Hello everyone,
I’m new here and seeking career advice for the first time on Reddit. I’ll provide my background and the reasons I’m considering a part-time PhD, and I’d appreciate any perspectives you can share on whether it makes sense for me.
Background: I’m 29.5 years old, originally from India, and moved to the US in 2017 for my Master’s in Computer Science at UC Irvine, where I specialized in Machine Learning and graduated in December 2018 (finishing two quarters early). During my time there, I interned as a Machine Learning Engineer at a medical company, which turned into a full-time role after graduation. I worked there for 1.3 years, but during COVID, they declined to process my H1B despite my lottery selection.
I then joined Amazon in 2020 as an ML Software Development Engineer (SDE). I’ve been here for nearly 5 years and currently work on Amazon’s Nova LLMs. My focus is on building the core LLM training framework used for both pre-training and post-training workflows, including techniques like SFT, DPO, PPO, and speculative decoding. I’ve gained in-depth expertise in these areas.
Current Role and Motivation: I truly enjoy my work as an ML Engineer, especially the hands-on coding, building production systems, and implementing new ideas at the engineering level. While applied scientists at Amazon focus more on experimentation and some research, my engineering work is primarily focused on development with limited opportunities to explore my own ideas deeply.
Lately, I’ve been seriously considering pursuing a part-time PhD in Machine Learning (focused on Language Models) while continuing my full-time work at Amazon. I’m technically strong in the field, and my manager is supportive of the idea. I believe I could secure strong recommendations from applied scientists, research scientists, and senior engineers I collaborate with at Amazon.
Why a PhD?
1. Deeper Research: I want to spend more time innovating and exploring research ideas rather than being limited to engineering deliverables. 2. Career Growth: My goal is to eventually transition into an applied science role where I can focus more on experimentation and contributing to the advancement of LLMs. While I could technically make this shift within Amazon without a PhD, I believe the academic experience, network, and depth from a top university would provide unique long-term benefits. 3. Green Card Considerations: I’m currently on an H1B with an approved I-140 under EB3 (priority date Nov 2020). While I’m currently also eligible for EB2, A PhD could open pathways to EB1A, which would be significantly faster than waiting for EB2 or EB3 as an Indian national. My Key Question:
Does pursuing a part-time PhD while working in ML seem like a good idea based on my profile and goals? I’m trying to gather diverse perspectives on whether this is the right path for career growth or if there are better alternatives I should explore.
Additional Context:
• I’m highly passionate about ML and LLMs, and my current compensation is over $450K at Amazon. • My primary driver is intellectual growth and long-term career benefits rather than just the green card advantage. I’d love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or insights into the benefits and trade-offs of pursuing a part-time PhD while working in big tech. Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!
submitted by /u/Evening_Activity6181
[link] [comments]
r/cscareerquestions Hello everyone, I’m new here and seeking career advice for the first time on Reddit. I’ll provide my background and the reasons I’m considering a part-time PhD, and I’d appreciate any perspectives you can share on whether it makes sense for me. Background: I’m 29.5 years old, originally from India, and moved to the US in 2017 for my Master’s in Computer Science at UC Irvine, where I specialized in Machine Learning and graduated in December 2018 (finishing two quarters early). During my time there, I interned as a Machine Learning Engineer at a medical company, which turned into a full-time role after graduation. I worked there for 1.3 years, but during COVID, they declined to process my H1B despite my lottery selection. I then joined Amazon in 2020 as an ML Software Development Engineer (SDE). I’ve been here for nearly 5 years and currently work on Amazon’s Nova LLMs. My focus is on building the core LLM training framework used for both pre-training and post-training workflows, including techniques like SFT, DPO, PPO, and speculative decoding. I’ve gained in-depth expertise in these areas. Current Role and Motivation: I truly enjoy my work as an ML Engineer, especially the hands-on coding, building production systems, and implementing new ideas at the engineering level. While applied scientists at Amazon focus more on experimentation and some research, my engineering work is primarily focused on development with limited opportunities to explore my own ideas deeply. Lately, I’ve been seriously considering pursuing a part-time PhD in Machine Learning (focused on Language Models) while continuing my full-time work at Amazon. I’m technically strong in the field, and my manager is supportive of the idea. I believe I could secure strong recommendations from applied scientists, research scientists, and senior engineers I collaborate with at Amazon. Why a PhD? 1. Deeper Research: I want to spend more time innovating and exploring research ideas rather than being limited to engineering deliverables. 2. Career Growth: My goal is to eventually transition into an applied science role where I can focus more on experimentation and contributing to the advancement of LLMs. While I could technically make this shift within Amazon without a PhD, I believe the academic experience, network, and depth from a top university would provide unique long-term benefits. 3. Green Card Considerations: I’m currently on an H1B with an approved I-140 under EB3 (priority date Nov 2020). While I’m currently also eligible for EB2, A PhD could open pathways to EB1A, which would be significantly faster than waiting for EB2 or EB3 as an Indian national. My Key Question: Does pursuing a part-time PhD while working in ML seem like a good idea based on my profile and goals? I’m trying to gather diverse perspectives on whether this is the right path for career growth or if there are better alternatives I should explore. Additional Context: • I’m highly passionate about ML and LLMs, and my current compensation is over $450K at Amazon. • My primary driver is intellectual growth and long-term career benefits rather than just the green card advantage. I’d love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or insights into the benefits and trade-offs of pursuing a part-time PhD while working in big tech. Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts! submitted by /u/Evening_Activity6181 [link] [comments]
Hello everyone,
I’m new here and seeking career advice for the first time on Reddit. I’ll provide my background and the reasons I’m considering a part-time PhD, and I’d appreciate any perspectives you can share on whether it makes sense for me.
Background: I’m 29.5 years old, originally from India, and moved to the US in 2017 for my Master’s in Computer Science at UC Irvine, where I specialized in Machine Learning and graduated in December 2018 (finishing two quarters early). During my time there, I interned as a Machine Learning Engineer at a medical company, which turned into a full-time role after graduation. I worked there for 1.3 years, but during COVID, they declined to process my H1B despite my lottery selection.
I then joined Amazon in 2020 as an ML Software Development Engineer (SDE). I’ve been here for nearly 5 years and currently work on Amazon’s Nova LLMs. My focus is on building the core LLM training framework used for both pre-training and post-training workflows, including techniques like SFT, DPO, PPO, and speculative decoding. I’ve gained in-depth expertise in these areas.
Current Role and Motivation: I truly enjoy my work as an ML Engineer, especially the hands-on coding, building production systems, and implementing new ideas at the engineering level. While applied scientists at Amazon focus more on experimentation and some research, my engineering work is primarily focused on development with limited opportunities to explore my own ideas deeply.
Lately, I’ve been seriously considering pursuing a part-time PhD in Machine Learning (focused on Language Models) while continuing my full-time work at Amazon. I’m technically strong in the field, and my manager is supportive of the idea. I believe I could secure strong recommendations from applied scientists, research scientists, and senior engineers I collaborate with at Amazon.
Why a PhD?
1. Deeper Research: I want to spend more time innovating and exploring research ideas rather than being limited to engineering deliverables. 2. Career Growth: My goal is to eventually transition into an applied science role where I can focus more on experimentation and contributing to the advancement of LLMs. While I could technically make this shift within Amazon without a PhD, I believe the academic experience, network, and depth from a top university would provide unique long-term benefits. 3. Green Card Considerations: I’m currently on an H1B with an approved I-140 under EB3 (priority date Nov 2020). While I’m currently also eligible for EB2, A PhD could open pathways to EB1A, which would be significantly faster than waiting for EB2 or EB3 as an Indian national. My Key Question:
Does pursuing a part-time PhD while working in ML seem like a good idea based on my profile and goals? I’m trying to gather diverse perspectives on whether this is the right path for career growth or if there are better alternatives I should explore.
Additional Context:
• I’m highly passionate about ML and LLMs, and my current compensation is over $450K at Amazon. • My primary driver is intellectual growth and long-term career benefits rather than just the green card advantage. I’d love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or insights into the benefits and trade-offs of pursuing a part-time PhD while working in big tech. Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!
submitted by /u/Evening_Activity6181
[link] [comments]