Breaking Barriers: Landing an AI Job with no College Degree

Read Time ~ 4 Minutes

In a past article, No experience? No problem!: Best practices when building a portfolio. I showed the following image as I began the article:

It's an entry level job posting within the field of AI requiring 3 years of experience. I talked about how you can leverage projects in order to solve some of the short comings that come with lack of experience. However, the job posting also has the requirement of requiring a bachelor's degree. I pushed off that topic for a future article and I think now is as good of a time as any to cover getting a job in AI without a college degree. I have actually been thinking about this topic for quite some time. While I was working as a Data Science instructor at a coding bootcamp a lot of my students came from non-traditional backgrounds and as a result did not all posses college degrees. In order to prepare them for the job hunt ahead, my colleagues and I not only taught them data science, but also some practical advice for landing a job within the field. I wanted to share some of that advice here today.

Look for AI jobs within your company

I understand that this option may not be available for everyone that is reading this article but this is by far the easiest way to transition into AI. Don't get me wrong, it's still an uphill battle but applying for a job within the company you already work for is a lot easier than trying to land a job from a company you have never interacted with before. Most companies have internal job boards that are open to employees before they get posted to the general public. They also sometimes include a point of contact within the company you can reach out to in order to introduce yourself and show potential interest in the role. Another thing to look out for is word of mouth positions. This is when no official job posting is actually created but a hiring manager or department lead is in need of a position to be filled. Finally, if you feel like you can be honest, talk to your supervisor about your interests in transferring to an AI related role. in reference to my honesty caveat, only do this if you feel like it wouldn't come back to bite you or put your current job in jeopardy. I would like to think that all companies and supervisors would like to see their employees grow but there are always bad apples in the bunch so just be careful and use your best judgement on how much you can share.

Look for AI jobs within your field

If you do not have he luxury of applying for an AI related job from within the company you work for or you currently don't have a job, try looking for jobs within the field you have experience in. For example, if I was working as a nurse I would target health related AI jobs as I could leverage the knowledge I have gained working in that field to better my chances of getting an offer. I understand you may want to leave the field you work in completely, but it's much easier to pivot out of your field working in AI than it is to try to land a job in AI in a field you have never worked in.

Networking

The old adage is true more times than not: It's not about what you know, but who you know. Networking is a powerful tool that you should definitely leverage in order to secure a job in AI. There are many different avenues of networking but I generally like to start close and move outward. What I mean by that is start with people who are close to you, physically and relationship wise, and move to people farther away from your circle. So, starting with your family, ask around and see if any of the companies they work for are hiring for AI related roles. If they are, ask for a referral or to be put in touch with a recruiter or hiring manager. If there is no luck there move outward to close friends, past work colleagues, and then to social media. A platform such as LinkedIn should be taken serious and used to grow your network. Even if you don't have a strong social media network, growing it now will pay dividends in the future.

Apply for stepping stone jobs

A stepping stone job is just that, it's a job you don't intent making a career out of but will get you to where you want to go. For instance, let's say I wanted to be a data scientist but the lack of degree is proving to be a huge barrier to entry. I might apply for jobs that require similar skillsets of a data scientist but require less education. This way I have a better shot of getting my foot in the door and I can use that job in order to "step off from" in the future. Just be sure not to go to far away from what you want to end up at.

Build a portfolio

I wrote about this in my past article that a portfolio of projects helps with lack of experience but it also helps if you have no college degree. Check it out here.

Wrapping it up

One last thing I will say. If you see a job that you think you would be a good fit for and the only thing you don’t have is a college degree, apply it for it anyways! Who knows what will happen!

I hope these tips will help to further your career in AI.

Until next time.

Andrew-

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