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Downleveling after a career break?

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Senior Software Engineer at Taro Community4 months ago

I have had 3rd party recruiters reach out to me to hire me to work at FAANGMULA level/publicly traded company (a little bit on the older side) for a senior ML research engineer role (W2 and they listed an hourly). The pay is very low, but permanent, should I take it even if it feels like I'm being downleveled after a career break? I feel like I would have applied to the company directly FTE with more benefits (stocks, health, dental vision), and non-contract role at a higher level? My career break was 1.5 years after leaving my last startup which I left for health reasons. Also, this isn't my top choice and wasn't in my tier 1, 2, or 3 companies (never listed them, but they've been a company around Silicon Valley for years).

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(4 comments)
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    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    4 months ago

    A job's a job, and the economy is very rough right now unfortunately. I would try to negotiate the offer, and I think you should be open to taking it if you don't have other offers/final round interviews.

    Senior ML Research Engineer is also a great title to have given how the industry is shaping up.

    • 0
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      Senior Software Engineer [OP]
      Taro Community
      4 months ago

      I ended up not moving forward since they focus more on Android and Java, but ya it was lowpaying, def always will negotiate and go for something better.

  • 1
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    AI/ML Eng @ Series C startup
    4 months ago

    It might actually be better that you work an hourly role right now, at least in the short term. Since you're getting back into the tech industry, you can use your free time to find a great role that you actually like. Letting your muscle memory (with work stuff) kick in while the stakes are lower is actually a blessing.

    You can also just start a side hustle. I met a guy who had a day job as a Data Scientist and ran a $50 million HFT fund in his free time.

    By the way, your level should probably even out within a year even with some "lower level" short-term gig between jobs.

    • 0
      Profile picture
      Senior Software Engineer [OP]
      Taro Community
      4 months ago

      Thanks this is helpful advice.

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