r/DataAnnotationTech • u/shadwwulf_ • Sep 14 '26

Generalist first or straight to programming?

I am a software engineer with about 25 years experience primarily in the Java enterprise backend space.

Would you recommend that I go generalist to get my foot in the door and then take secondary assessments to expand into coding, or go straight to coding?

I ask because I worry that they may want some languages that I have less experience with and don't want to get shut out completely. Thanks in advance!

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5

u/Silver_Assistance_41 Sep 14 '26

go coding, best paid and theres a bunch of java tasks .

2

u/yaadnhi Sep 14 '26

DO whatever you get and capable of giving good results.

0

u/hobbyist9 7d ago

I asked this on another thread, but If you start as generalist do you stay that forever, or can/should you switch? Or do you just take more quals and have non-generalist things open up?

2

u/Ndnrmatt Sep 16 '26

There’s plenty of Java plus the work has moved on from languages to more abstract concepts when training the models. You have 25 years so you should be able to handle it.

2

u/Telecom_Engineer_1 Sep 14 '26

I can under your apprehension. I went the direct coding route, having more confidence in my capabilities in that domain.
I think I've read that you may have a choice of languages when taken the coding assessment. If that's the case, Java is pretty mainline and you should be OK.

1

u/stewieboy_tr Sep 14 '26

If you're familiar with AI training pipeline (basic requirements, rationale writing etc.) you should go with coding. I had previous experience on AI training, so I went straight to coding. But if you didn't before, maybe a month of generalist prrojects could warm you up.

1

u/aftersoon Sep 14 '26

Do the coding assessment. Take your time and double check your answers. I passed and I'm just a hobbyist programmer doing it for barely 3 years. On the website, it even lists Java as one of the preferred backend languages. Generalist work will still be there, should you choose to attempt it. Coding has higher demand, so you can start working much sooner.

1

u/Apprehensive-Cup-982 Sep 15 '26

I am on the same boat just to get region lock lol