[visarga]

I have interviewed many applicants to the ML engineer position. What you need to do is to have decent knowledge about ML theory and good dev skills. You don't need to be able to answer the most obtuse theoretical questions, but it is absolutely necessary to have a couple of years of previous experience with neural nets, to have trained many models with your own hands, seen the results, made decisions, rinse and repeat.

There is a high chance of getting hired if you have practical skills. Most candidates are just trying their luck, coming to the interview with abysmal knowledge and experience, even when they have PhD's.