From my experience with 5 years in “software engineering” and then 7 years in “machine learning”, what matters is the most is that you like what you do so that

From my experience with 5 years in “software engineering” and then 7 years in “machine learning”, what matters is the most is that you like what you do so that you can bring your A game to work. That’ll separate you from the average engineer and management and peers will take notice. Yes it’s very tough to find a job right now, and there will always be down cycles. But I’ve noticed the best engineers are able to stay afloat even during downturns because they’ve built up a reputation for being a good engineer. Plus, you can always transition into ML if you work hard enough. Even with an ML degree, you’re not guaranteed to find an ML job these days. I actually wrote a blog post about how folks transitioned into ML that you might find useful: https://www.trybackprop.com/blog/2024_06_09_you_dont_need_a_phd https://www.trybackprop.com/blog/2024_06_09_you_dont_need_a_...