[XTXinverseXTY]

This sounds like a bad idea. You are very smart to have asked before proceeding.

I work as an MLE at a growth-stage startup with ~20 MLE/MLS folks. I was unemployed for 6 months before getting this job with 4YOE as an MLE and DS. There are too many qualified candidates.

ML research is out of the question. Most of the people who get to do ML research have PhDs, if not the only people. This seems like a racket but it exists for a good reason. It's hard for employers to evaluate the quality of MLS candidates through an interview, they don't know what to ask him. And if they've hired one, it's hard to know whether to fire him, things rarely pan out in research. The whole time, they have to trust this dweeb to run experiments burning tons of $$$ in compute! Employers are wise to be risk-averse, and to defer to costly social signals.

If you're going to take yourself off the job market for a long time, you had better at least get some kind of legible social signal out of it, like a master's degree. Almost all of the MLEs I work with have at least an MS in a relevant subject, the rest have PhDs.

[Dejobism]

I do have an MS in DS/ML, but thanks for the advice.

Now, if I were to look for ML engineering positions after that hiatus, would that change the answer? I already have some experience in that.

(I should have been clearer that I’m not expecting a research scientist job right away, I’d like to upskill and then take a job I’m qualified for, and try the PhD route later.)

[XTXinverseXTY]

That's extremely pertinent information, why didn't you say so?

An MS probably doesn't have that much more of a causal effect on your ability to do good ML work, as opposed to an equivalent amount of diligent self-directed study, which is what I assumed you were considering. But *the hiring market is dumb*, hence my spiel about social signals.

So now I'm less confident about the hiatus. I still don't think it's a good idea, but certainly not as terrible, and I think the HN consensus would be slightly in favor of it.

If you haven't already, consider posting this question to teamblind. Yes it's an incredibly toxic community, but it attracts people ruthlessly interested in maximizing their compensation. HN is biased towards entrepreneurship.

[Dejobism]

I didn’t think to say it because masters are basically undergrad and a requirement for engineer positions in my country (European 3-2-3 year system).

Thanks for the advice! I’ll think hard about whether I really want to do this.

[hahnchen]

Is it possible to do this with just a bachelor’s degree?