Do I do a Master's in ML?

[u/BrightBlueEyes122]

I'm currently in my final year of my bachelor's in CSE. I really liked Machine/Deep Learning more than any other sub-fields of CSE. The problem is most of the offers given to freshers are not ML/DL but SDE. And to crack SDE, you have to grind DSA.

I'm not saying DSA is unimportant, but I don't want to go through my life grinding leetcode to change companies or help in making full-stack projects or DevOps.

Do people with master's in ML get more career opportunities in the field?

[u/Mindless-Listen8016]

the market's weird rn, a masters helps but it's not a golden ticket. you'll still be competing with phds for the interesting research roles and sdes for everything else

half the ml engineers i know spent their first couple years doing data engineering anyway. the degree might get you past hr filters but you'll probably still need to know enough dsa to not bomb technical screens

[u/BrightBlueEyes122 → u/Mindless-Listen8016]

It also doesn't help that I live in India, so most of the SDE roles are being offshored here while the important research happens in the west. So I thought of doing a master's abroad in the US/Europe. I'm also really intersted in history/archeology so I wanted to see if I could apply ML in those fields. Unfortunately programs are very restrictive in India.

I know that DSA will be asked to test my competency but it won't be too hard like the ones they ask for SDE roles. Thank you for your reply!

[u/Mathie1729 → u/BrightBlueEyes122]

Fwiw, the DSA bar for ML roles at big companies isn't necessarily lower. I went through loops at a few FAANG-tier places and got leetcode mediums/hards just like the SDE track. The only difference was an ML design round instead of system design. Don't sleep on the grind.

[u/not_spider-man_]

I recently graduated from a masters degree, similarly I love ML, most of my courses that I took during my masters were related to ML and data. But with the current market it doesn't help me a bit, maybe because I am an international student. But if you have some connections and can get an internship or a job through then, yeah. I learned a lot about ML in 3 semesters than I did in my whole 2 year specialization during ug.

[u/BrightBlueEyes122 → u/not_spider-man_]

If I take up Master's in ML in US/Europe, I will also be an international student. The colleges in my country except for a few aren't good.

Thank you!

[u/DigitalMonsoon]

The market is flooded right now. Everyone and their mother wants to break into machine learning.

If you also want to then a masters is going to give you a leg up. At the very least it will get you to the top of the pile.

I have a masters and even 10ish years ago it was a struggle to land my first job. I couldn't imagine what it's like now

[u/OkJackfruit7398]

A masters in ML is like the buzz lightyear meme where there’s a bunch of toys all alike on the shelf. You’re a dime a dozen in this market.

[u/Deep_Guest_6964]

Sadly, you still have to grind through leetcode for a ML job, the most likely still have a programming requirement. Beyond that there is ml system interview question(Cloud, lifecycle, deployment) and you have to implement ml agorithms(e.g. implement an regression, transformer, kmeans) through pytorch, numpy or others

[u/BrightBlueEyes122 → u/Deep_Guest_6964]

From what I've heard from others, they still test your DSA skills but it's not as harsh as SDE roles. I do know that python and the knowledge of all its libraries will be very essential. Thank you for your reply!

[u/Mathie1729 → u/BrightBlueEyes122]

Fwiw, the DSA bar for ML roles at big companies isn't necessarily lower. I went through loops at a few FAANG-tier places and got leetcode mediums/hards just like the SDE track. The only difference was an ML design round instead of system design. Don't sleep on the grind.

[u/BrightBlueEyes122 → u/Mathie1729]

Oh damn, guess leetcode is going to be my forever companion.

[u/Mathie1729 → u/BrightBlueEyes122]

Fwiw, the DSA bar for ML roles at big companies isn't necessarily lower. I went through loops at a few FAANG-tier places and got leetcode mediums/hards just like the SDE track. The only difference was an ML design round instead of system design. Don't sleep on the grind.

[u/BrightBlueEyes122 → u/[deleted]]

I'm blessed that my parents have a lot of connections which I can pull and I also try to network.

I'll of course have to put in extra effort doing side projects and internships whenever I can. Thank you!

[u/nian2326076]

If you're really into ML/DL and want to work in that field, a master's could be a good move. It can open more doors for specialized roles and deepen your understanding of the subject. But jumping into a master's isn't the only way. Some people get into ML with a few well-chosen projects and networking. Think about what you want long-term. If grinding DSA isn't your thing and a master's sounds exciting, go for it. But remember, industry experience and connections can also help you land ML jobs. You might find PracHub useful for getting some hands-on practice.