The 1 Question New Data Engineers Never Ask (But Absolutely Must)

Either afraid or stuck in old habits, new engineers fail to ask important probing questions; how devs can think critically.

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As overwhelmed as I was during my first week as a data engineer, I gave my team plenty to consider. Since I was a new hire and very junior, I was in probationary limbo for nearly 2 months. And even though I couldn’t materially contribute, I could fulfill one request: Ask us anything. Coming from a journalism background, I’m very comfortable seeking out answers.

In fact, until my pivot to data engineering, bothering people in exchange for information was my most marketable skill.

And while the questions I asked helped me “get up to speed”, recently I realized that in my quest to understand processes, even in years in both an entry-level and now-senior position I (and many, many juniors) don’t ask one question enough.

It’s a line of thought best summarized by Jurassic Park’s iconic quote, which I’ll paraphrase.

“Your [Data Engineers] were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should” — Dr. Ian Malcom, Jurassic Park…