Transitioning from Salesforce Tester to Azure Data Engineer - Need Advice on Cloud Migration Projects
Hi everyone,
I have 3 years of experience as a Salesforce Tester and recently transitioned into a Data Engineering role. After several months of learning SQL, Python, Azure Data Factory (ADF), Databricks, ETL concepts, incremental loading, monitoring, and pipeline orchestration, I was fortunate enough to receive an offer for an Azure Data Engineer position.
The role involves migrating legacy systems to the cloud, which excites me but also makes me a bit nervous because most of my experience is from learning, labs, and projects rather than large-scale production environments.
I would appreciate advice from experienced Data Engineers, especially those who have worked on Azure-based migration projects.
Some questions I have:
How different is real-world Data Engineering from what is taught in courses and certifications?
What technical skills should I brush up on before joining so I can become productive quickly?
When migrating legacy systems to Azure, what are the most important aspects that engineers often overlook?
What are the most common challenges during migration projects (data quality issues, schema changes, performance bottlenecks, dependency mapping, etc.) and how do experienced engineers typically handle them?
As a new Azure Data Engineer, what should I focus on learning deeply during my first 6-18 months?
Beyond ADF, Databricks, SQL, and Python, what skills have given you the biggest career growth and helped you move into higher-paying Data Engineering roles?
If you could give one piece of advice to someone joining their first cloud migration project, what would it be?
Thanks in advance for any guidance or lessons learned from your experience.