Extract. Transform. Read.

A newsletter from Pipeline​

Hi past, present or future data professional!
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The most dramatic dataset in the U.S. right now is labor data. Marred by revisions, official firings and general distrust, when the dust clears, U.S. unemployment hovers around 4%. The tech sector, specifically, ticked up from an all-time low to 3%, with overall jobs and postings decreasing significantly.
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While 3% is far from the industry’s record 5.7% set earlier this year, it is concerning.
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Ok. Enough doom scrolling.
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Buried in the report is good news for data professionals.
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“Hiring intent data continues to show employers pursuing tech talent across a range of disciplines, from AI and data science to tech support and cloud engineering“, according to research firm CompTIA.
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So the broad trend is that more traditional software engineering dev jobs are declining—not because AI is good at coding—but because it can accelerate the work of experienced devs.
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The good news is that while employers are reluctant to pull a Zuckerberg and offer million-dollar salaries to aging devs, they seem more willing to bet on entry-level employees who will accept cheaper salaries (by comparison).
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Even though companies are seeking younger talent, you won’t necessarily see more job postings, as they tend to decline with unemployment increases.
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That means if you’re early-career and hungry for experience, you need to make the first move. Reaching out to established professionals, cold, on LinkedIn, is a good start. Taking time to assess your target companies and your fit for the job can also provide an edge. But a consistent factor continues to be demonstrating experience.
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If you’re like a friend of mine, you can take a big swing, go viral and hope the right people see your stuff. Or, you can take a more purposeful approach with a carefully curated portfolio of professional projects.
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To that extent, I’m finishing up a resource, a new ebook to help you get started and actually finish business-relevant data engineering portfolio projects.

I’ll be publishing it within a month and announcing it in a future newsletter, but if you want early access, join the waitlist to be alerted 1 week early.
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Thanks for ingesting,
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-Zach Quinn