How To Hire a Machine Learning Expert With These 5 Tried and Tested Tips

Technology has seen many rapid changes over the last decade. Along with these changes, the way people interact with technology and how it affects our lives has changed completely. One of the biggest driving factors behind these changes is the continued advancement of AI systems and software.

Businesses all over the world are starting to wake up to AI’s many benefits. Soon, it will be rare to see an organization working without some form of artificial intelligence software integrated into the business model. Machine learning and deep learning algorithms may be popular in the world of business today, but they gained this popularity only recently. This means that organizations hopeful of bringing about a digital transformation in their business model are vying to hire a limited pool of qualified machine learning experts.

In some cases, even recruiters don’t know how to approach this new hiring dilemma. Taking the same route that you took with hiring software engineers would only result in problems. While these two disciplines seem similar, they require a completely different mindset. But you don’t have to worry. In this blog, you’re going to learn five tried and tested tips to hire machine learning experts who can help your business achieve its digital transformation goals.

What Are AI and Machine Learning?

Artificial intelligence technology usually consists of machines or computer software programmed to think and act like a human being. Some AI software can even mimic other human actions like making decisions and solving problems.

Machine learning is a type of AI technology that learns from the data fed into it and applies it to a given situation without any human interaction. Most people use it to make predictions. However, this isn’t the same as deep learning algorithms with the capability to solve problems — something machine learning algorithms don’t do.

Why Do I Need to Invest in Machine Learning Technology?

AI, and more specifically, machine learning, are popular because of their many uses and endless potential. Industries like healthcare, customer service, travel, journalism, agriculture, and even the automobile industry are all utilizing one form of artificial intelligence software or another, and for a good reason.

Artificial intelligence can help streamline business processes, increase employee efficiency, help businesses determine future trends and demand, improve customer service experiences, improve a business’s marketing efforts, and much more. There really is no end to how much AI can do for you, and most companies know this.

You need to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology because it’s seen as a disruptive force in the world of business. Just like how the internet came and changed things completely for the whole world, AI technology is having a similar effect. You need AI to keep your costs down and your revenue high. If competing businesses perform better because they employed machine learning and deep learning algorithms to help them run their business, you have no choice but to follow.

Why Your Existing IT Team Isn’t Good Enough

Traditionally, companies have opted to hire software engineers and many other technology experts into their IT teams. However, with AI only gaining popularity recently, you can’t expect your existing IT team to be experts on it.

It’s not a lack of skills on their part, but a lack of exposure and training. You wouldn’t expect a chef that specializes in desserts and cakes to show the same kind of mastery with savory food like steaks and curry. In the same way, you can’t expect your IT team to whip up the perfect machine learning algorithm. They might do a good job, but it will be after much struggling and trial and error — and wasted time and money that could be better spent somewhere else.

In addition, you need in-house machine learning experts to keep your AI software running smoothly. AI is not something you set and forget. Your systems will need to be trained and retrained with the right kind of data, requiring regular updates to maintain optimal performance. The job doesn’t just end with integrating AI technology into your business model — you need to invest in its upkeep and maintenance, just like any other machine.

Challenges Faced By Hiring Experts

Hiring experts and even most business people don’t know much about machine learning and deep learning algorithms. Most wrongly assume that the same kind of people who work as software engineers would be suitable for this job. To make matters worse, many organizations and businesses fail to provide the right incentives to attract machine learning experts.

They need a fresh approach, the right tactics, and a little introduction into the skills a good machine learning expert needs to have.

Tips and Tricks For Hiring a Machine Learning Expert

If you feel like your business needs the help of an in-house machine learning expert, you need to keep the following tips in mind. Consider this list during the hiring process, ask the right questions, and take the right approach to find the perfect person for this job.

1.    They Need to Have a Strong Background in Mathematics and Statistics

Machine learning experts cannot thrive in their field of work without a strong background in mathematics and statistics. Their work requires a strong understanding of the algorithms that make up the whole of the software and the calculations that help it perform its daily functions.

To keep the algorithms up and running, they have to work with a lot of numbers and formulas. You can’t effectively work with huge amounts of data without a solid understanding of statistics. Candidates should also be capable of managing data to be fed into the algorithm.

A machine learning expert should be more knowledgeable about these things than a usual software engineer.

2.    Are They a Fast Learner?

Most of the time, working with machine learning software is just trial and error. Machine learning experts have to spend a lot of time figuring out what works and what doesn’t, and there is no set formula or correct way to do things.

Your future machine learning expert needs to be comfortable learning and relearning new information, considering all possibilities, and adapting quickly. They need to stay up-to-date with all the tasks the algorithm should be able to perform, which might require learning quite a bit about your business and the industry itself.

Hire someone who can learn fast and has demonstrated this ability before. This will ensure you get the most work done in a short amount of time. Your business won’t have to suffer from less than standard AI software because your new machine learning expert will be up to speed in no time.

3.    Are They Creative?

As mentioned earlier, AI needs to be trained and retrained regularly to perform well. Feeding faulty or biased data into AI software can have disastrous consequences, but you can’t always have a perfectly unbiased data set or know what the algorithm needs to improve.

A machine learning expert needs to be able to develop creative solutions to unconventional and new problems. There is rarely a guide to making the appropriate AI or training it for a particular company. Experts need to rely on their wits to do the job.

4.    Are They Passionate About Your Business?

Machine learning experts are in demand in almost every industry right now, be it agriculture, security, healthcare, retail, customer services, travel, or anything else. A machine learning expert must have at least some knowledge and interest in the industry they work within, in addition to their expertise in machine learning algorithms.

Hire an expert who is passionate about or at least interested in your business to ensure they can provide you with the best services. A machine learning expert may have the best credentials, but if they aren’t interested in or familiar with the work you’re doing, they will be less able to solve problems for your business.

It might be hard to find someone who is “passionate” about your business. However, it should be possible to find a machine learning expert who has had some experience or knowledge of your industry and a willingness to learn more about it.

5.    Make Them Want To Work For You

Most machine learning experts prefer working with bigger tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Netflix. These companies invest millions of dollars annually into their IT teams — specifically into their machine learning and artificial intelligence experts. The job market isn’t just tough for job seekers right now; even recruiters have a hard time attracting machine learning experts to work for them.

A few steps taken on your part will ensure you can attract the right candidate pool for your position, however.

Take the Right Approach

If you want to hire a junior machine learning professional, you can’t approach it the same way you would for hiring a senior-level expert.

To hire junior-level candidates, consider going to job fairs, hold seminars in universities, or offer internships to final-year students. Conversely, a senior-level position is best filled by searching for your candidate through networking.

Provide Incentives That Motivate Experts To Switch Jobs

It’s highly unlikely for top-level machine learning experts to be unemployed, so you have to compete with other companies to get their attention. The good news is that you don’t have to be making the same money as Amazon or Google to provide competitive compensation packages.

Machine learning experts care about many things:

• Challenging and exciting opportunities
• Competitive pay
• Resources available to them
• Location
• Quality of the team
• Impact of their work

If you’re unable to provide short-term incentives, consider if you’ll have something good enough to offer them down the line. For businesses located in areas that might not attract the best talent, providing remote work opportunities can be a great solution. Understand what machine learning experts want to attract the best talent.

Join Hands With Universities

If you want to hire young, energetic, and enthusiastic talent, your best bet is to partner with universities to provide exciting, attractive projects to their student base. This can give you access to a fresh pool of talent, open doors for internship opportunities, and for the chance to hire whoever you want once the candidates have graduated.

This kind of tactic is very popular and has worked well for many companies, especially considering the limited pool of available candidates.

Good Luck!

Hiring the right machine learning expert might seem like a daunting task, but with a little research into AI and ML technology and the right approach, it can be quite simple. Refer to the tips above when searching for the right machine learning expert to assist your business’s digital transformation.