Today’s generation, the ones we call millennials, are both lucky as well as unlucky. Lucky, because they are still young enough to experience what is referred to as an era of technology. Unlucky, because this technology has allowed everyone uninterrupted access to tremendous amounts of information and knowledge which as a result has increased competition. The generation before the millennials called as ‘Generation X’ did not face such high levels of competition and securing a job was a lot easier for anyone pursuing a professional course such as engineering or medical sciences.
However, the scenario has changed now. Consider India, a country with the second largest population in the world has more than 94% of its software engineers, not fit for a job. The reason is simple, the remaining 6% have the skills and require minimum training and thereby secure a position in top institutions.
In times when even the experienced ones are facing cutthroat competition in this fast-growing tech space, a fresher needs to gear up and instead of just preparing for the present should get ready for the future. Machine learning courses, for example, open up new avenues for freshers, ones which haven’t been explored or are yet to reach their critical mass. Don’t decide on this yet. Go through the seven reasons why we believe machine learning can be a good path for freshers. Then decide if it is the ideal path for you or not.
The Demand For Machine Learning Is Growing Rapidly
According to a report published by a U.S. research agency, the machine learning industry will reach an astounding 8.81 billion dollars by 2022, compared to the 1.41 billion dollars market it has today. Similarly according to a report published by indeed.com – an online job portal, the demand for AI-based roles has tripled as compared to what it was back in the year 2015.
Major Players Are Investing In this technology
Major tech players such as Amazon, Facebook, Cisco, IBM etc. are now investing a significant amount of their resources in exploring and exploiting the benefits which machine learning and AI have to offer. Amazon, for example, has come up with Alexa, a smart assistant for homes, Google similarly is researching, and building devices which can recognize a single speaker voice from the cacophony and Microsoft is trying to build multilingual assistants. And these are just a few major ones. There are other players as well, a number of AI and Machine learning startups, who are easily securing funding from investors.
It’s not just a course, it’s a skill
Machine learning isn’t just a course where you study and give exams. It is more of a skill which a fresher can develop by enrolling into machine learning courses followed by reading and researching on the internet. This technology which is still in its nascent phase can be mastered by practice. The skill-based nature of this technology allows even people from non-computer background to understand, learn and implement machine learning solutions in real life. For example, a civil engineer could utilise machine learning algorithms for predictive maintenance of bridges, roads etc. Similarly, a marketing manager could implement machine learning solution for product recommendation based on user history.
Competition Is Less
Machine learning is still in its nascent phase and hence almost doesn’t have any entry barriers. Even the employers are not sure of what to expect from a machine learning expert and this is quite evident in the job description they post. The demand is high for such roles but there are very few people who have quite mastered this art, hence if you have the skills, you are at the start of a promising and high paying career.
Multiple Job Roles
By heading on the machine learning path you open yourself up to innumerable career options which not only pay well but are interesting and fun. For example, you could become a data scientist, which primarily involves analysing data received from numerous sources, or you could head down the career path of a machine learning engineer – someone who is responsible for the coding and development for algorithms. Then there, of course, is a high paying role of a research scientist, which involves knowledge of distributed computing along with machine learning and AI.
Attractive Packages
Given the high demand and low availability of the people with the required skillset, a machine learning, and AI-based role can pay somewhat between $8000 – $10000 to a fresher per month. Once you gain sufficient experience these figures may rise up to $20000 an in some cases even reach $30,000 – $45000 per month.
Allows you to tame that creative bug inside
Most people complain of IT jobs as being boring and to some extent, they are, given their repetitive nature. However being a new technology machine learning has a huge scope for innovation and customisation. For example, a news company can utilize machine learning to combine information from numerous sources and display information exclusively before their competition gets it, or somewhere in the distant future a scriptwriter could use machine learning to write scripts of movies or series as comic artist Andy Herd already did with the famous show FRIENDS.
Adding machine learning to your skillset will not only help you secure a good job but will open you to a career of innovation and experimentation. So what are you waiting for?
