This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Well, I'm not usually in the habit of helping people get jobs, okay? I mean, I'm happy to refer people to LinkedIn or ZipRecruiter or something like that, or offer some advice on how to thrive in your jobs that you can do your side hustle or how to get away with doing your side hustle in your job as the case may be. But today we have a question specifically about getting a job in this new field known as AI Prompt Engineers, which is kind of a side hustling sort of thing, even though we are talking about employment. So I decided it was relevant. You might've seen a bunch of news articles, this new field of people who are getting paid really high salaries to help chat GPT and other tools, create code, create content.
Some of the salaries I've seen are $250,000, sometimes $300,000 or more. And this is a field that just came out of nowhere, right? So, you know, we're gonna hear from Ella, who is a computer science major. She's got some background in this world or at least in something that's related, because as mentioned, this is totally new, at least relatively new. And so she's interested not just because of its lucrative potential, but also because of its blend of creativity and the expertise she has.
So let's talk about it. If you wanted to break into this field or let's say something else that's new, and you have to apply some entrepreneurial thinking to that, how might you go about it? Like how can you get paid $250,000 or more as an AI prompt engineer? Detailed question coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Hello from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
My name is Ella, a computer science major who has been following the rise of AI with great interest. After seeing all the news about the high demand and lucrative pay for AI prompt engineers, I was intrigued. That's when I also discovered side hustle school and I've been hooked ever since. The role of prompt engineer seems like a unique intersection of creative problem solving and technical prowess. While I have a rudimentary understanding that the role involves training language models like chat GPT, how do I know if I'm qualified for one of these high paying jobs?
Can you guide me on what skills I should cultivate and how to best position myself in this field? - All right, Ella. Well, I'm not usually in the business of advising people on jobs, 'cause I've never really had one, at least not a real proper job nine to five for a corporation, that kind of thing. But it is kind of, as I said, a side hustly sort of thing or an entrepreneurial thinking kind of thing when there's a new industry, a new field, and these really high salaries, which probably are not sustainable. Like I don't know if a couple of years from now people are gonna get paid $300,000 to do this particular job.
Most likely they'll have been replaced by AI, right? But still, it's okay to take your skills and do something for a while and let that lead you to the next thing. That's a big part of the side hustle way. So I will give you a couple of tips. Of course, Ella, starting with a good foundation, I would say deepen your understanding of natural language processing, NLP.
Start by targeting companies known for their work in AI, like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, there's a bunch of them. They often have openings for roles that involve training and fine-tuning AI models. So here's a key point. Even if the title isn't prompt engineer, like look for roles like machine learning engineer, NLP specialist, anything like that, these are responsibilities that overlap, essentially. So sometimes when one title is in the news a lot, companies will start using different titles or they just kind of change or evolve as time goes on.
So send out your resume, why not? Apply for jobs, use ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, any other networks or platforms. There's not really much downside or cost in applying for jobs, just your time, right? So if you're gonna apply for jobs, you might as well apply for high paying ones and take those side hustling skills with you. Soft skills matter more than hard skills for lots of jobs.
I think there's always lots of technical people out there. You're not gonna be the very best, the single best number one AI prompt engineer. That's difficult. So what you wanna do is become someone who's good at it, who is competent, but also you have an ability to communicate the value that this role brings and how you can maybe communicate between teams or create more practical applications. So as much as you focus on the technical skills, I think it's so much more important to build the soft skills as well.
You really need both of them. So good luck, Ella. Like I said, think about your side hustle. Also, it's cool to pursue a role that's very high paying and perhaps do it for a while. Let that lead you to something else, but also think about what you can build for yourself.
That's always my encouragement at least. Listeners, let me know what you think. sidehustleschool.com/questions. Thanks for being out there. New episode every day.
Got case studies coming up, got some stories. I've got a fun question about this guy who is selling NFL subscriptions for 50% off. It's an interesting ethical question coming up in a couple of days. And of course, much more, even as I'm on the road touring for my book, "Gonzo Capitalism." I'll be here every day as well. That's all for now.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
