In This Newsletter
Thank you for your support <3
TLDR AI is a free daily email curated by Anthropic and ex-Google engineers: the new tools worth trying and the research worth understanding, summarized for 1.1M+ readers.
Forward Deployed Engineer Roadmap
OpenAI is paying $300,000+ for a role called Forward Deployed Engineer, and there are over 1,000 of these positions open right now.
For this video I dug into 100 job descriptions and broke down every skill they ask for, how often it shows up, and what you can skip if you want to become an FDE ASAP.
A few things stood out to me:
68 of the 100 postings never mention a degree. They care much more about proof that you can do the job.
Evals showed up in 53% of postings, and most people skip them entirely (which is why I always harp on this!).
Customer-facing experience came up in 71 postings. This job is half building production AI systems and half working with customers.
This video covers what an FDE actually does, who's getting hired, the skills you need, the paths in, and whether it's even worth it.
Or read the companion guide here.
Also, I'm trying a new editing + thumbnail style with this video! Reply to this email and let me know what you think.
My real job as a career coach
You probably think that my role as a career coach is to give you advice on how to update your resume or what to do for your networking strategy. Those things are part of it, sure, but they’re table stakes, and you can learn all that from ChatGPT.
My real job is to help you overcome your limiting beliefs.
All too often, the people I work with are worried that they're not smart enough, or they don't have enough experience, or they're too shy to network, or they don't have a CS degree, or they're too old to change careers.
And this kind of thinking makes them doubt themselves and be less creative about ways they can achieve their goals.
There's a difference between having a giant ego and thinking "Oh, I'm the best. This is all going to come naturally to me. Of course I'm going to succeed, because I'm perfect in every way" and just not putting artificial restrictions on what you can accomplish.
I don't think there's fundamentally a reason that anyone can't accomplish what they put their mind to.
And even if you do have more to overcome than someone else, having the mindset that you can accomplish anything you commit to will set you up for success compared to continuing to put those restrictions on yourself.
Having delusional amounts of self-belief can only get you closer to your goals.
So is there really a reason you can't accomplish your goals, or are you using it as an excuse not to try?
This doesn't come naturally to most people, which is why it's so helpful to have a coach. My goal is to keep people accountable when their limiting beliefs start to sabotage them.
btw, we’re opening the doors to my group coaching, the AI/ML Career Launchpad, in a week or two. Make sure you’re on the waitlist so you are first in line.
Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
Note: This email may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may make a small commission, at no cost to you. Thank you for your support!