Folks need some advice on job hunting considering domain change
Upfront apologies for long ass post :) Some context on my current situation- 13 yrs of work experience in avionics field (all 13 yrs at two reputed avionics companies) and making 133k in Iowa (read as pretty comfortable living for a family of 2 with 3.5k per month due to a meager COL). The work experience is on low-level drivers and embedded stuff. So skill set is mostly C, OS internals as such...typical systems software applicant type. Also currently pursuing MS in machine learning from one of the top 10 US programs. For some time I started feeling a disconnect with my work domain as most of the stuff I do is decades old technology. I intend to switch my field and wanted to aim for BIG4 or equivalent top companies. My current plan is to grind leed code, Read Martin Kleppmann's designing data-intensive applications book considering the current interview trends How should I optimize my preparation and what kind of companies to focus when considering below constraints: - For Interview prep, I am planning to stick to C (from work), python(learned as part of ML for college) and if needed R(may be worthless as no interviews need visual graphs) - No knowledge as of now on any high-level database stuff or Application level software approaches. I can read them up but wanted to make sure I utilize my time only for must need items not to spread too thin - No longer want to deal with hardware interacting job. Had enough of it. - Simplest/Clean ways to beef up the resume to lessen the focus on my avionics/embedded stuff to ML/backend stuff - I can come up with some GitHub projects but is the time spent worthwhile? - Interested in the new job being in Southern California or Texas as I am single-earner in the family don't want to bear Bay area or Seattle cost of living. So any specific companies to focus? - What kind of salary to target in the above locations if I don't want to take a lifestyle hit and what kind of levels? My current level is Sr. SW engineer L5.
my 3cents, 1. Stick to python for interview prep, good generally and specially for ml stuff. 2. Github projects helps to get your resume noticed. Degree and networking in top collages does same. So be smart with your time and decide what is worth while for you. 3. Some basic sql knowledge will go long way. Sometime companies use that in early stages to weed out dudes. 4. Without knowing details about projects it is difficult to say how would you dress them up for ml. But maybe check job postings and analyze your strong projects. There must be something that would match . 5. Since you are going to switch steam I would guess that your past experience won’t matter and you might have to start as new grad level at big4s. But I can be wrong.
Thanks for the inputs. Only weird part is downlevelling to new grad level
Levels are generally representative of what you can do/ how much you have grown in the role. It is also very fluid depending on company. I am not saying you would be, but it is definitely a possibility. Also think about why level might matters for you. Money is not solely determined by that. The question is if you want to be individual contributor or manager. Just something to think about.
[Blind] Check out this post! ML interview questions (Tech Lounge) https://us.teamblind.com/s/qP3yeK4E
Maybe C++ for interview prep
Did some c++ during college but never used later on. Considering it's a bit complex, verbose and vast library to relearn i am avoiding it for interview purposes. For interviews, My plan is to stick to python mostly and small tidbits of C only if need for repetative low-level code