Hi fellow data professional! Remember when the world ended? This month, 6 years ago, the world shut down and entered “unprecedented times.” Shortly after COVID-19 was designated a pandemic, I was unceremoniously furloughed from my day job at Disney World for 3-ish months. During COVID while others quarantined, I was on the move. After quickly feeling isolated in our third floor Central Florida apartment, my now-wife and I joined millions of other American 20-somethings who took a pandemic as...
12 days ago • 1 min read
Hi fellow data professional! I’ve broken my own data project rule. I’ve used the same data over and over again. For 3 years. It sounds boring but that depth exposure may actually be one of the few moats that slows encroaching AI. A little context: I support subscriptions, newsletters and growth for my employer. Spoiler alert: These areas are all basically the same thing. And they use basically the same three data sets. While I have opportunities to jump to other projects, this has been my...
19 days ago • 1 min read
Hi fellow data professional! I had a very adult weekend after baby bedtime. I uncorked a bottle of wine, cracked open my laptop and… stayed up late making a dashboard tracking my assets and debts. While I learned some important high-level insights that will help me make financial decisions as I renovate and prepare to move into my home, I realized a basic development truth that could help anyone knee-deep in their own project. If your goal is commit or ship then the simplest implementation...
26 days ago • 1 min read
Hi fellow data professional! Next time you think you’ve tried everything in your job search, remember: I once worked with a guy who got hired at a national broadcast network on the strength of his parody rap. The intern, Jake, didn’t have a network or elite contacts, but he wanted an internship at The Tonight Show, a competitive role with over 10,000 applicants per semester. So, he recreated a shot-for-shot parody of a song previously performed on the show, rewritten with lyrics specifically...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi fellow data professional! For the past month I’ve been working on my most ambitious personal project: Purchasing and renovating a house. The first major upgrade? Replacing 70+-year-old windows. And while there’s probably a tech work comparison to gutting a legacy system to build anew, what I want to focus on is the deal I brokered and how you can use similar leverage in your interviews. Because I got $1200 off a house’s worth of windows as a result of market research, due diligence and a...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi fellow data professional! Big news from my home base of Orlando: Disney hired a new CEO with a pay package of nearly $40 million. If you read beyond the headline you’ll see that his base salary is “only” 2.5 million with the possibility of up to a 250% target incentive and some $26-ish million in stock options. This is why you, the job seeker, need to think beyond base salary and look at TC. Total compensation. Thanks to labor transparency laws passed in hiring hubs like New York and...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi fellow data professional! Once, during a virtual interview, I had to nod politely as my interviewer apologized for coughing after their cigarette. Oh, and to make this situation even more cringe—they were driving. Some industries design stressful interview processes to psychologically test a candidate’s poise under pressure. Luckily (for the most part) the software engineering field is not included in this basket of high-stress tests. Sure, we are subjected to moderate stress in the form...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi fellow data professional! On a recent holiday, a family member and I were strolling along a beach, talking about AI disruption (relaxing, I know). He, an attorney, assured me his job was AI-proof and jokingly offered to hire me when AI takes my data engineering job. If you ask executives at most companies, they’d find several flaws in that argument. Over 80% of technical executives, including Chief Data Officers and Chief AI Officers, consider data engineering to be an essential role...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi fellow data professional! Ken Jee, who you heard from last week, drops some sobering career advice in one of the earliest editions of AI Survival Guide: Making a senior-level tech role is no longer about advancement; it’s about survival. The post talks about the growing moat or "wall" between those breaking into the industry, those in entry-level roles and those in a mid-career phase. In the spirit of AI Survival Guide’s advice to bridge the gap separating the early and mid-career...
2 months ago • 2 min read