Why you should never specialize in NoSQL

Ten years ago I learned about MongoDB and I loved it. Our company was using it as an additional flexible JSON document store, alongside our main traditional relational data in Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server.

Few years later I became even more curious about the various NoSQL products and technologies. And while learning quickly about them, I’ve seen a gap in practice tests on Udemy for the few professional certificates I passed on the way. For several years, I made some pocket money with PTs I wrote over the weekend for certifications in Redis, Neo4j, Couchbase or Cassandra.

But I never worked and made money again on any of these products.

And here is why I think it is a huge mistake to try to specialize and work as a consultant on any such NoSQL product or technology.

(1) These are small niche markets, with not enough job opportunities

Some people may disagree, but even for MongoDB — maybe the most successful NoSQL product out there — there were never enough job or contract opportunities on the market.