I interview ML engineers for a company you have heard of. I do not care how many papers you have published. You could’ve published 10 papers, I’m probably only going to ask about one. I also don’t care what your GPA is for that matter.

I do care about how well you know the particular paper I a will look into prior to the interview, especially if it’s relevant to the position. People that can explain well do well. I also care about your github, if it’s well-organized and documented.