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.
When Isn't Automation Worth It?
The Latest From Pipeline: Your Data Engineering ResourceHi past, present or future data professional! Have you heard about the programmer who successfully automated his job to the point where he did no work for 5 years? Unfortunately, automation efforts are rarely this comprehensive—or successful. In fact, spending time on automation often results in a time sink, requiring more time to conceive and create the automation than time it saves you. In the latest from Pipeline, I provide a simple formula to determine ROI on automation. I also share successes—and failures—to inspire you to think critically before attempting to put any aspect of your job (or even the whole thing!) on autopilot. Read the story here. Until next time - thanks for ingesting, -Zach |
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! Quick question: How much could I pay you to switch your job? Conventional wisdom in the tech industry in the last handful of years is that the way to supercharge growth and max out your career earnings is to frequently change jobs. On average, job switchers could and should target an increase of 15-20% of their current salary. But in a rocky economy (at least here in the U.S.), career experts are urging would-be switchers to consider the benefits of a stable role...
Hi fellow data professional and Happy New Year! In the second half of 2025, I made a radical choice: I (largely) stopped blogging. Over the past year, Medium (where I host my content) made a series of changes that de-prioritizes technical content, leading to the departure of several major publications, including Toward Data Science. Pair that platform disillusionment with a bit of burnout, and the result is a feeling that it’s time for a change. For 75+ weeks, I’ve preferred concise,...
Hi fellow data professional - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Since an email is probably one of the least exciting things to open on Christmas morning, I'll keep this brief. As a thank you for subscribing and reading the newsletter this year, I'd like to offer a gift: My FREE guide to web scraping in Python. Centered around 3 "real world" projects, the guide highlights the importance of being able to retrieve, interpret and ingest unstructured data. Get your guide here. Have a restful...