Should I leave underwhelming SWE job for Data Engineer role (1 YOE) /u/kimbokiroh CSCQ protests reddit

I’ve been working at a defense govcon as a “Cyber Software Engineer” in the DMV area for a little over a year now. I put the job title in quotes because despite it, I barely ever get to touch code. Most of our work is system hardening/security infrastructure on a Linux distro type stuff, almost like a sysadmin or network admin. I am in person five days a week, I despise cybersecurity, and I can feel my SWE skills dissolving at work if I don’t continue studying/practicing DSA and coding side projects on my own time. The extent of coding that I’ve done at work over the past year is slightly modifying the C code of an existing FOSS and writing a small extension for it in JavaScript. I feel like the only thing I receive from this job that will help me in the future is being able to put “Software Engineer” on my resume and say I’ve worked with git, agile methodology, jira, and confluence in a professional setting. I am very unhappy with my job and have been searching for months for something closer with more coding opportunities, but as you all know, the job market is rough right now.

On the other hand, there’s a real possibility of me earning a remote Data Engineer position at another (much smaller, mid-size) defense govcon, with the as-expected python/databricks/sql/pyspark job description, including “train, test, and deploy production AI/ML models.” This position would probably come at a slight pay cut, but being able to save on gas, vehicle maintenance, and time, along with developing more on-the-job tech skills would be financially worth it to me.

I want to apply for an online master’s program in February and start next fall, and having the extra time to study for classes without having to commute to work would be a big benefit.

I ultimately want to gtfo of defense/govcon and break into consumer tech (my dream would be sports-tech like DraftKings, Fanatics, Sleeper, FanDuel, etc.), but I love both software engineering and data science, so I would be happy to do either. I just want to get enough experience and work with different technologies that they use to get past the resume screens and get interviews, I’m very confident in my technical abilities.

I just want some honest advice. Would I be making a mistake leaving behind the SWE job title for DE, or would it be worth the switch considering the increase in on-the-job skill development? Would it be significantly harder to get back into SWE in the future should I choose to, even with a master’s in CS? Is there any specific information that I should ask the hiring team regarding the DE job that would make it easier for you to give me advice?

I’ve been working at a defense govcon as a “Cyber Software Engineer” in the DMV area for a little over a year now. I put the job title in quotes because despite it, I barely ever get to touch code. Most of our work is system hardening/security infrastructure on a Linux distro type stuff, almost like a sysadmin or network admin. I am in person five days a week, I despise cybersecurity, and I can feel my SWE skills dissolving at work if I don’t continue studying/practicing DSA and coding side projects on my own time. The extent of coding that I’ve done at work over the past year is slightly modifying the C code of an existing FOSS and writing a small extension for it in JavaScript. I feel like the only thing I receive from this job that will help me in the future is being able to put “Software Engineer” on my resume and say I’ve worked with git, agile methodology, jira, and confluence in a professional setting. I am very unhappy with my job and have been searching for months for something closer with more coding opportunities, but as you all know, the job market is rough right now.

On the other hand, there’s a real possibility of me earning a remote Data Engineer position at another (much smaller, mid-size) defense govcon, with the as-expected python/databricks/sql/pyspark job description, including “train, test, and deploy production AI/ML models.” This position would probably come at a slight pay cut, but being able to save on gas, vehicle maintenance, and time, along with developing more on-the-job tech skills would be financially worth it to me.

I want to apply for an online master’s program in February and start next fall, and having the extra time to study for classes without having to commute to work would be a big benefit.

I ultimately want to gtfo of defense/govcon and break into consumer tech (my dream would be sports-tech like DraftKings, Fanatics, Sleeper, FanDuel, etc.), but I love both software engineering and data science, so I would be happy to do either. I just want to get enough experience and work with different technologies that they use to get past the resume screens and get interviews, I’m very confident in my technical abilities.

I just want some honest advice. Would I be making a mistake leaving behind the SWE job title for DE, or would it be worth the switch considering the increase in on-the-job skill development? Would it be significantly harder to get back into SWE in the future should I choose to, even with a master’s in CS? Is there any specific information that I should ask the hiring team regarding the DE job that would make it easier for you to give me advice?