97 Things Every Data Engineer Should Know

Chapter 90. What to Do When You Don’t Get Any Credit

Jesse Anderson

Let’s face it. Data engineers often don’t get any credit. The praise rains down on the data scientists, but no credit rains down on the data engineering desert.

This isn’t fair, and it’s something I hear from data engineers consistently. Some are annoyed and disheartened by the lack of credit. Some are ready to quit because they see their careers going nowhere or fear they won’t get a promotion.

Let’s start with a few harsh realities. The CxOs, VPs, and other business people don’t really care that you’re using the latest technology, have unit tests, or have a scalable system in place. They care about the business value created by the data. (They only sort of care about these details when something goes wrong.)

You’ve probably heard that “data is the new gold.” I agree with that statement. The issue is that data in and of itself is relatively worthless. Data becomes gold only after it is transformed into something that makes the business money or allows for a decision to be made.

If you think about the data value chain, the data engineering part usually doesn’t create the business value—it facilitates the creation of business value. The data scientists and data analysts are the ones most commonly creating this business value. They’re the ones who are front and center when some kind of analytic or insight is shown. ...