PROJECT PAT WAS RAISED IN THE PROJECTS, BUT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE SOME ON YOUR OWN

Try out your PySpark skills. See where you are. Use their verified code as a starting point. You need projects to show you can actually do the job, in like… a real world environment. That's why I love Project Pro. When you're done, put it in your GitHub repo.

Project Pro is free. There are plenty of projects there.

Project Pro intro video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHx0LbopSHI).

Big Data Projects on Project Pro (https://www.projectpro.io/projects/big-data-projects).

KAGGLE DATASETS

Kaggle isn't just a data hub with a name unfortunately close to a "very special" muscle exercise.

They also have datasets where you can start projects. Ingest some data, transform it, compare it, and tell a story with it.

Go find a dataset and start doing something with it.

There is no right or wrong way to start. Just find something that you want to try out. If the data is messy, clean it up.

Kaggle Datasets (https://www.kaggle.com/datasets).

HACKATHONS & COMMUNITY

You need to understand that we are a community that wants to help you.

Once you get your skills together, take a deep breath and…

Join a hackathon. Introduce yourself on the LabLab Discord server. Let people know you're learning, and you want to contribute. You'll find mentors who can help you when you get stuck. (Hackathons are generally team affairs.)

You might even find employment from networking via a hackathon.

Try Out a LabLab Hackathon (https://lablab.ai/).

THE FINAL BOSS. ME. — A MOCK INTERVIEW TO PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE

When you're done, you need to show me two finished projects, and we're going to talk through some soft skills and hard skills, just as I would conduct an interview at my day job.

This isn't a leet-code test, but a walk-through to make sure you can tell me why you made the decisions to do different things. (Don't get nervous. I'm going to keep it junior-level.) This is how most interviews will go, and if you haven't done a tech interview before, this will give you an idea of what to expect, along with getting rid of the jitters.

I want to help you get employed. So what happens next?

Schedule your interview now (mailto:info@beautifulmajesticdolphin.com).

THE INTERNET MENACE RECRUITER PORTAL

When you pass my interview, I'll be posting your resume on the Internet Menace recruiter portal. This is where companies will go to find junior level data engineers.

Only recruiters and hiring managers at companies I personally know will have access to the recruiter portal. This is a boutique HR portal for very specific types of professional talent.

That's how I make money doing this. I get paid a headhunting fee to find companies new talent. When you make it through three or six months, or whatever their contract says, I get a bonus check for providing them with high quality people.

That's the "catch" if there is one. I'm betting on you being a winner.

NOW YOU'RE FUNCTIONAL

Keep learning on your own. Every day.

This is a continuous improvement process.

Tinker. Fail. Try again.

You're gonna go far.

Got questions? Use the contact form on internetmenace.com.

================================================================================ PART 1 — THE NEW FOUNDATION