Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and over 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 #77] Think DE is Hard? Try Going Part-Time
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Hi past, present or future data professional! As time in 2025 dwindles, I wanted to share what I learned about optimizing design, development and troubleshooting time while working 3 days per week this fall. Quick background: If you’ve been a long-time reader, you’ll know that in March my wife and I had our first child. Consequently, through my employer, I was eligible for several months of parental leave. Anticipating my wife’s return to work (after much needed time off!) I allocated the second chunk of my leave to take Thursdays and Fridays off from the end of summer until the beginning of this month. So I became a part-time data engineer in order to be a full-time dad. Aside from the obvious perks, I found completing tasks in 3 days to be its own challenge. In a perfect dev scenario (in which I actually complete a build in a week.. which is rare), my week looks like this:
The condensed version became:
A 5-day dev schedule allows for “breathing room” and reduces the “time boxes” (time constraints) you impose on a more constrained timeline. While you may not find yourself in my exact situation, I believe I was able to maintain my full-time pace due to efficient strategies you can (and should) steal if you have limited dev time due to school or another job.
Most who learn programming obsess over optimization of code, but if you really want to be efficient, start focusing on optimizing your process. Thanks for ingesting, -Zach Medium | LinkedIn | Ebooks |
Extract. Transform. Read.
Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and over 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.
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