Why the Hard Skills Obsession Is Misleading Every Aspiring Data Engineer
Every aspiring data engineer focuses on hard skills. Few understand early connections are what actually accelerate success.
Greetings, Data Engineer,
"If I just focus on building perfect data pipelines, promotions and opportunities will naturally come."
Many data engineers believe this because it feels logical. After all, data is about truth, precision, and results.
It’s easy to think that producing excellent systems, delivering clean datasets, and writing efficient code would naturally attract recognition.
I used to believe the same thing. For a long time. But quietly, that belief held my career back without me realising it.
In this article, I’ll break down why the hard skills obsession quietly limits growth and show you what actually unlocks real, visible, and lasting success.
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🧠 What the Myth Says (and Why It Sounds Right)
“Data speaks for itself”. You hear it everywhere. The idea is romantic. The notion that pure results will shine through noise and politics feels noble, almost heroic.
Technical mastery is glorified everywhere you look: online certification programs, Kaggle competitions, job titles like 'Data Rockstar' or 'Engineering Wizard'. These cultural signals reinforce the idea that output, precision, and solitary expertise are enough to move your career forward.
The media loves the narrative of the lone genius who builds brilliant, intricate systems in isolation, then gets rewarded because the product was simply that good.
The myth feels safe because it promises a straightforward path: sharpen your technical skills, focus relentlessly on building, and the rest will follow.
But while the myth sounds right, it doesn’t reflect how growth really works inside companies.
⚡ Why It’s Dead Wrong
In the real world, inside real organisations, no one feels the depth of your technical mastery unless they are deeply connected to your work.
You can build clean pipelines, write efficient queries, and optimise architectures. Yet still overlooked when bigger opportunities arise.
I spent over 15 years focused almost entirely on technical excellence. I believed that if I mastered the skills: every language, every pattern, every best practice. Then growth would naturally follow.
I was determined to go beyond just "senior". I had the skills, the knowledge, and the ideas. Objectively, I knew I could build and lead better than many around me.
Yet again and again, I watched as others, often less technically capable, were given the opportunities I wanted.
At first, it didn’t make sense. I told myself it was just bad luck or bad timing.
But slowly, through observing colleagues, through watching how decisions were made, through noticing who got invited to bigger conversations, I began to realise the hard truth:
Having knowledge and ideas is not enough.
I can’t even point to a single moment where it clicked for me. It wasn’t a lightning bolt. It was a gradual, painful accumulation of experiences, where over time, I could no longer ignore the pattern.
It took me longer than I would have liked. But it reshaped everything I now believe about career growth.
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🔥 What to Believe Instead
Relationships amplify technical impact. Alone, technical excellence rarely breaks through. But when paired with strong internal relationships, it becomes a powerful force for influence and recognition.
The engineers who move fastest are the ones who translate their technical wins into business outcomes — and do so through people. They communicate clearly.
They show early wins to stakeholders. They build credibility and trust before technical brilliance is even fully on display.
Technical work remains necessary. Deep expertise, strong architecture, and rigorous development are non-negotiable foundations.
But they are not sufficient for career acceleration. Relationships are the hidden accelerant. Allies inside the company make or break the success of even the best-engineered systems.
You and I don’t need to be less technical to grow faster. We need to be more connected.
🔑 How to Apply the Truth Today
🗺️ Shift from Building for Yourself → Building for Stakeholders
Before starting any project. Map the stakeholder network first.
Ask yourself:
Who will use this?
Who funds this?
Who is affected if this succeeds or fails?
Action Step:
Create a simple Stakeholder Map before your next project.
Name 3–5 key people. Know their goals.
🔄 Integrate Weekly Stakeholder Touchpoints into Your Work
Building relationships is a weekly discipline, not an annual event.
You should run technical updates the same way you run airflow DAGs — regularly and predictably.
Action Step:
Set up a 30 minute standing meeting with your top stakeholder(s) every week:
Share 1–2 updates.
Ask 1 question about their evolving needs.
Validate if the technical work still aligns with business value.
Make these meetings so lightweight people look forward to them.
🏆 Translate Every Technical Output Into a Business Win
No one cares you built a pipeline that runs 3 minutes faster.
But they will care if you say, "Our revenue reports now refresh 2 hours earlier for the sales team."
Action Step:
For every PR, demo, or project delivery, write a Technical → Business Translation Sentence.
Force yourself to connect your work to impact.
Example Cheat:
Technical: Improved query performance by 40% through denormalisation.
Business: Reduced data load time for customer analytics by 2 hours, enabling faster campaign launches.
🤝 Build Advocates — One Small Win at a Time
Champions aren't assigned. They’re earned through small, consistent wins.
One stakeholder at a time.
Action Step:
Identify 1 non-technical partner (e.g., finance, marketing) who can benefit from your work.
Offer a quick improvement for their process. Make them look good, visibly.
They will naturally start championing your projects up the chain.
💭 Final Thoughts
Mastering technical skills without mastering relationships is like shouting into an empty room. Your voice, your work, your impact — all risk going unnoticed.
I don’t regret focusing so much on my craft early in my career. I don’t believe you should regret it either.
Loving what you do is a powerful form of success, regardless of titles or recognition.
But if you aspire to lead larger projects, earn promotions, and make a broader impact, there’s no better time than now to start building relationships.
It’s never too early. It’s never too late.
Cheers,
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