Extract. Transform. Read.

A newsletter from Pipeline​

Hi past, present or future data professional!

If you live in the U.S., this week marks the end of back to school season; though, if you’re like my southern relatives, you’ve been back since July.

The closest feeling most adults get to back to school (aside from the teachers), is starting a new job. While a new org, title and compensation package represents new opportunities, it’s also easy to feel like the “new kid”, which can lead to being professionally overwhelmed.

Being the nerd that I am, I thought the best way to combat the anxiety of newness was through extensive cramming in irrational ways like crushing Leetcode problems like I never, in fact, landed a job.

In retrospect, desperately over-preparing for my first day as a data engineer stressed me out more than any first day of school.

Instead of a marathon cram session, I recommend a more targeted approach that’s both effective and kind to your mental health.

Take one (or all) of the following steps depending on your level of anxiety anticipating your new role.

Request A "Homework" List

After you send that thank you email to your new boss (which you should absolutely do, btw), send a follow-up request. Ask for a detailed list of the tools and tech stack you’ll be using, the key processes you should know, and a bit about the team’s current projects. This shows initiative and helps you focus your preparation.

Brush Up On Business Speak and Master Your Domain

Coming from a different background, you might encounter some unfamiliar terms. Take a few hours to lightly study key data engineering terminology.

The distinction between ETL/ELT/EL, the difference between a Data Lake, Data Warehouse, and Data Lakehouse, and an understanding of Batch vs. Streaming jobs will go a long way.

Additionally, don't neglect the business side. You can't provide value if you don’t understand the business you’re supporting.

Take some time to research the industry and your new company's specific domain. You'll thank yourself for this later when you're in meetings and not just nodding along.

Crush A Confidence-Boosting Project

Instead of doing abstract practice problems, use the tech stack your boss sent you to build a small personal project. Find a dataset you’re genuinely interested in and create a simple ETL or ELT pipeline that pulls from an API and uses some form of automation.

This gives you a tangible, small-scale replica of what you’ll be working on and helps you learn by doing.

It’s far more effective than just reading books.

Get Away (If You Can)

This might be the most important advice of all. Your first few months on the job are going to be demanding.

You’ll be onboarding, reading through codebases, and attending countless meetings. You will have very little time off in your first year. Use these weeks to rest, recharge, and store up the mental energy you'll need. If you can, try to go somewhere. If you work remotely, you might even be able to work while on future getaways.

If you absolutely must "prepare" before your big day, just pick up a good book.

I've heard Designing Data-Intensive Applications is a great beach read.

To delve deeper into this advice, read the original story here.

Thanks for ingesting,

-Zach Quinn