it feels delusional at best.

The glorified pattern matching can only take us so far. You know it's working as long as there is a pattern. I wouldn't call it a general intelligence per se. There is no "juice" in these algorithms.

If we use these tools, we can immediately see where they fail and where they do not. These are just a new tools in software engineer's box.

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#72

Post by tmp_anon_22 »

redredrobot wrote: post #55
1024core wrote: post #26

"FAANG+similar : Low 7 figures compensation (staff level), technological lead on compute (~10 yr)" I don't know where OP is getting these figures from, but I doubt that FAANGs offer 7-figure comps to Staff-level people. It's probably more in the higher 6-figure level (400K - 600K).

Currently on the job market in the AI space in the Bay Area - 400k to 600k is senior level at FAANG + similar. Low 7 figures at staff wouldn't shock me (although I don't have any actual data on that)

Can we pause and admire a data scientist drawing conclusions while being utterly unconcerned with underlying data? ;)

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#73

Post by colonelxc »

jstx1 wrote: post #54
colonelxc wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that is unusual to list the latest level on a resume. I'm certainly not going to dedicate space on a resume to list time ranges for every promotion.

So if this person had been promoted to staff level in 2022, they could have changed their resume to "Staff Research Scientist, 2016-present" and that would be okay with you? Because it seems deliberately misleading to me. It's different if the level isn't represented in the title - if they went from one band to another but the title was the same, I don't see a problem with putting down something like "Software Engine…

In general, yes, I think that would be okay. I think it would be a mistake to create separate sections for each level. Overall your achievements within a single company should not be organized chronologically, but by what you want to show off. This may still be mostly chronological as you take on more responsibility/leadership.

Now, I don't object to adding a line like: "promoted twice from Software Engineer 2 to Staff Software Engineer" or whatever, which I think is a good middle ground (and I would put this as the very last, least important entry for that company)

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#74

Post by rakejake »

georgeburdell wrote: post #40
SCUSKU wrote: post #12

I was expecting something along the lines of how AI/ML was considered a sexy career path, but there are very few jobs available and high competition for those jobs. So, as a result, you end up with the only available jobs as data engineering/ML ops/backend that supports ML teams. I am happy for this author and their success, but they clearly are not representative of the majority of the people in the ML job market.

That was my pre-conception as well. I know some people who have tried to switch from other engineering to ML/AI, some taking as much as a year off work, and the only successful ones already had a network in the Bay Area from their previous associations (prestigious university/employer).

Yep, at that level, there is a ton of competition. The self-driving industry is almost like the video game industry and actually has a ton of employees who previously worked in video games. They are definitely much better compensated in ADAS but the work culture is similar (anecdotally so YMMV).

ML is the sexy wing of the tech industry, so it tends to attract the people who are willing to put in the hours (for interviews as well as towards work).

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#75

Post by me_me_mu_mu »

ozten wrote: post #69

Author is going to Halodi Robotics. I always thought that human shaped robots are a terrible form factor. Why limit yourself to the awkward design that 3.77 billion years of evolution accidentally landed on?

Why do you think it is an accident? I thought evolution is an adaptation mechanism. If anything I'd say we've got a pretty cool form factor (peak human form, not like me who is out of shape lmao).

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#76

Post by going_ham »

angarg12 wrote: post #70

I don't want to derail the conversation, but OPs career path really stood out to me. He graduated in 2016, worked at Google in Bay Area, and now is joining a startup at a VP level. I graduated in 2008, obtained a PhD in 2014 in a no name EU university, worked in odd companies for a while and joined FAANG 4 years ago as a mid level developer, where I am still ATM. Looking at this disparity I wonder what could be possi…

Yeah, and the way the author presents themselves speaks volume too. There is a real pride in this essay. You can see how the author casually drops big names and insights like it is a fact.

Why does valley culture makes it seem like everything is possible and anything innovative can happen soon? The innovation in AI really seems like it is being made on a thin line of engineering and compute. It doesn't happen overnight. It requires some people working through and through to pull it off. These days it requires collective contribution.

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#77

Post by Terry_Roll »

nerdponx wrote: post #25
oneoff786 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, there’s a lot of real problems that real people actually deal with that just need a logistic regression to save million bucks here and there. I like that space more.

This space isn't sexy to write about, there's no fame and glory in it.

The trappings are... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VapnDFoR2U

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#78

Post by rakejake »

angarg12 wrote: post #70

I don't want to derail the conversation, but OPs career path really stood out to me. He graduated in 2016, worked at Google in Bay Area, and now is joining a startup at a VP level. I graduated in 2008, obtained a PhD in 2014 in a no name EU university, worked in odd companies for a while and joined FAANG 4 years ago as a mid level developer, where I am still ATM. Looking at this disparity I wonder what could be possi…

Probably a combination of 1, 3 and 4. There are tons of talented people even at the top but the stars have to align to achieve more than your expected value.

PhD -> low-level dev -> FAANG mid-level is nothing to scoff at so you're doing pretty well.

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#79

Post by rcpt »

angarg12 wrote: post #70

I don't want to derail the conversation, but OPs career path really stood out to me. He graduated in 2016, worked at Google in Bay Area, and now is joining a startup at a VP level. I graduated in 2008, obtained a PhD in 2014 in a no name EU university, worked in odd companies for a while and joined FAANG 4 years ago as a mid level developer, where I am still ATM. Looking at this disparity I wonder what could be possi…

I'm the same deal as you. I don't really have any problems with it. I worked at a startup and titles are much fancier but you don't get to ship to a billion users. Also the infrastructure can suck real bad.

Competing within a giant company for perf ratings feels like school and I'm over it. But the other parts of the job are great.

Re: The Machine Learning Job Market

#80

Post by [deleted] »

PartiallyTyped wrote: post #19
SCUSKU wrote: post #12

I was expecting something along the lines of how AI/ML was considered a sexy career path, but there are very few jobs available and high competition for those jobs. So, as a result, you end up with the only available jobs as data engineering/ML ops/backend that supports ML teams. I am happy for this author and their success, but they clearly are not representative of the majority of the people in the ML job market.

I think I have a decent CV, with quite a bit of experience for a master's student. I have been searching for a job in MLE, for a bit now with very little to show for it, as I am either getting no responses, or responses claiming that they are looking for more experienced people, and particularly those that had experience with a particular stack. In all honesty, after 6 years of studying, with 4 of those years studyin…

[deleted]
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