How To Hire a Machine Learning Engineer
Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Machine Learning Engineer hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.
Machine Learning Engineer Recruitment Guide
What does a Machine Learning Engineer do?
A Machine Learning Engineer devotes their time creating data driven entities which are able to make informed decisions from being trained against a large set of data. They need to have technical skills as well as being up to scratch with the latest concepts as they will need to work with large sets of data as well as write code that make up their machine learning algorithms.
Day to day tasks of a Machine Learning Engineer
- Create applications which include machine learning
- Analyse different algorithms
- Communication with stakeholders
- Inspect datasets for integrity
- Collect and load data
- Create tests to make sure machine learning algorithms are running as expected
Machine Learning Engineer definition
A machine learning engineer is someone who uses concepts in computer science and manipulates them to design, build and maintain a piece of software which is able to make decisions by itself, known as artificial intelligence. They do this by training the AI with a set of controlled images in order to train the model to correctly identify what is in the image when an image not in the controlled set of images is fed through the system.
HIRING PROCESS
Machine Learning Engineer Hiring Process
Build the ideal candidate profile
Skills needed for a Machine Learning Engineer
A Machine Learning Engineer must have a wide range of skills in order to succeed, they must marry their deep understanding of computer science concepts like data structures with mathematical concepts like statistics and probability as this facilitates the very way a decision is made when presented with many outcomes.
- Statistical Analysis
- Machine Learning
Pro Tip
For mid-level roles, make sure you clearly define what responsibilities they will undertake so potential employees will know what will be expected of them and they can decide if they would be a good fit.
WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION BASED ON SKILLS
How to write a Machine Learning Engineer job description
Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position. Here’s what to include in your Machine Learning Engineer job description:
Job Title: What position are you hiring for?
Summary: What makes your company unique? What would it be like to work for you?
Responsibilities: An overview of the role’s day-to-day activities, and how the position contributes to the organization
Requirements: Skills a candidate must have to perform the job successfully
Benefits: Details of compensation, benefits, and any perks on offer
Pro Tip
In building your candidate profile, remember you’ve already identified what skills are needed to succeed in the role. Here’s where to list your “must-have” skills and maybe a couple of “nice-to-have” skills. For example, a Machine Learning Engineer must be highly proficient in using a framework like TensorFlow or PyTorch.
SELECTING THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sample skill tests for a Machine Learning Engineer
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Question 1
Machine Learning
Question Type: Multiple Choice
For mid-level roles, make sure you clearly define what responsibilities they will undertake so potential employees will know what will be expected of them and they can decide if they would be a good fit.
Question 2
Statistical Analysis
Question Type: Text
You are working on a sentiment analysis project which classifies the text as positive or negative. You were not getting better results and when you checked the skewness of the dataset, you found that the negative class is skewed more than 80% towards the positive class. What is the reason for this skewness?
Question 3
Machine Learning
Question Type: Code
In an interview, you are asked to write a Python program using Matplotlib for forming a linear plot. What is the correct code to do that?
INTERVIEW TOP PERFORMERS
How to interview a Machine Learning Engineer
Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The interview should focus on any skills that require development that were highlighted from the skills assessment.
Now you know that candidates can do the job, the interview becomes more of a relationship building exercise where you can get to know the candidate on a more personal level, understand their motivations, and how they would fit in with the team.
Making An Offer
How much does it cost to hire a Machine Learning Engineer?
The US average for Machine Learning Engineers is $145,000 according to Talent.com whilst Indeed.com has the average salary at $151,583. Ninety percent of Machine Learning Engineers can expect to earn up to $154,000 and the lowest ten percent are paid up to $76,000 according to Payscale.com.
Machine Learning Engineer Salary United States
The United States has a median salary of $113,000 USD for Machine Learning Engineers. This figure will change based on many different elements when a salary is made for employees, for instance, the location of the organisation, the seniority and certifications.
Machine Learning Engineer Salary United Kingdom
Machine Learning Engineers in the United Kingdom have a reported yearly wage of £51,378. There are a handful of factors which need to be taken into consideration when this number is offered to candidates, for example, the location and industry of the organisation.
Machine Learning Engineer Salary Australia
In Australia a Machine Learning Engineer can be expected to receive a yearly salary of approximately $95,000 AUD. This figure will be impacted by a number of factors such as, the industry the organization is in, the problem sets the engineer is trying to solve and the seniority.
