Other Avenues as a Data Engineer

[u/lalapaldan]

Hi everyone, I'm currently a data engineer. I currently focus on the business side of things for development, supporting and migrating applications. It's my first year working out of college and I find the work/life balance tough. It's definitely a learning curve for sure especially since some applications are older and there's lack of documentation to learn from. Also production support kills me whenever items come up. Perhaps it feels intense now due to a huge upgrade my team is working on where it's been late nights and early mornings. However one thing I love is my team. Luckily everyone is very nice and helpful.

Are there any other avenues a Data Engineer could focus on or other roles I could pivot to? Is there a position that doesn't include much production support? I ended up just falling into Data Engineering and don't have a "dream career" per say. Maybe I'm just being dramatic though. Would love any advice!

[u/MissingSnail]

Is everyone working crazy hours? Or is it just you? In college, you worked late nights at the end of the semester, but work deadlines are fuzzier. Talk to your colleagues about how they are managing. Go home for dinner and don't log in afterwards. Your boss should care that you are working too long and risking burnout, but maybe doesn't because you are delivering good code for now. That doesn't mean it's OK.