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Elon Musk Is Hiring For Tesla, Emphasizes Educational Background Is ‘Irrelevant’
By Mikelle Leow, 05 Feb 2020
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Image via Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com
As you might well be aware, some of the world’s most successful people didn’t get their smarts from staying in school. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey all dropped out from college, and yet went on to lead companies that are now worth billions.
So when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company was looking to expand its artificial intelligence team, he stressed that candidates’ educational qualifications would not matter.
“Join AI at Tesla!” he tweeted. Musk elaborated that employees from the team would “report directly” to him.
Recruits will ideally work at Tesla’s facilities in the San Francisco Bay area or in Austin, Texas. However, Musk also said positions for “potentially any Tesla Gigafactory”—available in Buffalo, New York; Sparks, Nevada; Shanghai, China; with an upcoming fourth factory in Berlin, Germany—might be open.
A report by LinkedIn at end 2019 found that the AI specialist role is the most rapidly growing job based on the number of hires. In spite of this, Musk emphasized that “a PhD is definitely not required” to qualify for a role in Tesla’s AI department.
“I don’t care if you even graduated high school…” he added. “Educational background is irrelevant.”
Instead, applicants will be put through a “hardcore coding test” to exemplify if they have a “deep understanding” of artificial intelligence.
If you’re interested in the position, DesignTAXI previously featured a couple of questions Musk enjoys asking during job interviews that could help you prepare for the role. One is a brain teaser that assesses candidates’ leadership qualities, while another question helps him weed out lying applicants.
“At Tesla, using AI to solve self-driving isn’t just icing on the cake, it the cake” - @lexfridman
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2020
Join AI at Tesla! It reports directly to me & we meet/email/text almost every day. My actions, not just words, show how critically I view (benign) AI.https://t.co/iF97zvYZRz
A PhD is definitely not required. All that matters is a deep understanding of AI & ability to implement NNs in a way that is actually useful (latter point is what’s truly hard). Don’t care if you even graduated high school.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2020
We are (obviously) also looking for world-class chip designers to join our team, based in both Palo Alto & Austin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2020
[via CNBC, cover image via Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com]
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