u/Low_Leading_2282

I have a PhD in math (very good uni, mainly analysis, with some geometry and probability, but zero simulations or statistics) and am gonna start a postdoc soon (for 2 years). I am interested in the AI/ML world and would like to transition to it after this postdoc (or at least think about it so seriously that I see if I would like it). Private company or university doesnt really matter, as long as the research is genuine. Is this doable or too far for a switch? How should I prepare, what could I wish for, etc?
I am and I want to stay in Europe.

I am moving to Bern in September. I am considering buying a car, but am not sure how useful it is (I live now in Germany and it would not be useful to me rn). However I am a big skiing lover, and I was wondering: is it possible to go skiing without a car (for example to Adelboden)? Are there other reasons to owe / not owe a car?

I will work at the university in the center, so I guess I wouldnt use it every day. On the other hand, I would use it occasionally as it is faster than the train to visit my family.

In order to prepare to interviews, I prepared studying leetcodes, and I can generally solve mediums in decent time. I moved this week to hackerrank because I will have an OA there.

Are there things I need to know? Like do they focus on different things? The problems there seem to be more lengthy and sometimes the marked difficulty is completely off. Also I often find strange how the output is requested.

I am finishing my math PhD in Summer from a leading university in Europe. I spent the last months training for QF interviews, solving brainteasers and leetcodes. However, I applied to a few position and never made it to the first interview round. I applied either to few top firms websites (just 3-4) or via eFinancialcarreers (maybe 10).
Possible reasons: 1) no previous experience/internships, 2) university is not Oxbridge nor ETH, 3) I have not applied enough or in the right places.
Any suggestion? How do I get to a second-tier firm, if I cannot reach the top ones?