u/SkolVikingsAndTwins

Hi,
I have an interview with some engineers at a bank, I asked if it was coding, technical or behavioral but wasn't told. First round, going in blind. I am preparing as if I will have to whiteboard. I need guidance on how to prepare with a limited amount of time, as this is my first Data Engineering opportunity ever (I have 1 YOE as a SWE).

Context:
1 YOE Full-Stack Dev, SpringBoot / React / SQL Server. Laid off due to death of my manager. Good with Claude or any AI automation stuff.

Job Description:

\*\*What they're trying to do:\*\* Modernize by moving older data platforms onto cloud based data lakes
Run data migrations
I would just do basic SWE tasks

\*\*Required\*\*: 2 YOE, Python Cert, PowerBI, AZ900 (I have AWS so it's ok)

\*\*Desired\*\*: Tracing data flows and understanding upstream / downstream dependencies.
Analyzing data lineage and system linkages
PySpark or Spark
Python dev / automation
SQL Server / Advanced SQL (Memory, performance, partitioning, query)
Data governance

Bonus (Possible, not listed but I deduced from a similar listing):
RAG architecture, vector stores, embedding pipeline
Use LLMs for Data quality / extraction / automation

\*\*My approach\*\*:

I am good with writing SQL Server Queries up to window functions, aggregates, joins (like at a junior level. I didn't do more at my last job). I am at mid-level with theory though. Anything more I should be prepared to write?

I can write a Python script, but I've not developed in python professionally, have in college though. What basics should I be prepared to write?
I can quickly prepare on any theory questions (PySpark, etc.) Any suggestions? Anything is appreciated, thanks!

Hi,
I have an interview with some engineers at a bank, I asked if it was coding, technical or behavioral but wasn't told. First round, going in blind. I am preparing as if I will have to whiteboard. I need guidance on how to prepare with a limited amount of time, as this is my first Data Engineering opportunity ever (I have 1 YOE as a SWE).

Context:
1 YOE Full-Stack Dev, SpringBoot / React / SQL Server. Laid off due to death of my manager. Good with Claude or any AI automation stuff.

Job Description:

**What they're trying to do:** Modernize by moving older data platforms onto cloud based data lakes
Run data migrations
I would just do basic SWE tasks

**Required**: 2 YOE, Python Cert, PowerBI, AZ900 (I have AWS so it's ok)

**Desired**: Tracing data flows and understanding upstream / downstream dependencies.
Analyzing data lineage and system linkages
PySpark or Spark
Python dev / automation
SQL Server / Advanced SQL (Memory, performance, partitioning, query)
Data governance

Bonus (Possible, not listed but I deduced from a similar listing):
RAG architecture, vector stores, embedding pipeline
Use LLMs for Data quality / extraction / automation

**My approach**:

I am good with writing SQL Server Queries up to window functions, aggregates, joins (like at a junior level. I didn't do more at my last job). I am at mid-level with theory though. Anything more I should be prepared to write?

I can write a Python script, but I've not developed in python professionally, have in college though. What basics should I be prepared to write?
I can quickly prepare on any theory questions (PySpark, etc.) Any suggestions? Anything is appreciated, thanks!

I only have 1 YOE, and I as the fool I am didn’t really do any prep work during the job. I want to ask Claude pro to help guide me. Does anyone have any good prompts to help me start?

I know I’m gonna have to do DSA / LeetCode and System Design, is there anything else I should keep in mind?

It was honestly the best 3 months of my life last year, I worked so hard to get a software job and then I met someone who was a perfect match on paper and it felt like I won the lottery.

My relationship with my ex was going well until she was being touchy / flirty with one of her ex-hookup in front of me and neglected me at a party. I tried to break up with her, we’d only been dating for 3 months, but it was so intense and intimate she cried and didn’t want me to leave so I folded. I just didn’t trust her at all after that, and I became super toxic, like I would threaten breaking up everytime she did something involving that guy and accused her a lot. I raised my voice a few times, not like yell but still spoke a little higher, became controlling too. She loved me very much and she was out of my league, she stayed through a lot. She left me 1.5 months later. Few weeks later my manager died. He wanted me to be at the company for years to come and said I was extremely driven and bright. After he died the workload decreased significantly for me, and I got laid off because obviously I wasn’t getting much work. I’m moving back home.

I wanted to make up for the bad that I did, I wasn’t fully aware of my damage my actions were causing, so I went to therapy and changed my thought process and changed the negative view about life into something positive, but it feels like everytime I do something positive or think positively something bad starts to happen, almost like I’m still suffering for what I did. I feel like I am going insane because without my manager nobody vouched for me and I was easy to lay off. I had a dream of living and working in NYC too and that dream is dead too because I don’t even have a job. It feels like it is my destiny to always fall short of what I want in life, I know offing yourself is a sin so I’m just going through the motions trying to enjoy life till it’s my time to go, I hope it happens sooner than later tho. I’m at rock bottom. What can I do? Please help I am genuinely very sorry for my mistakes and I will never repeat them

I have a masters in Software Engineering, along with 1 YOE working as a software engineer at a pharmacy benefits company, so I’m used to healthcare tech.

BUT

before all of that, I got my bachelors in pre med, and even worked as a nursing assistant. I love healthcare and I love to help people even if it’s indirect, so healthcare IT really stood out to me, among other reasons.

I feel like I am in a unique situation to be a good candidate to start in healthcare IT and I also learn quickly, the problem is I don’t know how to break into the field. Most places are asking for EPIC certs but I think you have to be employed to gain those. I’m trying to apply to some analyst roles like at RWJBarnabas and other hospital systems but I don’t even get an interview, granted I was applying before the 1 YOE as an engineer.

What’s the best way to break into this field without any further schooling? I really feel like my best work would be in this field.

Any resume fixes too? I don’t have any epic mentions on there but I am willing to learn possibly even pay for it myself

24M, I got my first job as a Software Engineer and first girlfriend in the same month in 2025. My gf does some shady shit (touching / flirting with an ex hookup) and I lose trust and I become toxic and she breaks up with me after dating for 4/5 months. I have high standards (it’s more of a rare cultural fit I found, along with her being pretty and intelligent) so I know I already bungled my only chance. My engineering manager who is the only progressing my development , who tells me he wants me here for years and whom I become close with even about life circumstances suddenly dies in an accident a few weeks after my breakup. I get neglected with my work, don’t get much work and I end up getting laid off a few months later in this job market. Everytime I try to be better something goes sideways. I got therapy to fix my breakup problems, but it was very depressing doing the internal work and coming to realize being physically, emotionally and verbally abused till I was 19 did a number on me and ruined me. I’m moving back home. I lowkey would’ve just offed myself by now since I’ve accepted I’ve just gone through too much and continue going thr u a lot to be happy but I don’t want to traumatize my sibling who has a bright future, so I’m waiting till they become a doctor in 10 years, and if I’m not good by that time imma follow thru.

I’ve kind of accepted I’m just an ordinary man who got everything he wanted as a free trial, and wasn’t good enough to keep them. I only have a few close friends, otherwise I’m usually the floater friend. I’m average looking, average build, average height, average everything. This is one of the worst depressive periods of my entire life, I can’t go a single day without thinking about my ex relationship or how I lost my job. It hurts so bad on the mental. It feels like I lost it all and I’m never going to recover.

However, after a bit, it made me care less about what happens to me. I don’t fear death because I’m fearless, it’s so I can just be put out of my misery without doing it myself. I’ve started to become more stoic, as all this bullshit is happening and I can’t control it all. So why should I care if I die? It’s normal and I can be put out of commission without anyone feeling guilty about me doing it myself. I genuinely can’t tell if I have like high functioning depression or some shit.

I’m a little happy because I’m just gonna blame everything on myself and take full accountability, it’s a better way to live than the victim mentality I’ve had for the longest while.

24M, I got my first job as a Software Engineer and first girlfriend in the same month in 2025. My gf does some shady shit and I lose trust and I becomes toxic and she breaks up with me after dating for 4/5 months. I have high standards so I know I already bungled my only chance. My engineering manager who is the only progressing my development , who tells me he wants me here for years and whom I become close with suddenly dies in an accident a few weeks after my breakup. I get neglected with my work, don’t get much work and I end up getting laid off a few months later in this job market. Everytime I try to be better something goes sideways. I got therapy to fix my breakup problems, but it was very depressing doing the internal work and coming to realize being physically, emotionally and verbally abused till I was 19 did a number on me and ruined me. I’m moving back home. But how do I go about trying to make the most of life with this constant agony and failure going on in my head? Physical exercise and therapy only helps so much, I need to fix my emotions and try to white knuckle my way through as long as possible.

I’ve kind of accepted I’m just an ordinary man who got everything he wanted as a free trial, and wasn’t good enough to keep them. I only have a few close friends, otherwise I’m usually the floater friend. I’m average looking, average build, average height, average everything. This is one of the worst depressive periods of my entire life, I can’t go a single day without thinking about my ex relationship or how I lost my job. It hurts so bad on the mental. It feels like I lost it all and I’m never going to recover.

I don’t want to feel like this, how can I get through this rough patch? I need success stories

So I got laid off my associate SWE gig after one year due to restructuring and AI taking my job basically, so I’m entering this market with 1 YOE at a smaller company. I genuinely have not practiced DSA or leetcode ever (I switched from pre med to a MS in CS and got a job right away), and I feel vastly underprepared for how rough this market is. I was wondering if there’s any like coaching or hands on tutoring I could purchase because I’ve got a lot saved up, and also because I struggle heavily with trying to just put my head down and grind to learn (probably because of my ADHD, shocker). I know my limitations and I always do excellent when I have people guiding or coaching me, where can I find like a career coach or SWE coach to help me get the interview essentials ingrained?

I got laid off last month, I only have 1 YOE. The problem is I have not leetcoded at all in my entire life, and I’m not the best with DSA. I don’t know what to do entering this market, it’s really hard for me to leetcode, I open up the easy problems and I get overwhelmed and can’t do it. Any tips for me? I understand I’m at a severe disadvantage right now and I need to bridge this gap ASAP the market is rough to juniors.

23M, I got my first job as a Software Engineer and first girlfriend in the same month in 2025. My gf microcheats and I lose trust and I becomes toxic and she breaks up with me after dating for 4/5 months. I have high standards so I know I already bungled my only chance. My engineering manager who is the only progressing my development and whom I become close with suddenly dies in an accident a few weeks after my breakup. I get neglected with my work, don’t get much work and I end up getting laid off a few months later in this job market. Everytime I try to be better something goes sideways. I got therapy to fix my breakup problems, but it was very depressing doing the internal work and coming to realize being physically, emotionally and verbally abused till I was 19 did a number on me and ruined me. I’m moving back home. I lowkey would’ve just offed myself by now since I’ve accepted I’ve just gone through too much and continue going thru a lot to be happy but I don’t want to traumatize my sibling who has a bright future, so I’m waiting till they become a doctor in 10 years, and if I’m not good by that time imma follow thru. But how do I go about trying to make the most of life with this constant agony and failure going on in my head? Physical exercise and therapy only helps so much.