CS Undergrad looking at Consulting
I am a CS undergrad from a target program. I have done multiple SWE internships and have not enjoyed them. I'm not sure if I didn't enjoy them because I don't like software engineering or because all the internships were mobile developement. I have an offer with a known tech consulting firm which pays pretty well and a AI/ML SWE role at a Fortune 35 company. I was considering taking the consulting role and working for at least a year to figure out if I like tech consulting/traveling/etc. I was considering taking the AI/ML SWE in hopes to launch a career in AI/ML with a bigger tech company after working for a couple years. Appreciate any thoughts/advice.
Consulting gets you literally nowhere with AI/ML. The only reason you should take consulting is because you want less technical work for far lower TC. You’ll be expected to work extra hours and weekends because you’re serving a client on behalf of the firm, so you play this role of customer service for them as well. Only upside is that your soft skills are improved, but the client will treat you like shit because they want slave level productivity. Consulting is NOT where you go for technical development whatsoever, and you’ll be surrounded by a bunch of old people who don’t know anymore than you.