Contracting is interesting. You make more, but there’s more downside. No sick days.
Though the last 3 month contract was kind enough to calculate the start and end dates to be exactly 12 work weeks (60 work days, skipping holidays) which was a nice Jedi mind trick. I still don’t get paid for Christmas, but somehow it doesn’t feel like I’m losing a day since the end date was extended by a day to compensate. But of course that only makes sense if you don’t think too carefully about it. :)
I dunno. It’s stressful but I like the freedom. But you live with a sword over your head; salaried employees don’t.
Plus now my salary isn’t in a database somewhere since it’s not salary. blows raspberry
If it looks surprisingly dull, I hope it inspires you to realize you can get similar rates. I’m not particularly special; just determined, and willing to say no to low offers. (The initial offer was salary equal to half this rate plus stock. Being completely uninterested in stock is a tricky thing — you can offend your colleagues unless you’re especially tactful.)
My cv hasn’t been updated since 2016, but it’s also the exact cv I used at this company. That should indicate how much cvs matter relative to forming personal connections with founders.
The technique in this case was to ask an ML engineer on the JAX team what a hypothetical total comp package would be for this type of work at google. They said “making up numbers, but ~$400k.” So I refused any offers lower than that by pointing out that I could make this at Google rather than a high stress startup for half the pay plus stock.
1. What kind of companies do you consult with? Is it startups, enterprises, mid-size companies? I see you mentioned forming connections with founders so I presume you mostly work with early stage startups.
2. What kind of work do you do? Advisory? Hands-on engineering? Modeling? Architecture?
Interesting! I assumed ML consulting would require a long academic record (not saying the work requires that, just that there’s probably a bias towards that). How did you go from information security to ML? I’m taking some night classes at a local uni in the bay on ML to pick some of it up and might consider making a move once I’ve finished with my current work
It's a great CV. Very focused on what matters. As you say the CV isn't the most important part, but it shows what you offer now and conveys your many years experience without the noise (e.g. details of what tools/frameworks you were using in 2010 - who cares!)
WLB is pretty good, I basically never work more than 40 hrs per week. I could probably make 20-50% more if I changed companies, but I don't really want to give up WLB. And the industry is probably best categorized as ad tech.
