The most important skill for Data Engineer is not what?you?think....
What is the most important skill currently in demand for Data Engineers in the Netherlands? What comes to mind? Every manager of Data Engineers knows the answer.??
Before I share this answer, I want to give you a little more context. Right now, if you have 3 years of experience as a Data Engineer plus this "skill", which I will share with you in a bit, then, you have a job guarantee.
I see more experienced Data Engineers without this skill struggling to find a job
I speak daily with directors and managers of various organizations that employ Data Engineers, at both consulting firms and their end customers. From Energy, to logistics, retail, education, and government, everyone is demanding this.??
Across the board, we are seeing the development of the Data Engineer
Even in a market preparing for an ecomic crisis, where many organizations are saying goodbye to people and implementing hiring freezes, Data engineers are still being sought after.???
In the recent survey created by SPRUIT AI, which made to 101 Data Engineers in The Netherlands and Belgium, it was seen that expertises with Azure Cloud and platforms like Databricks and Snowflake are in high demand and an important factor for hiring. Yet, this is not what sets the Data Engineer apart.?
So, what is this main skill needed by companies?
A search of the jobs on Linkedin on June 1st (search string: "Data engineer" OR "ETL developer" OR "data developer" OR "ETL engineer") shows that there are 683 open positions, the majority of which are Dutch-speaking.
However, it was found in the survey “What Data Engineers want In The Netherlands 2023†that among 101 answers, 60% are native in Dutch and 40% of Data Engineers are not from The Netherlands/ Belgium.
Interestingly, among the international professionals, only 3% could work in Dutch considering that professionals should have a minimum of B2 level.??
领英推è
The main skill we are now looking for in a Data Engineer is the proficiency in the Dutch language
We also like to have our Data Engineers in the office. The onsite and hybrid jobs
- Onsite: 402 – 59%?
- Remote: 29 – 4%?
- Hybrid: 252 – 37%?
Why do organizations want Dutch-speaking Data Engineers onsite?
What happened? During Corona, everything became more flexible. Working from home became normal. There was also more than enough work for Data Engineers, so consulting companies started looking across borders.
However, this did not bring the desired results. It proved difficult for many organizations to deploy English-speaking Data Engineers to their clients. There are still hundreds of organizations in the Netherlands that do not work with English-speaking candidates.
If you are a consulting company, this means that your candidate can probably only work at 30% (this is a pure guess) of the market, while a Dutch (and English) speaking Data Engineer can be deployed at 100% of the clients.??
And especially the international organizations (think Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc), where English is the working language, took drastic measures. People were fired and no new people were hired.
While Dutch organizations (including the government) continue to invest, there is still a shortage of experienced Data Engineers, but only as long as they speak Dutch.????
My tip to all international Data Engineers in our country is to start learning Dutch
Do you recognize yourself in my text or do you disagree with me?
Please share your opinions and experiences. I am always open to positive discussions. Together we learn the most.
Information Systems Engineer / Business Analyst / Data Scientist / Spanish teacher
1 å¹´Hi Vincent, this conclusion of your research is quiet discouraging for foreign people who would like to move to The Netherlands to work as a DE and they do not speak Dutch. Certainly, at least in my case, when you move to a place where you don't know the spoken native language, you will pursue to learn it, at least, at a basic level to keep minumum conversations. But if you are not Dutch and you don't speak the language and you don't live in The Netherlands and at the same time, you are not hire because of the language, it will be quite hard for companies and professionals to get together, even if the relocation is not an issue. Even more, when you think that DE is a preponderant technical position, where the DEs are going to be in touch most of the time with other technicians, and all of them share English as a common "de facto" technical language. I think that dutch companies should be more flexible about this and, if necesary, set as a sine qua non condition that the candidate compromise him/her self to attend Dutch courses after being hired. I would do it ?? That's my humble opinion.