[dopplesoldner]

Hi, I was in a similar situation to you last year. I was working as backend developer and took the online course on Machine Learning on Coursera and realised that I want to work on Machine Learning in the future.

One of the myths is that you can learn to use toolkits and programming languages (R, Python) and become eligible for Machine Learning jobs (I certainly couldn't). It's only when you begin to understand the underlying maths behind the algorithms, you can be successful in interviews.

I would say getting another degree is the best way to go about it since it is very much an academic field. However, if that is not an option, I'd recommend looking at some online courses such as:

- https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/1 - https://www.udacity.com/course/nd002

In addition, I would supplement the courses with a good Machine Learning textbook such as [Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning by Bishop].

Also, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1055042