Although I wasn’t directly involved with deployments, I worked as a Founding AI Research Engineer at a firm last summer as a graduate student, concentrating on AI agents and technology. Because of this, recruiters now think I’m qualified for senior positions, and ATS algorithms appear to prefer my resume because it contains pertinent keywords.
I have only worked as a data scientist for two and a half years, primarily on small-scale proofs of concept. I’m not qualified for senior roles like Principal Data Scientist or Lead roles because I don’t have extensive engineering experience.
I’m scared about getting revealed as a fraud in front of prominent scientists because I’ve received over ten interview requests from prestigious companies for positions for which I’m not qualified. How should I respond to this circumstance?
Simply conduct the interviews. Share your knowledge. Let them make the final decision. It’s fantastic if you get the chance. In any case, it will be an adventure. There’s nothing to lose.
Indeed, it is accurate. Because of the stark difference between my abilities and what they would expect to hear, I’m afraid that the embarrassment and surprise could be too great.
They might even forbid me from doing interviews in the future. Otherwise, I might enter a cooldown period after this rejection, during which I would no longer be able to apply.
That might have been the case if they had chosen to settle for lower-middle (MLE 2/3), rather than trying for absolute top roles and immediately discarding me, and instead interviewed for somewhere in the center (senior/lead).
If they like you and believe you can contribute well, they may downgrade the role even if you are at the indicated level. In an effort to screen out applicants with no qualifications who repeatedly submit applications for positions that appear even vaguely entry level, they occasionally publish the maximum level they will consider while being flexible on others.