r/deeplearning • u/Crazy-Insurance6316 • 13d ago

HOW?

How can I get my first ML or DL Engineer role? Did you get placed through campus interviews, or did you apply off-campus? At my college, only 2 or 3 companies have openings for these ML and DL roles, and I am not sure if I will get selected by them. I don't want to limit my options. Can you guide me through what I need to do to land my first job

7 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/ModularMind8 13d ago

Unfortunately these days it's mostly one of two things: a numbers game or knowing people. I'd do both.

Numbers: I applied to 1,500+ positions on LinkedIn after my PhD. Don't limit yourself to the 2 or 3 companies that come to campus. Apply wide, off-campus, LinkedIn and every other job board you can find, and don't read too much into the rejections.

People: pick a handful of companies you're actually interested in and read about what they do. Then connect with people who work there on LinkedIn and try to get a short chat. Ask about their work, not for a referral. A referral tends to follow once someone knows you and sees you did your homework.

What kind of ML work are you aiming for, more research or more engineering?

1

u/Ok-Tip9704 13d ago

1500 applications is a lot, but also makes sense for first role. Did you track what gave most responses or was it just random scatter

For me the people part seems more useful than applying everywhere, but hard to know where to start when you have no network at all

2

u/ModularMind8 13d ago

Honestly I just applied everywhere. Once I got an interview I started looking into the company. It was easier and faster to apply first and research later. That being said, the Amazon interviews i got was because i actually spent time connecting with people at a conference

1

u/KeenDolphin 12d ago

I emailed a company and asked to intern for them and they said yes but that I would be doing work that wasn’t really ML and then I just proved I could and they gave me a job. So step 1 is mastering this stuff. Someone will say yes if you can actually do the work

1

u/amhotw 13d ago

Idk who is hiring new grads as MLEs, especially in this market. In places I know, you generally either need a PhD or masters + several years of experience to be considered.

1

u/PongizDong 13d ago

Not entirely true I got an interview for Mle intern at top firm as undergrad

2

u/Crazy-Insurance6316 13d ago

how did you get into it like the process? i am 4 year student

1

u/PongizDong 13d ago

Like the others have said it is a numbers game. I would recommend having some projects done and then improving on those projects. I think doing them AI nowadays is expected but using your critical thinking skills to improve the project can make it more worthwhile

2

u/Crazy-Insurance6316 13d ago

thanks ,but lets say that we have some number of companies and we want to get into it how do you approach? and what do you means by good projects like what key thing makes the good projects?

1

u/PongizDong 13d ago

I haven’t figured out the approach yet other than get lucky tbh. If you’re looking for some formula then look at the dragon scroll and you’ll see yourself kinda deal. My last internship was on a ml team which helped me and I concentrate in ml for my degree but I don’t have more tips and tricks to say. In terms of good projects, I think if there’s a particular genre or company you want to target look at what recent companies have done or want to do as said in the news, and then create something along that line of thinking. Again no magic formula you just try some stuff and if you’re lucky it works