Manoj Tumu, a Gen-Z engineer, is the talk of the town after he parted ways with Mark Zuckerberg’s social media firm Meta. The job switch is being discussed because of the fact that Manoj Tumu's salary at Amazon was reportedly $400,000, or ₹3.36 crore.
The 23-year-old Indian-American machine learning engineer is part of Meta’s advertising research team, having left Amazon. In a recent media interaction, Tumu was open to giving tips for success to wannabe engineers in the AI and ML stream. Here are five things he thinks will help youngsters to land better job opportunities in the ever-competitive tech world:
1. He reminds youngsters that personal projects can never outweigh professional experience on CVs. When he decided to apply at Meta, Amazon, and the like, he had completely removed personal projects from the CV and gave prominence to his work experience, Tumu said.
2. Never take internships lightly, as such opportunities can be highlighted as experience on your CVs, Tumu pointed out. His message for youngsters is that they should secure internships while in college and use them wisely on CVs when the time comes. However, some, like himself, may not manage to do this, but then there are contract roles for such candidates to pick up post-graduation. If you missed out on internships, grab these roles.
3. While applying, it is always best to make straight moves. Instead of relying on referrals, his experience shows that job applicants should apply directly through company websites and LinkedIn. Ensure the CVs are well crafted and error-free, Tumu said.
4. When choosing between machine learning and traditional software engineering, Tumu chose the latter, despite it being the lower-paying role of the two. His priority was finding something that aligned with his interests. That decision was crucial in helping him secure his current position at Meta, he was quoted as saying.
5. Never take interviews lightly. Always prepare for behavioural interviews, tailoring the answers to meet the principles of the company. Customise the answers depending on the core values of the employer, he said, before recollecting that his interview process at Meta included a screening call, followed by four to six rounds of coding, machine learning, and behavioural assessments over six weeks.