HACKER Q&A
📣 horsellama

Escape from ML/DL, How?


Hello HN,

I had the luck (did I?) to study machine learning when it wasn’t cool yet (master degree in 2012). I went for the PhD route and by 2017 I was happily employed in a promising startup as ML researcher with a focus on Computer Vision. Great salary, challenging topic to work on, great.

Fast forward to 2023 and the startup is now a big company, R&D hacking days are gone and I’m a senior software engineer with an even better salary.

Truth is that I never trained for a SE role and I don’t fit at all. My research mindset is of no use and I end up being assigned all the “exploratory” work that no one in interested about.

I contributed a lot to the success of this company and now I feel like the person who cannot be let go but with nothing to do.

I’m looking for job posts but I have the feeling that ML positions are pretty much all the same, fundamentally boring.

I dream of going back to academia but I cannot afford the salary 50%+ salary cut (family grown too in these years).

Anyone in the same situation managed to pivot to something else?

  👤 GianFabien Accepted Answer ✓
From your description, you have the ability to learn whatever you chose. So if being a SE appeals to you, why not learn whatever is required in whatever domain you chose? Being a serial specialist is rather lucrative and intellectually stimulating.

Having been both a researcher and adjunct lecturer in academia, my observation is that the MBAs have hijacked the institutions and universities have become just another large bureaucratic business focused on maximizing profits.

👤 sharemywin
do consulting. pay off your house and then find academic job plus consulting.
👤 bombcar
Start researching FIRE. You make a lot of money, put it to good use.
👤 jstx1
If you like research over engineering and want high pay, there are well-paid commercial ML research jobs. They're competitive but given that you have a PhD and a decent amount of experience, you might have a good chance.