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Ask HN: Entry-level salary and skillset for a software engineer specializing in ML

23 points by ratsimihah ↗ HN
What would be the entry-level salary and skillset for a machine learning software engineer?

I’m asking in the context of reconverting from 5+ years of professional mobile development to a role that would involve implementing end-to-end machine learning algorithms (i.e. not ML researcher).

I’m currently inplementing TensorFlow algorithms while trying to make them production ready using TensorFlow Serving, and I find it really fun.

So some of my concerns would be whether I’d have to take a significant salary cut (or whether the average salary for such ML role is generally higher than that of mobile devs, in which case such a cut wouldn’t be needed), and whether such role would require a lot more than implementing end-to-end ML algorithms (e.g. an extensive background in statistics)

Thank you!

14 comments

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Whymess
You are worth what someone will pay you
hello_asdf
And what is the typical salary range on what someone will pay me?
thepratt
Salaries depend on location. No one can give you an accurate measure without knowing location. Look at jobs you'd want to apply to in your area, some will disclose salary ranges.
ratsimihah
London, Copenhagen? How about compared to a mobile dev?

But it’s true I can probably find good info by looking at job postings, thanks!

nik736
The UK dev salaries are shitty compared to their counter parts in the US, even though living in London is far from cheap.
mendeza
I am applying for machine learning engineering roles in the Washington DC area, and my goal is to get 90-100k. I will be getting my massters degree from an prestigious school, so I think that will help with my goal.
ratsimihah
Would that be your first ML job? That's a pretty high number, good luck!
sosilkj
for a U.S. high-cost living area with a graduate degree but no experience, that sounds about right
tudelo
I really don't think it's that insane for the area.
phaus
A family of 3 in the DC area needs about 108,000 to live a lower-middle-class lifestyle.
ratsimihah
Most recent grad/entry-level people generally don't have a family of 3 yet, or do they?
phaus
Most don't, but some do.

However, (and I think this is pretty obvious) the point is that shooting for 90k to start in an incredibly high-cost area, for a difficult specialization in a field that's in super-high demand and that has historically been considered to pay a lot of money isn't going to be as great as it sounds.

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