C1 talk for data engineering

1. Finding Data Engineers
A Project-Based Approach
David Drummond
Insight Data Engineering
C1 Speaker Series - AppNexus
July 20th, 2015

2. About Me
Using theoretical physics to design massively parallel
fault tolerant systems

3. Insight Fellows Program
Over 250 Fellows at dozens of top tech companies in NY and CA

4. Finding Data Engineers
It’s hard to find the right people who know the right tools

5. Building a data team
is an opportunity to learn
Projects allow your team
and applicants to learn

6. Attracting Data Engineers
Open Source projects engage your team
and the right audience of applicants

7. Attracting Data Engineers
Open Source projects engage your team
and the right audience of applicants
• Contribute to a well-known open source project

8. Attracting Data Engineers
Open Source projects engage your team
and the right audience of applicants
• Contribute to a well-known open source project
• Encourage teams to open source useful libraries
that solve general problems in the community

9. Attracting Data Engineers
Open Source projects engage your team
and the right audience of applicants
• Contribute to a well-known open source project
• Encourage teams to open source useful libraries
that solve general problems in the community
• Make time for teams to build and speak about
projects unrelated to your core product

10. Attracting Data Engineers

11. Project-Based Challenges
Projects allow candidates to not only
show their knowledge, but how quickly
they can learn

12. Project-Based Challenges
Projects allow candidates to not only
show their knowledge, but how quickly
they can learn
• Choose projects that are interesting and related
to the context of the position

13. Project-Based Challenges
Projects allow candidates to not only
show their knowledge, but how quickly
they can learn
• Choose projects that are interesting and related
to the context of the position
• Be technology and language agnostic, or be
very lenient to language specific details

14. Project-Based Challenges
Projects allow candidates to not only
show their knowledge, but how quickly
they can learn
• Choose projects that are interesting and related
to the context of the position
• Be technology and language agnostic, or be
very lenient to language specific details
• Allow applicants to submit open source projects
in lieu of technical challenges

15. Project-Based Challenges
Our applicants have a week to complete a
project with real-time Twitter data

16. Project-Based Challenges
Our applicants have a week to complete a
project with real-time Twitter data
• All applicants learn more about data engineering
and the accepted Fellows are better prepared

17. Project-Based Challenges
Our applicants have a week to complete a
project with real-time Twitter data
• All applicants learn more about data engineering
and the accepted Fellows are better prepared
• Our team gets experience with new open source
projects and languages

18. Project-Based Challenges
Our applicants have a week to complete a
project with real-time Twitter data
• All applicants learn more about data engineering
and the accepted Fellows are better prepared
• Our team gets experience with new open source
projects and languages
• These changes have led to a 40% increase in our
yield of qualified applicants

19. Project-Based Learning
Our Fellows learn the latest open source
technologies by building 3 week projects
Inaugural NYC Session begins September

20. Project-Based Learning

21. Thank You
Questions
david@insightdataengineering.com
insightdataengineering.com/blog