Resources

Guides, first-hand accounts, and programs for people trying to get into a frontier lab or a new one. Written by other people; collected here.

Getting hired at a frontier lab

• How to Land a Frontier Lab JobVlad Feinberg

  What the bar actually is, what counts as evidence, and how to get in front of the right people.

• So You Want to Work at a Frontier AI LabLessWrong

  Honest account of the paths in, the trade-offs, and what the work is like once you're there.

• Becoming a Research Engineer at a Big LLM LabMax Mynter

  First-person write-up of the search that ended with a research engineer offer at Mistral. Project-based advice.

• How I Got a Job at DeepMind as a Research Engineer (Without an ML Degree)Aleksa Gordić

  From an electrical engineering bachelor's to DeepMind, via public projects and paper reimplementations.

• How to Get Hired at OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMindSundeep Teki

  How the three labs differ in what they screen for, and a preparation timeline.

• OpenAI and Anthropic Hiring: What Most Get WrongLet's Data Science

  Why public research beats LeetCode for these roles, and what a portfolio should contain.

• Becoming an AI Research Engineer: Skills, Salary, and the Honest PathJobs by Culture

  Paper reproductions, open-source contributions, technical writing. The path for engineers without a research background.

• Work at a Frontier Labworkatafrontierlab.com

  A course on the ML systems knowledge that labs assume and test for: memory math, failure modes, distributed training.

Interview processes

• AI Research Engineer Interview GuideSundeep Teki

  Round-by-round breakdown for research engineer loops at the major labs.

• Anthropic's Interview Process and Questionsinterviewing.io

  Stages, timelines, and the kinds of problems asked, from people who have run and sat the loop.

• Anthropic Interview Process: 6 Steps to an OfferIGotAnOffer

  The take-home, the coding style, the background conversation, and the mission-fit round.

• Anthropic Applied AI Engineer Interview ProcessPerspective AI

  What the applied track tests, as distinct from the research track.

• Anthropic Research Engineer Interview PreparationCleverPrep

  Preparation plan organised by round.

• AI Lab Interview Guide: OpenAI vs Anthropic vs DeepMindApplr

  Side-by-side comparison of the three processes.

• Introduction to Machine Learning InterviewsChip Huyen

  Free book. How ML hiring works from both sides of the table, with a large question bank.

AI safety and alignment careers

• AI Safety Technical Research: Career Review80,000 Hours

  The standard reference. Entry requirements, the PhD question, and how labs actually assess candidates.

• 67 Resources to Upskill in Technical AI Safety80,000 Hours

  Courses, reading lists, and programs, sorted by where you're starting from.

• How to Be an AI Safety Research EngineerLessWrong

  Start from the problems you care about; hiring managers can tell. Then put ideas out in public.

• Levelling Up in AI Safety Research EngineeringLessWrong

  A skill ladder from beginner to lab-ready, with concrete exercises at each rung.

• How to Pursue a Career in Technical AI AlignmentLessWrong

  Research lead versus research engineer paths, and how people move between them.

• AGI Safety Career AdviceLessWrong

  The field is mentorship-constrained. Find the best mentor you can before anything else.

Residencies and fellowships

• Anthropic Fellows ProgramAnthropic

  Four-month funded research fellowship. No PhD or prior ML experience required.

• OpenAI ResidencyOpenAI

  For researchers and engineers moving into AI from adjacent fields such as mathematics, physics, or neuroscience.

• MATSML Alignment & Theory Scholars

  Mentored research program that has become one of the main pipelines into safety teams at the labs.

• AI Fellowships and Residencies (curated list)GitHub

  Maintained list of fellowships, residencies, grants, and accelerators for AI talent.

• Awesome AI ResidencyGitHub

  Longer-running list of residency programs across industry labs.

Context

• What Do Frontier AI Companies' Job Postings Reveal About Their Plans?Epoch AI

  Reading the labs' hiring as a signal of where they're heading.

• Frontier AI Lab Talent Landscape and Flow MapMetix

  Where researchers move between labs, and which labs are net gaining.

• What Is a Member of Technical Staff?Simplify

  Where the title comes from, what it means at AI labs today, and what it pays.

• 8 Frontier AI Labs ComparedDavid Veksler

  One-page comparison of the major labs: focus, scale, culture, funding.

Know a guide that belongs here? Send it over. Ready to look at open roles? Back to the board.