kevin_vanilla

Google DeepMind | Research Scientist, AI for Code | Full-time | Mountain View, CA, USA

Hello! We are looking to hire a Research Scientist with experience in AI for Code and an interest in building real-world products. You’ll be embedded within a small project team of Research Engineers, and will be expected to drive the foundational research direction with the potential for significant impact in the short and long term.

Please only apply if you have specifically AI for Code experience, e.g. prior research, publications, and/or launched products in areas like code generation, code understanding, etc. I will also not be able to respond to individual inquiries, as much as I'd like to, but we will do our best to answer any questions during the selection and interview process. Applications can be submitted at https://boards.greenhouse.io/deepmind/jobs/6407397. Thank you!

I'm shocked at how many of the responses here describe ambush interviews, I did not know this was a thing! Thanks for sharing :)

To be fair, I've forgotten how to do basic recursion (and a lot of other basic stuff) while coding with no one watching me haha. Thanks for sharing!

Wow! It's amazing how much stuff can come back around in the tech world... A nice reminder to not burn bridges :) Thanks for sharing!

LeetCode (a website with a lot of practice programming problems that are similar or identical to some companys' interview questions)

You're gonna love EveryDaysies (not a joke)

This is good advice - to clarify, when I said "DIY" I meant "DIY for him" haha. Wix has gotten a few votes here, sounds like that's the way to go. Thank you!

Thanks so much! Based on recommendations I'm between Wordpress and Wix right now. Wix seems to be slightly more user-friendly, which my plumber friend will really appreciate, but maybe these premium Wordpress themes are the ticket.

This is a great idea, thank you!

Mine are English and coding :) Poems are definitely impressive, but they land like a cheap party trick unfortunately.

You are correct, thanks so much!

Agh sorry, I'm not very good with computers... Fixed now!

I switched from being a SWE of ~10 years to a Research Engineer at DeepMind, so while it is difficult (as other comments have noted), it is absolutely doable. I wrote a blog post about it here: [EDIT: fixed] https://medium.com/@kfedvanilla/switching-from-software-engi.... Happy to answer any specific questions you may have beyond what's in the blog!

(not OP)

Montaigne is not a Portuguese-sounding word or name, seems more French to me, but "montagem" is a Portuguese word meaning "montage" which sounds generally like what are describing, a montage of fables.

Congratulations! I can't speak to bone density, but if you stick with it, you'll see big improvements throughout your life: better mood, better sleep, more focus, meeting new people... Best of luck on your journey!

Hi, your comment really resonates with me. I pursued playing beach volleyball in the US at a professional level for several years, and though I was never a top-10 US player, I could hang/train with them and had a few good pro tournament results. During this time, I was a software engineer at Google and then a research engineer at DeepMind.

I get excited when I hear about people that go _deep_ into a hobby while doing their careers; it is hard, but absolutely worth it. Would love to chat more if you're interested!

I'm passionate about creating a community of people who pursue long-term excellence in their jobs or vocation (whatever it may be) with extreme intensity, e.g. eating/sleeping right, deliberately practicing skills, etc. Please let me know if anyone is interested in joining :)

Meta-advice: When reading advice collection posts such as this one, find the first one that really resonates with you, then stop reading. The brain can't absorb several life-changing concepts within a few minutes of another. After stopping and thinking deeply about one bit of advice and ideally doing something else for a while, you can come back if you want.

(Apologies for missing this comment!)

That's great! Although I'm focused on creating "intensity" with everything, I think a big part of that will be figuring out what it means for situations where slowing down is the right thing to do. What does "intensity" look like when I'm hanging out with my daughter, or recharging after a long week? Probably something like putting away any distractions and being wholly focused on whatever we are doing :)

> I would be very interested in taking part in such a community, If you're still interested, what would be the best way to contact you to chat more?

I love Steven Kotler's books, The Rise of Superman but not Art of Impossible. I will check it out, thanks!

Great! I have a few leads from this thread and will let you know if I find or start anything. In the meantime, I have my contact details on my profile, so feel free to reach out there.

Thanks both for the interesting discussion! I think this cuts both ways - yes, I believe it is possible to strive for improvement in any job, and most jobs would welcome this. That being said, alignment with the impact you want to have and what the company cares about is also very important. You can be the best children's tobacco salesman (?) in the world, but I imagine you'll always feel like you're missing something.

> Seems to me that the most important step will be to find a vocation where your goals a few allignrd with the bottom line. I agree with this, I actually spent a lot of time making this happen and am happy with how it turned out :)

Agreed that both psychological and physiological are important! I'm curious what experiments you did and what the results were, if you don't mind sharing? No worries if that's not possible, thanks!

Good point, those may be a good starting place for me to look. Thank you!

I will check out quantified self, it sounds like a good lead. Totally agree that SWE work, especially at senior levels, is difficult to quantify, and setting clear, measurable goals is one thing I was hoping to talk to the community about. Thanks for the help!

Thank you! I'll shoot you an email and check out the blog (https://10millionsteps.com/mental-toughness looks quite interesting) as well as Steve and Brad, I've not heard of either of them before.

> How much of sports would remain without striving for worthless tokens and aggressivity?

Thanks for your comment and this great question! In my opinion, almost all of it would remain, as the true draw of sports is to push yourself to new heights, to do things you didn't think possible. My evidence for this is the intensity and dedication that goes into non-mainstream sports (such as my own, beach volleyball in the U.S.). The athletes in these areas aren't striving for fame and fortune, because there really isn't that much to be had even at the top level. They just want to be better than they were yesterday, and worse than they'll be tomorrow :)

Thanks for your comment! Indeed, I often wrestle with something similar as you describe, and I wonder if your last paragraph is really the solution. To elaborate:

I have done a lot of self-reflection in the past and a while back I realized that the thing that brings me the most joy in life is to improve at something that I work hard at. However, after looking into Stoicism, I find myself asking if I'm not being honest with myself, and that in reality I focus less on chasing "more" and more on mindfulness and enjoying life's moments. I'm very fortunate in that I've never been depressed or struggled with mental illness, but I feel that this tension between "I want to be the best" and "I should focus on being grateful and present with what I have" is a core question I have yet to really answer. For now, I'm very happy with my life being around the former, but a future me may look back at this and laugh :)

I didn't mean to write this in a way that is prescriptive or judgemental in any way, I just wanted to ask to get more information for myself and others who may be interested. Please let me know if there is anything I could have done in the post to improve it, thanks!