My 4-Year Data Engineering Career Retrospective

And offering a counter narrative to the job-hopping mindset.

Since September 2021 I’ve worked remotely as a data engineer at Forbes, building cloud-based data infrastructure from the ground up and adjusting to professional challenges and life milestones along the way.

For all of the metaverses and web3 hallucinations that come and go, one idea has always persisted in tech: longevity isn’t cool. From yearly product releases (I think we’re on the iPhone 34 by now) to version names (GPT-5), the prevailing sentiment is develop, ship, and move on. This transient development ethos has trickled down to those who build the products they’re constantly upgrading, revealing an even more obvious truth: long tenures aren’t cool. It seems like the only thing more lucrative than working at a big tech company is being able to add Ex-(insert MAANG corp) to your LinkedIn heading.

This is the context in which I mark four years with my current organization. Last year I noted that in being promoted after two years and working for three, I found myself in a strange spot: experiencing momentum within my organization but not having enough experience to even be eligible for most senior roles outside it. At four years, I have the distinct pleasure of no longer having to “pad out” my resume to convince others I really am an experienced dev. In last year’s update, I noted that three years marked the same period of time I was in my day job at the Orlando-area Disney…