career in machine learning: Technology can do wonders these days. It can help us find the best route to a destination by inspecting the agility of shifting traffic on roads. It can filter out spam messages for us, classify our emails, and even prompt smart replies for us like “Thank you”, “Acknowledged”, “I am interested” et cetera. It can detect plagiarism in our documents, identify our facial expressions and even give shopping suggestions.
The technology behind everything that I just mentioned above is nothing but Machine Learning. With machine learning, computer programmes are built in such a way that they can learn from experience and take accurate decisions. The more data is fed into these programmes, the more intelligent they become and hence can predict the results accurately.
Today almost every application on our smartphones is using machine learning. Every other organisation wants to include machine learning in their business. By 2022, the machine learning market will be worth USD 9 million. Budgets of machine learning programmes are increasing often in the banking, manufacturing and IT industries. With all such affirmatives, it is worth making a career in ML.
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5 reasons to consider a career in machine learning
#1 You will be solving real-life problems
Machine learning can help make our lives easier and better. For instance, when you open the Amazon app on your phone and see suggestions of things that you prefer, how easy it becomes to shop online. You do not have to look for the best products, latest editions or offers. The intelligent programmes automatically provide you with accurate suggestions. Similarly, your mobile banking app can track any malicious activity or suspicious transactions and report them to you immediately.
If you are someone who wants to solve many such real-world problems then machine learning is the career for you. You can help businesses increase their profits, deliver better quality services and products and bring more value to their customers. Here you can utilise all your analytical skills and creativity to solve problems that people face in their daily lives. It would surely be a satisfying experience.
#2 Machine learning is in demand
Machine learning is one of the most popular technical skills today. In the past four years, machine learning jobs have increased by almost 75% and it is estimated that they will continue to grow. Machine learning experts are required by every industry today whether it be education, banking, finance, management, business or cybersecurity.
When a skill is in demand, it obviously pays more! So another reason for choosing a career in ML could be a better salary. An entry-level machine learning engineer can earn approximately $97,090 per annum while a mid-level engineer can earn an average salary of $112,095.
#3 Machine learning links to data science directly
You might think why that could be a reason to opt for machine learning. Well, data science is another field in this tech-savvy world that is on the rise. In fact, data science careers are exploding these days and machine learning is closely related to data science. So, if you want to switch careers from machine learning at any point in your life and explore your options in the field of data science, you can always do that. Machine learning uses various techniques of data science, so this would not be a totally different concept for you.
Data science is also one of the topmost jobs globally. It is a highly paid career with numerous applications. Whether it is health care, consultancy, or e-commerce, data science experts are required everywhere these days.
#4 Machine learning is the future of technology
Companies nowadays need their data to be processed at a faster rate. This is why we are expecting machine learning to help in the development of quantum computing systems. Their increased performance and better data analysis techniques are what we all need. Similarly, machine learning is expected to provide enhanced personalization to the customers. For instance, providing product recommendations, personalized emails and messages.
Another interesting aspect of machine learning could be improved cognitive services. For instance, improved visual recognition, speech detection, speech understanding can be called the future of machine learning algorithms.
#5 It is interesting, challenging and all amazing
A career in ML means adapting to the changing technology or one should say, bringing the change by yourself. You will be solving new problems every day, addressing different challenges and creating new things for the people. It is interesting and challenging at the same time. Your learning curve will grow exponentially as you will have to keep yourself updated with the latest developments in machine learning.
This is a major catch for those who do not want to get involved in monotonous jobs. Machine learning is for those who want to experiment, create, develop and learn. This is why many young people from various backgrounds are turning towards machine learning.
So now that I have shared the five major reasons to consider a career in ML, here are a few tips on how you can keep up with a successful career in ML.
- Develop your skillset: You need to be up to date about everything that is happening in the machine learning world. So, read blogs, magazines and articles daily. If you want to enhance your knowledge about data science or machine learning, you can take an online course.
- Working in a team: Being in the field of machine learning is not a one-man show. Make sure you are a team player and you have the qualities to work together in collaboration. Work upon your communication skills as much as you can so that you can be an active member of the team.
- Learn to translate: In your career, you will be facing many real-life problems. So you need to learn to translate them into mathematical terms so that you can solve them as soon as possible.
- Curiosity is a must: Do not let the curiosity in you die at all. Machine learning technology is evolving with time. So there will be new languages and frameworks to learn. You will have to keep yourself updated with the technological advancements to stay on top of your career.
- Stay close to your industry: You might be a part of the machine learning team but you need to learn as much as you can about the industry where you are working in. For instance, you might be working in a business firm, then you must know their products and services closely so that you can help them enhance their profits.
How to start a career in ML
Many people take the traditional route of pursuing a degree in computer science and technology where they can learn everything from the grassroots level. While if you are someone who cannot afford a four-year degree, there are plenty of options available.
For instance, a data science bootcamp, online courses or diploma programs where you can learn languages like Python, Java, Julia, LISP and R. In a data science course closely related to machine learning, you can study SQL, database management systems, data visualisation, data modelling, natural language processing and much more related to machine learning.
Wrapping up
Technologies like machine learning are slowly becoming a part of our daily lives. Soon there will be a time when we will be able to leverage these technologies even more and in turn make our lives much easier. If you are someone thinking about starting a career in ML, this is the time.
Within a few years, you will be able to gain much knowledge about the industry and rise further in your career. Hope this article will inspire you to take your first steps towards a successful career.
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