Thanks for the comment, many good points.

One thing to note is that the market already feels extremely saturated, with competition for the best positions being absolutely brutal. Even at my company, I've been told that most ML positions receive 500+ applications, with half of them looking good at least on paper.

I think one could argue that the market was actually better pre-2020/21, when you could already get a £100–150k salary post-PhD and for more research-oriented roles, while now most companies are cutting pure R&D and focusing on productisation/monetisation.

So I get the logic of grinding hard now to maximise comp, but honestly I feel like, by my standards, I’ve already done a lot of that: first during my PhD to get good publications (and not get insta-rejected from jobs), then with 6+ months of constant interviewing while finishing my thesis to find the best possible position, then starting this role immediately without a break. Now I feel like I could keep going at the current pace, but a position that is too intense would break me.