Career advice for computer engineer

[Catal]

I have been a bit isolated from the industry because of my postgraduate studies, and I would really appreciate some career advice. I have an M.Eng in Computer Engineering and I'm completing a Ph.D. with specialization in machine learning at the University of Pretoria.

I have 10 years of experience collaborating in academic research at various research groups, including some at the CSIR. I have built mobile apps, automated PCB drilling machines and handheld devices integrating RFID and GPRS technology. I have performed data analytics work locally and internationally, and some of my research has been posted on the front pages of Space.com, Discovery.com, and the science pages of Yahoo and Fox News.

I have coded a 15k line wireless network simulator in STL C++, cluster management software in Bash to deploy and aggregate large-scale numerical simulations on almost a 1000 computing cores and I built various Python and C# applications. I have been both an investor and founder in various startups and I cofounded a cryptocurrency mining company.

I have extensive experience in Matlab, C++, Python and various other programming and scripting languages. I have lots of experience in machine learning, data analytics and DevOps. I love to learn new technologies and programming languages. I have experience with Amazon's EC2 and Google's AppEngine, and I've used these cloud technologies to compete in international AI competitions by doing distributed GPU-based deep learning.


However, I would honestly like to hear what the best career move would be for me. Should I become a data analyst, or found my own startup, or become a developer? Salary is a relatively important factor, as long as there is job satisfaction. I ask because I'm out of touch with the possibilities that are out there, and when I see that people post R900k salaries for embedded C++ engineers then I begin to question whether my leaning toward data analytics is wise.

Any advice please?

 

[Picard]

when I see that people post R900k salaries

Nope, can't help you there.

 

[Kilgore_Trout_Redux]

What are you passionate about?

The reality is that you have the qualifications and experience to do whatever you want and name your price.. (Although the market for hardcore developers like you is tiny and I doubt you would be happy writing websites and your typical corporate software.)

 

[skimread]

With those skills you can join Google, Amazon, Microsoft,Apple or any US company of your choice

 

[cguy]

With those skills you can join Google, Amazon, Microsoft,Apple or any US company of your choice

I agree. Or quantitative finance as well.

 

[Catal]

What are you passionate about?

The reality is that you have the qualifications and experience to do whatever you want and name your price.. (Although the market for hardcore developers like you is tiny and I doubt you would be happy writing websites and your typical corporate software.)

I'm passionate about machine learning research and state-of-the-art technologies like cryptocurrency and Deep Learning.

With those skills you can join Google, Amazon, Microsoft,Apple or any US company of your choice

I have found it hard to find long-term opportunities to enter the US. I think it is hard for US companies to hire foreign workers who don't have pre-existing work visas, because they have to prove that there is no local talent available. And, hard as it might seem, my skillset and qualifications mean about diddly squat in the US since it's not Ivy league and I didn't gain work experience at famous companies.

You may be right and I'm just being overly pessimistic, and I'd love to hear some advice on how to enter the US. I have an offer to do part-time PostDoc work in NY, but it will probably not result in a job offer in the US. Also I've heard that the H1B visa cap is reached very fast, and I just don't see it as being easy to enter the US.

My best chance is if I make a successful Silicon-valley-type startup locally and sell it in the US. My number is $600k, then I can feel financially secure and dedicate my time in other pursuits.

 

[cguy]

I'm passionate about machine learning research and state-of-the-art technologies like cryptocurrency and Deep Learning.



I have found it hard to find long-term opportunities to enter the US. I think it is hard for US companies to hire foreign workers who don't have pre-existing work visas, because they have to prove that there is no local talent available. And, hard as it might seem, my skillset and qualifications mean about diddly squat in the US since it's not Ivy league and I didn't gain work experience at famous companies.

You may be right and I'm just being overly pessimistic, and I'd love to hear some advice on how to enter the US. I have an offer to do part-time PostDoc work in NY, but it will probably not result in a job offer in the US. Also I've heard that the H1B visa cap is reached very fast, and I just don't see it as being easy to enter the US.

My best chance is if I make a successful Silicon-valley-type startup locally and sell it in the US. My number is $600k, then I can feel financially secure and dedicate my time in other pursuits.

Fortunately, for you,you are wrong. US companies can easily prove a lack of local talent in your area of expertise. It's no big deal for them to sort out an H1B, they do it all the time. If more applications than the h1b quota are reached within the first days of the new year application start date, they will draw by lottery. Since you have good post grad qualifications, you shouldn't be in a visa pool that gets overrun (so no lottery for you).

Can you clarify what you meant by your number being $600k? To buy your startup?

 

[Catal]

Fortunately, for you,you are wrong. US companies can easily prove a lack of local talent in your area. It's no big deal for them to sort out an H1B, they do it all the time. If more applications than the h1b quota are reached within the first days of the new year application start date, they will draw by lottery. Since you have good post grad qualifications, you shouldn't be in a visa pool that gets overrun (so no lottery for you).

Can you clarify what you meant by your number being $600k? To buy your startup?

That is encouraging to hear, thank you, I will renew my search efforts based on this advice. Not that I would've given up, but this is why I made my initial inquiry to discover new insights.

I mean $600k in general is what I'd like to have saved to move into other areas of interest and growth.

I do have well developed ideas for startups that could add a lot of value, so I'm considering doing some prospecting with my free time to get some of the ideas off the ground and start building a consumer base.

 

[CheekyC]

Amazon dev team here in CPT is hiring

 

[cguy]

That is encouraging to hear, thank you, I will renew my search efforts based on this advice. Not that I would've given up, but this is why I made my initial inquiry to discover new insights.

I mean $600k in general is what I'd like to have saved to move into other areas of interest and growth.

I do have well developed ideas for startups that could add a lot of value, so I'm considering doing some prospecting with my free time to get some of the ideas off the ground and start building a consumer base.

Sure thing. PM me if you have any questions (that you don't think others would be interested in).

If you sell your startup to a SV corp, I would hope you get a lot more than $600k. I thought you may have been referring to a SV salary, which while not unheard of usually requires exceptional ability and a few more years of experience on top of a PhD.

 

[Charly]

my skillset and qualifications mean about diddly squat in the US since it's not Ivy league and I didn't gain work experience at famous companies.

Maybe it's worth a try since TUKS's engineering degrees are internationally accredited by some American organization.

 

[Catal]

Maybe it's worth a try since TUKS's engineering degrees are internationally accredited by some American organization.

Tuks undergraduate engineering degrees fall under the Washington Accord and Sydney Accord, but not the postgraduate degrees.

I have an extremely capable friend who received his Ph.D. in Engineering at Tuks getting disregarded left and right at US job fairs where recruiters told him to not even bother applying unless he gets a postgrad degree at a famous US university. He went to Australia instead to do a postdoc in engineering. Might have been isolated cases of elitism at the job fairs, but it left an impression on me.

Stanford undergrad CS students get recruited at times by SV companies like SnapChat with offers of $300k in stock and $120k salaries. I'm almost certain I could do everything they could and better, but I don't have the right to work in the US. There are 100 Chinese and Indian candidates with Ph.Ds for every one of me, and they're willing to work twice as hard. That's tough competition and I don't like the odds for gunning to work in SV or the US for that matter, but I'll converse with cguy to get some insight.

 

[cguy]

Tuks undergraduate engineering degrees fall under the Washington Accord and Sydney Accord, but not the postgraduate degrees.

I have an extremely capable friend who received his Ph.D. in Engineering at Tuks getting disregarded left and right at US job fairs where recruiters told him to not even bother applying unless he gets a postgrad degree at a famous US university. He went to Australia instead to do a postdoc in engineering. Might have been isolated cases of elitism at the job fairs, but it left an impression on me.

I haven't really encountered that very much at all. Postgrad success is primarily about the papers you publish the and venues you publish in. The only time it may not count is if the position isn't really related to you PhD work. I am pretty sure that PhDs from the big SA universities are still recognized as equivalent for visa and HR/employment purposes (I know mine, from UCT was some +-15 years ago). I wouldn't really suggest the route of going to recruiters at job fairs, they're often pretty clueless, and you need a technical person to properly assess your resume - send in your resume to companies online and via linkedin, try to find contacts (I know that I knew a bunch of people in the US by the time I graduated), make contacts at academic conferences, and contact them should they go into industry, etc.

Stanford undergrad CS students get recruited at times by SV companies like SnapChat with offers of $300k in stock and $120k salaries. I'm almost certain I could do everything they could and better, but I don't have the right to work in the US. There are 100 Chinese and Indian candidates with Ph.Ds for every one of me, and they're willing to work twice as hard. That's tough competition and I don't like the odds for gunning to work in SV or the US for that matter, but I'll converse with cguy to get some insight.

Actually, the H1B visas are pooled by groups of countries, so you won't be competing with Chinese or Indians for visas at all. Those numbers sound right, but you should be aware that the $300k stock, etc. is often vapourware - long vesting periods, deferrals, only post-IPO availability, dilution, etc. can bring down the value quite a bit - not to say, it isn't often legit, but it's a bit of a dice roll. For post-IPO, the stock bonus is usually quite a bit less. Also, those types of offers aren't only for Stanford students

As for SV and the US, I think SV is a great place to work for awhile, the tech skills and talent there is prodigious, and I learnt a lot, but the actual south bay area is a bit meh from an aesthetic perspective. People with families seem to like it, and people without tend to prefer San Francisco (1 hour commute). For the US in general, my take is that there is a place for just about anyone - it's amazing, and amazingly diverse. Even thinking about it as "a country" is something that I would call fallacious thought. Many people are concerned about the "stereotypical yanks", well yeah, I've probably met more of these in SA than in the USA.