Has anyone made the switch from SE to doing ML/“data science”? I’ve been a SE for 8 years, I’m currently in a senior role, but the work is so mind numbing most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, there are difficult problems to solve because I spend more time working on rollout plans, designing systems, and defining epics, but when I get down to coding, it’s the same full stack CRUD shit I’ve done for almost a decade. In 2012 I took Andrew Ng’s ml course and since then I’ve worked on a lot of Kaggle comps and I’ve done a little freelance work on a classification system. I have a blog that gets a good bit of traffic and links where I write tutorials on sklearn and stuff. What I don’t have is a CS degree. I know I could join a team doing research and prototype type stuff and be productive but I feel like those positions always want someone with a grad degree. My own company has the whole “Einstein” product but tbh I have little idea even what it is aside from a marketing brand. I work in a smaller biz unit and have no connections there. How could I get into ML work? Any advice, companies I should talk to? Is your team hiring people with lots of tinkering level experience but no degree? Edit: TC 180k
While interviewing at fb,I recently found it's less money than an SE job
I’ve heard data science title in FB is equivalent of data analyst title in other companies. This could be the reason for lower TC. ML engineers at FB get paid handsomely judging by anecdotal evidence.
Not sure. I heard the stocks areless
You have no degrees or you don’t have a CS degree?
I have no degrees.
Have you tried applying? If you don’t get any interviews, you know it’s your CV that needs work. If you get the interview and not the job, you know your skills are lacking. Once you start trying you’ll know which area you need to focus on.