My Story

I'm Kubilay, a 28-year-old Machine Learning Engineer and Data Scientist and soon-to-be a father. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from Istanbul Technical University in 2020. During my undergrad years, I became deeply intrigued by the emerging field of neural networks. I was especially captivated by DeepMind's AlphaZero and AlphaGo which are systems that used neural networks to defeat human champions in games like Chess and Go. At the time, it felt like pure witchcraft to me, echoing Arthur C. Clarke's famous quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

During my bachelor years at Istanbul Technical University - always finding time for furry friends! (probably 2017)

A year after graduating, I moved to Germany to pursue a Master's degree in Data Science at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg. I started in October 2021 and completed my studies in September 2023, graduating with a GPA of 1.9 on the German scale (equivalent to 3.4/4 internationally). Germany quickly felt like home and I made some great friends and still keep in touch with a close group of four: two Germans and two Turks, including me. I often find myself reminiscing about our late nights around the kitchen table playing card games. Being a student in Germany was a fantastic experience. Oh, and during my time there, I married a German woman with Turkish roots.

When I first arrived in Germany, I was still working remotely for my previous employer in Turkey. They generously doubled my salary to support me as I started this new chapter abroad. I stayed with GroupM Istanbul for three more months after relocating, but eventually decided it was time to fully immerse myself in German culture and move on from my previous routine. That's when I started working as a Working Student Data Engineer at Cogitanda Deutschland which is Cologne based company, I stayed at Cogitanda until my graduation in September 2023. By then, I had set my sights on transitioning into a role more aligned with my passion such as a Machine Learning Engineer, Data Scientist, or something in that realm. So I turned down the opportunity to continue at Cogitanda as a full-time Data Engineer. Looking back, that may have been the biggest mistake I made during my time in Germany, but at the time, it felt like the right move for my long-term career goals.

This time I'm with my lovely cat Kiwi in Solingen, Germany. (May 2023)

Although I was eager to kick off my career as a Machine Learning Engineer or Data Scientist, the job hunt quickly revealed how tough it really was. Over time, I came to realize that these roles are often geared toward candidates with several years of experience already under their belt. Rejection emails started piling up in my inbox, and I couldn't quite figure out what I was doing wrong. I had done everything I could think of to improve my chances: I had my CV reviewed by professionals, attended career fairs like Absolventenkongress in nearby cities such as Cologne, and even spent a month preparing for the highly regarded AWS Machine Learning Specialty certification, which I passed after paying the hefty €330 exam fee. But despite all that, nothing seemed to work.

Four months after graduating, I had only managed to secure three interviews in Germany. One of them led to an offer but it was for a Data Analyst role (which required me to spend most of my time in spreadsheets), far removed from what I was aiming for. I had particularly high hopes for one opportunity, as the interviews had gone very well. But just when I thought an offer was coming, they stopped replying to me e-mails which I suppose that's what they call ghosting. During that time, I was also interviewing with a Turkish company called Baryonic Space for a Deep Learning Engineer position. The role was a perfect match for my skills and interests, especially with its strong emphasis on LLMs. I accepted their offer, relocated to Turkey, and I've been working there ever since and fully focused on the field I'm most passionate about.