Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and nearly 3k learners by email, I draw on my 4 years of experience as a Senior Data Engineer to demystify data science, cloud and programming concepts while sharing job hunt strategies so you can land and excel in data-driven roles. Subscribe for 500 words of actionable advice every Thursday.
[ETR #32] Forget DE; Become An SME
Extract. Transform. Read.A newsletter from Pipeline Hi past, present or future data professional! A peer of mine once revealed the reason they were sleep deprived: They were up past midnight writing ad hoc SQL queries with a c-suite leader literally hovering over their shoulder. The visibility of data analysts (like the one in the anecdote) and data scientists’ products, dashboards and ML models, means they are often the first on a Business Intelligence team to be bothered when something “looks weird.” This deference to the other more visible data teams shouldn’t stop you, the ambitious engineer, from taking on an important but unofficial role: SME, a.k.a. Subject Matter Expert. Being able to not only tell a stakeholder when a data source loaded (or didn’t) but also being the go-to person for questions, vendor outreach and general support, makes you an invaluable resource that goes beyond your job title and ability to “crank out code.” In a bumpy job market, this is key to cementing yourself as a must-retain staff member. To be a true SME you need to not only know your data, but also understand the larger business context which your work contributes to, which typically breaks down into: Resource conservation, performance optimization and revenue generation. For a working data engineer, going from DE to SME involves stepping outside of your comfort zone by:
If you’re not currently working in a data engineering role or are still in the job search phase, you can be an SME by narrowing your search to focus on industries or “domains” in which you have proven experience. For more information on how to apply that experience, read this guide. Anticipating business and stakeholder needs means less late nights and, more importantly, a little breathing room. Thanks for ingesting, -Zach Quinn |
Extract. Transform. Read.
Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and nearly 3k learners by email, I draw on my 4 years of experience as a Senior Data Engineer to demystify data science, cloud and programming concepts while sharing job hunt strategies so you can land and excel in data-driven roles. Subscribe for 500 words of actionable advice every Thursday.
Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from Pipeline Hi past, present or future data professional! It’s hardly controversial to say debugging is everyone’s least favorite part of programming. One widely-used debugging method is the rubber duck method, popularized in Pragmatic Programming, which suggests you talk through your code, aloud, to an inanimate object. Being able to speak intelligently about what prompted a technical decision is one of the most underrated data engineering skills. One...
Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from Pipeline Hi past, present or future data professional! If you’re like me, in school you were always envious of your classmates that may not have applied themselves academically but were “good test takers.” Fortunately (for them at least), these folks would likely do well on what is quietly becoming the SAT of programming the GCA, or General Coding Assessment. Now, the General Coding Assessment isn’t any kind of board certifying test like the Bar...
Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from Pipeline Hi past, present or future data professional! While many tech-oriented companies have (in one way or another) reneged on remote working arrangements, my employer made an extreme gesture to demonstrate its commitment to the ongoing office-less lifestyle: It removed an entire floor of our two-floor New Jersey office space. Other companies, like Spotify, have unveiled slogans like “Our employees aren’t children. Spotify will continue working...