Empowering Data Engineers

How Chris found the perfect resource to accelerate his career growth

Meet the students of the Learn Data Engineering Academy — a group of passionate individuals who are dedicated to mastering the art of data engineering. In this mini series of success stories, we will explore the journeys of these students, from their initial interest in data engineering to their current success in the industry. Join us as we celebrate their achievements and inspire others to pursue their dreams in the world of data engineering.

Chris Wight is an experienced data engineer who started his career in Information Technology during the mid-90s. With a degree in Philosophy, he began working in a tech shop, repairing computers and troubleshooting end-user problems. Chris then got a couple of certifications and moved up the technical ladder, eventually landing a job at a major tech company in Silicon Valley, California. He specialized in systems and database administration, later moving into data integration and data warehousing.

In 2010, Chris accepted a job as a defense contractor in Tokyo, Japan, where he worked on data analytics and database architecture until 2020. He then returned to the western US, where he currently works with cloud data platforms at a major defense contractor.

Discovering a Valuable Resource

During his time as a data engineer, Chris found that there were not many resources available for data engineering training and courses online. However, he stumbled upon the O’Reilly book, Fundamentals of Data Engineering, by Joe Reis and Matt Housley. Later on, he discovered Andreas Kretz’ Data Engineering Academy through his YouTube channel and was soon convinced of the teaching content:

“The approach to learning data engineering fits very well with where I am in my career and my aspirations for the future. I watched many of the free videos on Andreas YouTube channel, and was intrigued by the topics. The videos were very short but they left me with questions and I wanted to know more. I checked out the Data Engineering Academy curriculum and it seemed like exactly what I needed. The career roadmap and tech tree were impressive, providing various possible approaches to get into the industry. I recognized many of the technologies mentioned were some things I could get involved with at my work, and that gave me more ideas on how to move into the direction of Data Engineering as a full-time career.”

Chris is currently focusing on the Platform & Pipeline Design Fundamentals course, with particular interest in the hands-on example projects as he plans to complete all of them. Since Chris’s current job revolves around Azure data platforms, he feels that it will be the easiest and most immediately useful technology for him to learn. Nevertheless, he is interested in all the technologies covered by the Academy and looks forward to learning more.

Comprehensive Learning Journey

Chris has found the courses at the Data Engineering Academy to be very positive overall. He appreciates the career and technology roadmaps in PDF form, and he spends more time on each course, taking notes and screenshots to review later. He has noticed a considerable difference in his understanding and confidence with the topics covered so far.

“The Academy is casual, comprehensive, and self-paced. The courses are well-structured, very well thought out, and thorough. The Discord server is helpful. I can expect to get an answer within twenty-four hours of my question (understandably, I’m in the US West, usually learning after midnight in Germany). Andreas is a good instructor, easy to listen to, easy to understand. Sometimes he is funny, perhaps unintentionally, and I appreciate that. There seems to be a lot of growth and development in the Academy, which is encouraging for future content.”

Overall, Chris feels that he has made positive progress so far, and his expectations of the Academy have been met. Despite a busy winter and spring, he is looking forward to catching up and absorbing all the new content. The Learn Data Engineering Academy has been an excellent resource for Chris, and he would recommend it to anyone looking to start or advance their career in data engineering.

Start Your Own Journey

We hope you got inspired by Chris’s journey. Now the big question for you is: are you ready to start your very own Data Engineering success story? Then join our Learn Data Engineering Academy today!

If you are interested, but still have a few burning questions on your mind: feel free to contact me via hello@learndataengineering.com or mention me on Twitter.

For more information and content on Data Engineering, also check out my other blog posts, videos and more on Medium, YouTube and LinkedIn!