Thread by @gordic_aleksa

[big update 🥳] I'll be joining @Google @DeepMind later this year as a Research Engineer!!! 🤖😅❤

It feels surreal, I don't even know where to start. 1/

I didn't come from an "Ivy League" university. Not because I couldn't get in - but because when you're 19, from a less developed country, and you didn't have tech-savvy people around you growing up - you are not even aware that @Stanford/@MIT are a thing. 2/

I can deeply empathize with many because of that. Not all of us were lucky enough to get exposed to tech when we were 9. I "heard" about programming when I was 19! We had to compensate by working harder than everyone else. 3/

I don't have any official ML education! Yup, no PhD in ML. I even dropped out from my masters. In my case it was all by design I knew what I want. Everything I've learned was because I was ready to put in enormous effort to create my own curriculum and learn stuff on my own. 4/

Million research papers later.

65 YouTube videos on ML later.

8 open-source deep learning projects later.

Many blogs later.

Almost 3 years of work at Microsoft later.

And here I am. 5/

I've covered so much about @DeepMind until this point. Since I started learning about ML (back in 2018 - fairly recent, right? 😅) I knew I want to work at DeepMind - and I'm finally here!!! 6/

I want to thank Cameron Anderson and Saima Hussain for walking me through this process and being supportive! As well as my family and friends! ❤

I also want to thank @PetarV_93 and @relja_work. You guys are my heroes. I learned so much from you. Keep rocking! 7/

I know one thing. This is just a start. If you want to follow along my journey follow me on my:

YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/TheAIEpiphany

GitHub: github.com/gordicaleksa

Medium: gordicaleksa.medium.com

AI newsletter: aiepiphany.substack.com

LI: linkedin.com/in/aleksagordic

8/

Also join The AI Epiphany Discord community, I am building an amazing ML community there: discord.gg/peBrCpheKE

Among other things I'll be sharing tips on how you can land your dream ML job as well. 9/

Last but definitely not least I want to dedicate this success to my buddy Srdjan Gavrilovic who passed away 2 years ago in a tragic accident. We love you and we miss you man.

Just don't give up.
Hang in there.
You'll get there! ❤

And remember to stay kind! ☀️
#ai #job 10/