Getting a job in AI and engineering: a conversation with Pujaa Rajan, deep learning engineer at Node

I spoke with @pujaarajan, deep learning engineer at the artificial intelligence startup Node. She is the USA Ambassador of WomeninAI, a global organization of over 3,000 women, and the founder of their San Francisco Chapter. Outside of work, she volunteers to help Harvard Medical School build COVID Near You. She is also a Triphammer Ventures Fellow, Policy Hackers Fellow, Google Woman Techmaker, Google Machine Learning Developer Expert, and TEDx Speaker. She started her career as a software developer at BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with $7.5T in assets under management (AUM). She holds a BA in Information Science from Cornell University.–– After growing up in Nebraska, Pujaa attended Cornell and moved to New York City to work for BlackRock post-graduation. While she loved using her technical and communication skills to make data-driven business decisions, her interest in data engineering and data science evolved into an interest in artificial intelligence. Eventually, working in finance no longer satisfied her desire to work on advanced technologies, so she then took time to figure out her next career move. Pujaa knew she wanted to work in artificial intelligence, but didn’t know what specific problems she wanted to solve yet. She had previous experience using natural language processing in her research but was also interested in recent advances in computer vision. Pujaa read books, took online courses, attended meetups, talked to people, and more. After educating herself about recent developments in the field, she decided to apply to fast-growing artificial intelligence startups. She cold-emailed dozens of companies in Silicon Valley, but most turned her down because she didn’t have a Masters or PhD. Pujaa felt like an outsider. She had a less traditional background and was frequently the only woman in the room at AI events. According to WIRED, only 12% of machine learning researchers are women, indicating the structural and societal challenges facing women in and aspiring to enter the field. When she shared her experiences with other women in the field, she realized others felt the same way. So Pujaa worked with these women to create a community and launched WomenInAI in San Francisco, growing the community over time through referrals and word of mouth. After hearing about an innovative AI-as-a-service startup from her network of women working in AI, Pujaa cold-emailed Node. From the interview process, Pujaa felt the company was a good fit because the team members had exceptional backgrounds and valued Pujaa’s past experience in finance. She currently is working on model explainability and loves her job. Reflecting on her journey, Pujaa shares her advice for women looking to break into AI without a Masters or PhD:Read voraciously. Read books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and academic papers. Reading will help you decide what industries and technologies you are curious about and should pursue. See what Pujaa is reading on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62797205-pujaa. Identify which industries interest you. AI requires some understanding of the company’s industry to understand the input data and model predictions. Figure out what real-world problems you would like to solve and which industries you could pursue them in. Understand the nuances of each field to find your fit. Given that AI is a rapidly expanding field, you have the opportunity to specialize in specific algorithms and data types. For example, computer vision versus natural language processing: the former works with image data and the latter with text data. There are also general and specific job roles like machine learning engineer and computer vision engineer. Your interests will inform the most valuable skills for you to develop. Incorporate learning in your everyday routine. AI is an evolving field, so you will need to continue learning to stay relevant. Pujaa likes to watch YouTube videos on AI and also follows AI experts on social media. She recommends Lex Fridman, This Week In Machine Learning, and Two Minute Papers. Get involved with the AI community. Attend and organize events related to AI to meet fellow enthusiasts in the field. Pujaa founded the WomeninAI SF chapter while job searching. Engaging with the AI community opened doors to new opportunities for her, including positions that otherwise would have required graduate degrees. Create an online portfolio. Have a personal website and share AI related work you’ve done on social media. Nontraditional candidates have unique skills that deserve to be showcased beyond a resume. Check out Pujaa's personal website as an example: https://www.pujaarajan.com/. Consider working at a startup. Large companies sometimes require a graduate degree for AI-related positions, whereas startups are more open to self-learners. Pujaa joined Node because she had the opportunity to learn and grow more quickly at a small company. Use your nontraditional path as an asset. Leverage your experience during interviews. Be prepared to illustrate how you can apply your unique skill set to an opportunity in your new company. Pujaa’s past experience at BlackRock taught her to learn and pivot quickly in the fast paced market dynamics and regulatory environment, which is increasingly relevant to AI. Ultimately, career development is born from personal development. Pujaa invested in identifying her true interests after leaving BlackRock, which allowed her to transition to the technology industry as a deep learning engineer. ---She will be co-hosting an online WomenInAI event with Elpha on June 17, 2020 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM CST. Register for the event

Getting a job in AI and engineering: a conversation with Pujaa Rajan, deep learning engineer at NodeFeatured

Getting a job in AI and engineering: a conversation with Pujaa Rajan, deep learning engineer at NodeFeatured