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.
What Is Your 3-Year Data Engineering Plan?
The Latest From Pipeline: Your Data Engineering ResourceHi past, present or future data professional! I hope you’ll indulge my sharing of an important career milestone; unfortunately, I’m not retiring with a gold Rolex snug on my wrist. Instead, this week marks 3 years in data engineering. I’m excited about this work-iversary because it marks a period of time in which I’ve been working in data engineering longer than my prior non-data job. If you’ve read my work you know I’ve taken an unconventional path to break into data engineering and to advance to a senior role. Ideating, writing and publishing code, projects and stories has been central to my success in standing out as a candidate with nearly zero pre-job experience. Additionally, here are 3 lessons that have helped me break in, gain proficiency and advance in a competitive and complex role.
To understand how I learned and put these lessons into practice, read the latest here. And if you want to know one of the most surprising lessons I’ve learned in 3 years, read this. Until next time–thanks for ingesting, -Zach Quinn |
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.
Hi fellow data professional! Once thought to be a purely back office role, data engineering is undergoing a radical transformation and gaining a new responsibility: Front-end deployment. The folks already deploying applications in this capacity are known, incidentally, as forward deployed software engineers or forward deployed engineers (FDEs). Before you worry about needing to learn JavaScript or other web programming paradigms, know that I’m referring to the preparation, deployment and...
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...
Hi past, present or future data professional! As the winter holidays approach, we’re entering a period of downtime for most orgs. Assuming your employer has hit goals (or accepted losses), allocated coverage for the slew of inevitable vacation requests and maybe even entered a “code freeze”, you’re entering data & tech’s slow season. If you’re working, during this time you may be asked to do any number of “downtime” (actual free time, not data outages) tasks ranging from code refactors to...