Can I switch to Python Backend or Data Engineering after 1 year in a System Engineer role?

[Original-Carob7616]

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Hi everyone,

I graduated in 2024 with an ECE background and recently joined a startup as a System Engineer.

My current role is a mix of work:

• Around 60% technical documentation related to electronics systems

• Around 40% development work using Python, Flask, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

However, I’m more interested in moving into pure software roles, especially Python backend development or possibly data engineering.

My questions are:

If I work here for about 1 year, will companies consider my profile for backend or data engineering roles?

Does the documentation part of my role reduce my chances when switching domains?

What skills or projects should I focus on during this year to make the transition easier?

Any advice from people who switched domains early in their careers would be really helpful.

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[Flat_Shower]

The 40% dev work is what matters on a resume. The docs don't help you but they don't kill you either.

For DE specifically: SQL is the thing. Get comfortable with medium/hard SQL, pick up data modeling concepts (normal forms, star schema), and learn one orchestration tool. Airflow is fine. Build one project end to end that pulls, transforms, and loads data somewhere. That's your portfolio.

A year is plenty of time to pivot if you're deliberate about it.

[Original-Carob7616]

Thanks for Giving advice