I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at PayPal (Austin, TX) in Nov 2022
Interview
Applied online, recruiter quickly got back to me. and set up a basic standard HR stuff interview. The following week got contacted again and had an interview set up with the hiring manager. Interview with the hiring manager revealed that the role is more of a glorified data analyst as most technical questions were centered around SQL and KPI definitions around risk practice. After the interview the recruiter reached out and confirmed that I can proceed to the next round. The next round would be a take -home analytical exercise, Excel based. Well, I am a Certified AWS Solutions Architect with 10+ years of Python experience, and these requests raised the red flag. I looked at the exercise and concluded I don't want to waste at least 10 hours of my time on something which would not lead to a role utilizing my strengths. I excused myself out of the hiring process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
An easy SQL query involving a self-join, without a shared screen.
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Other Senior Data Scientist Interview Reviews for PayPal
I completed four interview rounds and one HackerRank test, felt confident about my performance, but received a rejection without specific feedback, leaving me unsure about the reasons and improve further.
Thank you for sharing your interview experience with us. Your feedback is valuable and will help us understand how we can evolve our interview process. We hope you can find another role on our website that fits your interest and join our team!
I applied online. I interviewed at PayPal (Chicago, IL) in Feb 2026
Interview
Start with Screening with a recruiter, followed by 4 rounds.
R1: SQL + Python questions (Easy/Medium) + DS/ML theory
R2: Mini case (Risk) + SQL + Python questions (Easy/Medium)
R3: Mini case (Risk) + Past Experience based
R4: Business Strategy (Risk) + Past Experience based
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
SQL: Window functions and grouping
Python: All pairs with a sum equal to x
Case: on credit policy + root cause of origination bottleneck
DS/ML: Handling outliers + XGBoost working
I applied online. I interviewed at PayPal (Bengaluru)
Interview
Had 3-4 rounds of interview which went well. Last round was more of a discussion and I was very hopeful of an offer but in the end they never came back. When I called the HR after 3 weeks , she said she has not heard a decision but suggested to not wait even though my feedback was positive . Seemed like an internal hiring in the end
Thank you for sharing your interview experience with us. Your feedback is valuable and will help us understand how we can evolve our interview process. We hope you can find another role on our website that fits your interest and join our team!