From zero to hero: data analyst to senior engineer in 1 year
How I managed to get my first data engineering job and just turned into a senior level in my first year of that career. Continuation of these 1st, 2st series story.
Don’t get me wrong on undermining the DA role which brought me here (and still so valuable). By zero I mean no engineer and far from being considered as one.
I’ve been out of here for a while but still thinking about the articles I want to write, based on the same questions I get over and over by my network. But besides reviewing material and recommending study paths, I intend to share more of personal advice from my perspective. As great friends and mentors I had, I want to be one more great friend who shed a light to help you grow. So this is my story on how I was promoted to senior in my first year as a data engineer :)
This impostor’s syndrome stuff is real….
I won’t lie that I doubted my skills and chances for a while. Moving to tech is a huge step for those ones who did not attend a CS-like major like I said in here. The job market is a paradox: for you to get a job, you must have experience. But to gain experience, you first need a job! And that sounded impossible. No one wants to hire you for a software position without a related major or past experience (it’s unlikely for you to pass in the hiring processes steps as well).
I was rejected in the two companies I most dreamed for (and believed in), but fortunately in the end got an opportunity as said in this story. I was looking for junior positions but that one was mid-level. I asked the recruiter but just did and passed (yeah, researches show that women tend to be more scared of not being capable when applying to jobs as men). So was I, at my start, very afraid of knowing nothing. But down for the challenge and willing to learn! 🤓📚
Seriously, I passed the basic Python challenge and designed a familiar AWS architecture in the exams, but knew almost nothing in terms of core SWE. I barely knew object-oriented programming, I had never written a single dummy class before. It made me very ashamed in front of other people. Back-end engineers talked Greek to me. In the beginning I did well as it was mostly dashboards and BI but later on I had to go deep into the engineering stuff. I’m glad it was not a problem for my company but a goal for us to do it together. So I was in a safe and trustworthy environment to grow up (it’s important!).
The fact was I wasn’t real sure about my career progression because of how much I’ve been judged by my experience (or in this case, the lack of that lol). I even asked my boss if he thought I would really pass as a mid-level engineer. As everyone would say or notice the “you don’t have technical knowledge’’, I felt like a fraud and not deserving it. Then he said that if it was only for the soft skills, I could be a senior, but I would need to work on the technical gap. I kept this words and made use throughout the whole history. It made a lot of sense.
So last Xmas I was at my parents and received the promotion notice in the performance review. I knew I would do great again with my high efforts, but not expecting that to be so quick. I can say I was more than happy and it counted as one of my highest career achievements so far. I switched from a desperate rejected aspiring developer to a valued professional which receives international job offers everyday and refuses most of them by choice. This is amazing and I’m so grateful for who supported me. Now it’s my time to give it back to community and in the next paragraphs I highlight my tips.
- It’s all about time: just do it!
People forget that the brain is just another muscle. If you want it to grow, you need to stress it. Everyday, constantly. A bit harder. But relax to recover and take care of your health meanwhile. Or you will colapse and have a burnout! Take a step that works for you. There is no secret. If you’re gifted, time will indeed be lesser, but process is not automatic. You’ll need to study and dedicate some time. And unfortunately the day only has 24 hours, so you cannot create new slots, only rearrange them. It’s up to you to make great choices and trade-offs to optimize your future returns. When I had to detach from the 80’s Kimball DW bible to get familiar to the lakehouse architecture, the Databricks Youtube channel replaced my Netflix for some weeks. Sometimes I have lunch on PC or then balance weeks just for leisure.
The logic is the same as investing: it’s just about time. I start at 10 a.m. at work but I usually get up at 6-7 a.m. and sit in the table to read or study. Just make some sacrifice and you have at least 3 more hours of rest brain to work! And still got the evening for my series and games (if night works for you, go to bed a bit later). Effort will pay, I promise. Also you can try to combine activities. I love going to parks on the weekend. So I bring my books while I enjoy the sun. Take every Saturday or Sunday for two hours each and you easily read a book per month! Switch your favorite series a bit with video classes and you can handle both the learning and reduced but some fun too. In the end it’s like a regular gym, you stop hating to getting used to it.
2. Focus to mind the gap and get hands-on!
There is a huge world around, but you have to figure out how to do what your job takes. First I had to study a lot to keep up with the basics of DE, then after some time it sounded natural. So I kept reducing the amount of work and sparing time for other interests too. I might get curious about gaming videos, but this won’t change a thing. My boss told me “if you just use batch now, focus on that first before streaming”. But the challenges… I came across many famous books which are never in Python 🙄 Oh the fear of unexplored lands. For a year I held an excuse to read Clean Code because it’s Java. Come on, you can get a crash course of few hours for free even on Youtube. I did and it was totally worth it, applied concepts to a project! In the end it all looks the same.
In every career there is the topics you won’t like. As in Mech Eng I hated fluids with all my forces, in software I hated Git, Bash, Docker and all that DevOps / Infra stuff. But you will need it and you do just grasp them when you ran some actual commands besides reading. Don’t be shy to ask colleagues for help and to demonstrate examples for you if you can, I did a lot. Get to solve (or at least FUP and discuss) problems from the tools you use. It will have learnings and it could be quiet in at your time and pace. I used to have a “coding playground” where I created toy tables to test database operations. If something goes wrong, it’s not serious. I’ve worked a lot on functions to wrap my stuff. Not really needed, but leveraged my skills for sure. Homework done!
3. Beyond the labels, the inside matters
From now you know a bit how I feel about labels, especially because they favor privileged people and may be very superficial. I’ve seen a lot of senior data engineer candidates with brilliant LinkedIn profiles who weren’t able to perform coding and SQL exercises I applied on interviews. I’ve helped some and said not to be enough for the same job. On the other hand, I saw great people being cut for lacking a bachelor degree at a top university whereas other non-degree people could stand out in front of graduates who sometimes don’t have a market fit. Yeah, humans are complex. In the end, don’t aim only in LinkedIn visibility. It’s great, but real knowledge is better and permanent.
Of course a proven past education or relevant experience can help you, but it’s not only about that. Behind the diploma or access card, there’s a person. I confirmed that when I got the promotion. I thought again it was not possible for my very few engineering experience. Then a good friend reminded me how the career don’t matter deeply. All you know from other roles and studies do count, as long as you’re evaluated right. Sometimes it’s just a chance of being heard and show off your potential. Even if you don’t master what it takes to the job yet, it’s a matter of learning, you can always learn more. In my case, I was trusted but acknowledged of the need of minding the gap too.
4. Use the duck and get social
We’re always afraid of being the less smart in the room and can get shy. I lost this myth when I saw several engineers who didn’t know my tools. So whenever possible, explain things to others. It helps you memorize. How many times you freak out and just by stating the problem to someone it was gone? Onboarding and supporting people can help you develop and also consolidate you as a reference 😉. It’s a two way street: a person whom I taught the most data basics of data was the one to save me on Git when I needed. Invest in your connections! Get time to talk in public, present your projects and answer questions. Soft skills are very remarkable in tech and will make you stand out. I attended many lives which were interesting as well. I participated in a diversity mentoring programs which made a difference.
I like to think that career is a big part of our lives and we should appreciate it besides the payout. Make it one of your interests too and it will get lighter. Engage in small talks with other people and share experiences. Say you heard how JS might be bad in front of a front-ender and they will share thoughts with you (like I was quiet in a room with people defending their programming languages and I learned by osmosis). Other cool story is that I offered to mentor a friend of my former boss. We had a virtual coffee and then became close friends! Until today we motivate each other daily (or cry together lol). That’s really awesome! Good people can also help you in referrals or opinion when switching jobs/companies. In my case, I was referred by a former college colleague and referred other too. Don’t forget, you never know the future.
5. Plan and stand up for yourself
This is one of the hardest things, given our natural context. In the famous 1:1 sessions with your manager, they will always say that you are the “pilot” of your career and no one will drive you there but yourself. This is so true, even having an assistance can help but won’t change that. You should be responsible for your development plan and put energy on that. Do you know what is the next career step? Or how long will it take? How should be the company aligned with that rise if even you don’t know? I learned the hard way not to just wait for merits/promotions. I’ve been months and years sustaining teams and excelling in performance reviews without anything as exchange. You need to claim your value there. You always have the “no”.
So reflect and ask for what you want and need (with good arguments). I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t asked by former boss to shadow the DE team. Saying I wasn’t happy about a stakeholder was hard but relieving. Despite not being the most technical personal, I was acting as a tech leader in my team. I would conduct the project thought trade-off decisions, guide people, plan and executing tasks common to seniors. Just being brave. So I told my director about that. Considering the job ladder we had and my performance, I formally stated I could deliver value as a senior engineer. I was a bit afraid of asking, but they heard me! Amazing. Even if it wouldn’t be the case, what worst could happen? They would be required to provide me a great answer with actionable feedback. I would work on that again and try it hard again.
6. The right opportunity at the right time
Let’s end up this section with one more cliche as life is about success patterns. I won’t lie it’s about strategy too and the most smart wins. It’s statistics: you have to diversify to increase chances and try to get the highest possibilities out if it. I do love DE, but I also chose it because of higher demand-to-supply ratio with nice incomes. If you manage to specialise in the market’s needs, there will be plenty of opportunities (especially seniors). I took notes and advantage of that. And we modern people are agile, remember? We iterate fast and manage changes. I tried many roles before and many went wrong. Move on and open up for other doors, don’t attach to a single thing. I thought no company would hire me as engineer but in one year my opinion changed.
I know how impatient we are and it’s a long journey too. I’ve experience not so cool moments on my companies, due to top-down cost savings, managers leaving, hierarchical changes. But I decided to stay and get through it to be remembered at later good times. It’s like holding a stock based on the fundamentals. No one wants to fight uncertainties and challenges when things do not go well, but in the end there is a reward! When you look back you see the progress and how you survive the bad times, how strong you are. So be aware of the timing and opportunities because even bad scenarios can help you achieve what you want. And you’re not alone on this. When I had no managers, I could find great people to be with me. I know you can do it too!
So what’s next? For me honestly I don’t know. Sometimes I think about being a manager and formally work developing people and organising teams to drive them for success. But as from this book, there is no clear right answer until you try! I’ve also opened my IT consulting firm and started services abroad, not sure if I’ll stay in Brazil or move out again. I also wonder how I could extend my personal projects to the community, if it makes sense to officialise my mentoring one day, participate more actively in events or even become a real career coach. If you have feedback or ideas to me, let me know!
But that’s was it for my long self-reflection exercise. To think through this career achievement as one of my highest and more to come! And how to share a bit with others, especially women like me. In the IT industry you don’t see many of them to be your role models. So I get excited when I see powerful girls dominating challenging roles from the boring white, cis, straight, 40’s men. Or just when my friends succeed! I hope I can still see more changes!
Please share your feedback, I’m dying for that. And share this article to your data lover friends! And tell them ❤
