I got laid off recently and am taking the time to scratch an itch around AI. I've done a few Codeacademy tutorials on Python to get started, watched the future of AI series from MIT and am now working through Andrej Karpathy's video on Nano GPT and getting familiar with Pytorch too.<p>All of this has been and is fun, however I am wondering if this is the best use of my time from the perspective of getting a job as a PM or TPM in the field and if not what should I be doing instead.<p>I've been been a PM for about 20 years in three FAANGS and its been a while since I've found myself getting excited about something. However I also have mortgage and retirement to think off<p>Love to get suggestions and ideas from folks.
"Networking" (cold emailing, cold DMing, interacting with people on twitter) will be more beneficial for getting a job than just going through the courses. The courses will be helpful too, but I might suggest weighting it at 80% of time to networking and 20% of the time to the courses, at least until you get to the point where you know multiple people in AI companies that you're excited about. Then you can ask them if they think you're an easy hire as is, or if not, what skills they need.
I'm sorry to hear about your layoff, but it's great that you're exploring AI. To improve your chances of getting a job as a PM or TPM in the field, consider networking, specializing in specific AI areas, building a project portfolio, continuously learning, and tailoring your resume to highlight your AI skills. Good luck!