Ask HN: Should I pursue an ML career with good pay or a dream to teach abroad?
That's option one.
Option two is I pursue a dream Ive had for about a decade to go live in Japan for 1-2 years or so. Probably would start off just teaching English, since I dont think my Japanese is good enough yet for me to be able to compete for jobs I'm more qualified for. My current financial situation is pretty much in the shitter, and I have loan payments and bills that make it effectively impossible to save anything.
Here's the thing though. I'm young now. and I know that that won't last forever. If I go for the career opportunity, yeah, sure I'll almost certainly be financially stable, but it will almost certainly also lock me into a particular location for years. And realistically speaking, life will happen, and the chances that I'll ever actually pursue the dream of living abroad will diminish greatly. On the other hand, if I go, I most likely will not be very financially stable, but I will be pursuing exactly what I want to do. I already know that I love teaching, since from my PhD program, I've been doing it for a year now, and it's literally the best part of my day.
So, if I go, I would be liquidating the vast majority of my personal belongings in order to afford the move. And of course theres also the logistics of getting a job/housing/etc.
This cements it. Take the paying job. You can always pursue your dreams in the future, and it's more likely to work out when you are more financially stable.
Does that make sense?
Think about the reverse situation. You go overseas, and you realize things are not as rosy as you'd hope. What are your options then? Because I can tell you from first-hand experience, moving to another country is a lot costlier than you'd think. Especially to a country where you don't even speak the language.
If you want to take a big risk at life, that's great. Don't let a random Internet stranger stop you. Please just make sure the odds are stacked in your favour.
My concern with waiting is that I will be a different person then, and I'll be less able to experience it in the way that I want to. That is, if I am even able to go. For example, if I am in a relationship at that point, most people dont take well to their partner up and telling them that they want to go live on the other side of the world for a year or two.
All that said, I really am taking all of this advice to heart. I'm just arguing my side because well....I cant get to intimately know the strengths and weaknesses of both sides unless theres a lively debate. I hope you know what I mean. I appreciate the input.
A relationship, a mortgage and even kids happen if you take the job route. As someone who took the job route and now have a mortgage, I vote Japan, though you prolly wanna talk with some folks who have done it first just for confirmation...or have a backup plan if for some reason it actually did suck.
On the flip side my girlfriend would be stoked if I said I wanted to move to Japan, so you never know who you might end up with if you stick around and pay down some debt.
Routines and inertia are hard to fight tho once you get on a path.
Edit-spelling
But you can also be a gambler and listen to your heart and leave tomorrow!
Now that I think about it, right after I graduated (from a top school in my country), I had several options to earn a very good salary. 20 years later, those options simply aren't there anymore! I'm too old for a beginner position, and don't have the experience for a more qualified job.
tl;dr: Should I take a mid-pay job with high potential for future salary, but be locked into a particular location, or pursue a life-long dream and teach abroad for a low salary with low potential for future salary?
There's also the option of trying to find a similar such ML position in japan also, but i still need to look into that.
If you do go for it, and don't want to make this a permanent change, make sure to stay current with technology. Build a public portfolio showing that even though you aren't working in tech, you are still working with it.
Another option would be to slowly transition away from teaching English to becoming a freelancer so that you could travel while still earning mid-high pay.
Yeah, honestly I was already thinking about teaching english as a means of full-time pay, and then doing ML freelance work to build my skills and portfolio
If you are comfortable in the ML career and want to stay there, then I don't think you'll kick yourself for not leaving, as you might be happy there. You can always go once your in a more settling situation financially, and if you still have the itch, you can scratch it.
Like yes, I could wait another 5 years until I am settled and have decent savings. But then I'll be settled, and just be left to wonder at what could have been.
Honestly, I can't give you advice financially as I am roughly your age, but if I were in your position I would follow my dream without any hesitation.
Perhaps considering lacking which of the pursuits would hurt you the most in 10 years can make your decision easier.
https://sivers.org/scares-excites-do-it