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 |
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! Remember when the world ended? This month, 6 years ago, the world shut down and entered “unprecedented times.” Shortly after COVID-19 was designated a pandemic, I was unceremoniously furloughed from my day job at Disney World for 3-ish months. During COVID while others quarantined, I was on the move. After quickly feeling isolated in our third floor Central Florida apartment, my now-wife and I joined millions of other American 20-somethings who took a pandemic as...
Hi fellow data professional! I’ve broken my own data project rule. I’ve used the same data over and over again. For 3 years. It sounds boring but that depth exposure may actually be one of the few moats that slows encroaching AI. A little context: I support subscriptions, newsletters and growth for my employer. Spoiler alert: These areas are all basically the same thing. And they use basically the same three data sets. While I have opportunities to jump to other projects, this has been my...
Hi fellow data professional! I had a very adult weekend after baby bedtime. I uncorked a bottle of wine, cracked open my laptop and… stayed up late making a dashboard tracking my assets and debts. While I learned some important high-level insights that will help me make financial decisions as I renovate and prepare to move into my home, I realized a basic development truth that could help anyone knee-deep in their own project. If your goal is commit or ship then the simplest implementation...