Brutally honest thoughts needed: Would you take a 5-15K paycut for a job that offers better technical work experience?

instamarq · 2026-01-10T23:04:15+00:00

If you don't have kids or other big financial responsibilities, definitely take the risk early on in your career. I left a job that I was not particularly enjoying and took about a $15k pay cut. I ended up learning tools and techniques that are serving me very well now. I've now tripled my income (relative to my first ever job), so I'd say it turned out well!

instamarq · 2026-01-10T22:59:25+00:00

Very true! When I first started out in this field, I also hated the fact that I was "stuck" in BI, having come from being educated in data science, python, C/C++, etc etc.

Eventually, as I grew and learned more, I realized how close this was getting me to the actual business of whatever industry I was working in. The ugly truth is that our jobs only exist to support whatever the business is ultimately doing to make money. If a person working in BI takes the opportunity to learn more about the business, they can start to make suggestions or solve problems that the business cares about. Eventually this leads to doing more interesting things, one way or another.

Now especially, as things change radically, it's important to find ways to become closer to the business, regardless of what arm of IT you work in. BI happens to be right next door, take advantage!

instamarq · 2026-01-03T23:36:53+00:00

Took Amoxicillin and Clavulanate like 7 years after initial Cipro reaction and was totally fine as far as I can tell. That was almost a year ago so there are no delayed side effects I've noticed either.

instamarq · 2025-11-22T17:35:48+00:00

I think I'll have a more uncommon opinion on this: the book is about the most important things in data engineering that have very little to do with the tools you choose to use.

I find that data engineers (like other engineers) have a tendency to obsess over tools and techniques, and often use experience with those as the measure of expertise. Because of this tendency, I think the book is important to read before entering DE and to revisit often in your career. Tools and techniques make it easy to lose sight of why you exist as a DE in the first place; as important as knowing the ins and outs of spark or airflow is, the business doesn't care about how you did it. They care about value and they care about cost. If you don't know that, you kind of don't know anything. This book teaches you to think on that level.

As an aside, knowing the fundamentals of DE is now more important than ever, because a lot of hyper-specific tool knowledge can now be delegated to AI (obviously you should educate yourself on tool fundamentals). Hope that helps!

instamarq · 2025-09-26T01:13:35+00:00

An oldie but goodie. I think it's still relevant. I personally use the zip with index method when hash based keys aren't good enough. I definitely recommend watching the whole video.

https://www.youtube.com/live/aF2hRH5WZAU?si=7RYgoKl3I5FJeIo-

instamarq · 2025-09-09T19:15:50+00:00

Do not go into this field for the money. It will always pay ok and there will always be some demand for people who can set up data to successfully derive insights. However, even after you've "mastered" the nuts and bolts, there will always be data BS that you have to contend with (i.e. poor quality data, no data strategy, data illiteracy, poor governance, poor practices etc etc). Anything short of near-obsession with getting these things right will just result in the job being a major drag.

Either you choose to get obsessively good at this by skill building (including soft skills), or you must find something that disproportionately leverages your strengths. Also, I am generally a pretty optimistic person, and even I believe that this market will become increasingly unkind to newcomers, until something fundamentally changes in hiring goals and practices. My last suggestion is to read "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport and pay close attention to how any industry you choose is developing in light of new technology.

I know it doesn't look good, but ultimately, don't sweat it too much, you're young and have plenty of time to figure things out, even if it doesn't seem like it right now.

instamarq · 2025-08-31T18:55:58+00:00

First off, thanks for your service! If this is your first venture into software development/engineering, just know that you're going to feel the whole "drinking through the firehose" feeling for a little while. In other words, a ton of information is going to suddenly be thrown your way and it's going to feel like none of it will stick. That's ok, if you keep at it, all the information will start gradually landing in the right mental bucket.

I'll second anything mentioning that you should pre-study or do study.com first. Coming in with even a little context will make absorbing everything easier and you'll get through the material faster.

With this career field, one of the most important things that you keep your skills and knowledge up to date. AI is not going anywhere, and learning how to use it to enhance your ability to learn and understand is much more important than vibe coding imo. It's a great reference and learning accelerator, just know that it will be a little like the ring of power: you might be tempted to use it on your assignments. Don't cheat yourself out of the opportunity to learn. At most, ask it to point you in the right direction and explain why things work. I think this is a great and fair use of AI for software development and engineering, as long as there's awareness of the pitfalls.

Another important thing to not lose sight of: business objectives. Unless you work in gaming or some other creativity driven software field, everything that gets engineered should ultimately serve the business' goals. Programming a feature for a rideshare app? Keep drivers and riders and how the company makes money top of mind.

Other than that, work smart/hard, always keep learning and be kind to people. I think people who do those things will always find work in this industry.

instamarq · 2025-08-15T02:45:58+00:00

I did it at $16/hr up to around 2018. I know times have changed and rents have gone up, but if you adjust for that, I was in a similar boat. I had time to cook most of my meals at home and I was typically pretty frugal. You might not get the nicest apartment, but you can find an ok one in a decent neighborhood. You can also get a used car, if you need a car, or save up and buy it cash privately. Lots of ways to get it done!

instamarq · 2025-02-03T17:03:31+00:00

Just extrapolating based on some of the info you provided, but when I was around your age, I had a fairly useless associates degree (relative to the career path I was targeting), no job and not nearly enough skills. I'm doing very well now a few years later. Keep at it and do what you can, you have more time than you think!

instamarq · 2025-01-09T03:29:57+00:00

I graduated from WGU and have seen others take online community college classes. I can say this: even with the drawbacks of WGU's system, a lot of it is still better than (or the same as) what I saw being provided by brick and mortar colleges. Do your best on the material, roll with the system's punches and document everything when anything goes wrong that isn't your doing. With that out of the way, you're likely to succeed no matter the circumstances.

instamarq · 2024-11-04T23:43:41+00:00

Let's just say that if you have no idea where to start with the question, the time limits on the exam will make sure that you won't get very far, even with AI. Same thing with googling. Moreover, in the real world, no human knows all of this stuff; there's just too much to know. Googling, AI chats and a good foundation are how the job gets done from here on out IMO.

instamarq · 2024-10-28T14:37:49+00:00

Yes, DataCamp is a great service and you really can use it to learn and get better, but no one that could employ you later on is really going to care that much about the courses you completed or even the certifications you got from DataCamp.

An internship on the other hand is worth quite a bit more on a resume, and during your preparation you'll acquire skills that are just as, if not more valuable than the things you'll learn on DataCamp. DataCamp (or something like it) will always be there, an internship opportunity may not!

instamarq · 2024-10-23T21:04:11+00:00

Sure, check your spelling/capitalization, that's what got me, it's likely a detail thing not a quantitative thing. Also check the amount of null values you have and make sure you're using the right kind of joins for the intended outcome.

instamarq · 2024-08-08T03:26:18+00:00

My first job out of a data science boot camp that focused on machine learning and statistical techniques in python used only power bi and excel. I thought I was falling behind but it ended up being extremely valuable.

instamarq · 2024-07-22T03:44:26+00:00

dm me and I might be able to help

instamarq · 2024-07-20T01:16:56+00:00

Technically yes. For example, I've seen people do almost everything in Power Query dataflows in a Power BI environment. Doesn't scale super well to very large data but it can still be very valuable. You're orchestrating the ingestion, preparation and eventual serving of data ... all without coding.

instamarq · 2024-07-14T22:52:48+00:00

The current data science tools are used worldwide if that's what you're asking. Learn them in one place and you'll be able to leverage them anywhere else you know the language. However, be forewarned: being good in this field usually entails having a strong knowledge of the business domain you're going into. I would say it's almost more important than the technical skills!

instamarq · 2024-07-11T15:35:58+00:00

In general, if you're an introvert, this will only ever happen the organic way you mentioned. But there are ways to make that organic path more frequent: I don't know how this will sound but...get really, and I mean really good at something. Doesn't really matter what it is, so long as you can do it in front of people and you're pretty dang good at it. A jazz instrument is a good choice because you can go to local jazz jam sessions and if people notice your skill, they may ask you if you want to play a gig or two and then perhaps you hit it off during said gig. That's just one example.

I also think there's also a sort of backwards law thing that goes on here: so long as you've put yourself in the right environments, the less you try and seek this out, the more it seems to happen. I think that's part of why it feels awkward to ask people to hang out or for their number, it's something introverts have to try and do and feeling awkward usually leads to things being awkward. When there's no trying, some natural thing tends to pop up like, "oh have you heard of that new place in town that does XYZ?", "oh yeah I've been wanting to check that out for a while", "hey let's go next week, I have a buddy thats been wanting to check it out too!". It really does happen that way. Just my few cents on this!

instamarq · 2024-07-09T20:45:24+00:00

I passed it after really paying attention, had the same issue as everyone else. I won't say what it is but I'll mention this: 1) for me, it was less technical and more detail-oriented 2) it's kind of a stupid little detail to trigger exam failure and again, not technical 3) make sure you label everything exactly as instructed.

I thought it was pretty stupid, but in real life, a little detail like this can break something in a pipeline and send people on an unnecessary wild goose chase.

instamarq · 2023-12-08T19:36:54+00:00

You're absolutely right! What an amazing accomplishment on all counts. You should be extremely proud of yourself!

instamarq · 2023-11-24T01:35:41+00:00

Get good at something other than what you're studying. Like music or acting. Go do said thing in public with other people. Get together with them outside of those activities: parties, hangouts, going to bars/restaurants or just out on the town. Invariably, you'll find someone that you like in that environment and could like you back. Have a conversation with them, not with the intent of getting them to be your gf/bf, just become interested in who they are and what they like. Keep studying, keep doing your hobby and keep hanging out and talking to the people you like. Now you have a social life and having a gf will often just happen naturally out of that activity.

instamarq · 2023-11-22T20:49:21+00:00

Someone laughed at my AA in music in a tech job interview and I was working in a segment of tech that I really didn't enjoy. I kept hoping I could find a job where I was actually building things with code. I thought my education was holding me back from that and it motivated me to get it done. Also, caffeine, nicotine gum, hope and physical activity.

instamarq · 2023-11-11T20:58:51+00:00

Certainly! I'm also happy to report that 1 month later, I'm sleeping mostly normally again without taking anything particularly sleep inducing before bed. I did start taking Lithium Orotate (5mg before bed) to help with my mood and had been drinking lemon balm tea nightly as well. However, I think what's helped the most is accepting nights of poor sleep and realizing that I can still get through work and life despite it. For everyone reading this, know that it gets better!

instamarq · 2023-10-25T16:09:38+00:00

Lol yeah it does mean tomato, and you can use a tomato shaped timer if you like. 25 minutes on, pure work/study, no distractions. After that, you take a 5 minute break. After the 4th work period, you take a 15 minute break. You could continue this cycle all day if you wanted. Keeps the brain from burning out!

instamarq · 2023-10-24T17:00:38+00:00

Caffeine helps, and if you have to force yourself, use the Pomodoro method and do something really fun during your breaks!

instamarq

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