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Data Scientist Interviews

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Data Scientist Interview Questions

In a data scientist interview, expect employers to ask questions that assess your data modeling, problem-solving, and programming skills. Be prepared to answer general questions that test your knowledge of statistics and data science. You should also be ready to answer open-ended questions that test your creativity, communication skills, and formal education in data modeling and programming.

Top Data Scientist Interview Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question #1: Which data modeling techniques do you prefer and why?

How to answer
How to answer: Turning data into understandable and actionable information is a critical part of the data scientist's job. This question allows employers to understand your data modeling skills and background. List and discuss your preferred data modeling techniques, including benefits such as ease of use, flexibility, etc.
Question 2

Question #2: How would you detect bogus Instagram accounts used for scamming consumers?

How to answer
How to answer: Questions like this one allow an employer to test your problem-solving skills. When answering open-ended questions such as these, feel free to ask clarifying questions and use whiteboards to demonstrate your coding and diagramming skills. Share your thought process as you work through the problem.
Question 3

Question #3: Describe circumstances that require a list, tuple, or set in Python.

How to answer
How to answer: Interviewers will use questions such as this one to test your Python programming skills. Review Python basics such as lists, tuples, and sets before your interview. You should be able to explain when and how each tool is used by data scientists.

54,315 data scientist interview questions shared by candidates

about likely future paths for particular scientific domain; I can't go in to specifics but my point is to apply for a position your qualified for because you will be asked specific questions where you have to prove yourself
avatar

Scientist

Interviewed at Dexcom

3.6★
Oct 9, 2015

about likely future paths for particular scientific domain; I can't go in to specifics but my point is to apply for a position your qualified for because you will be asked specific questions where you have to prove yourself

(SQL) You need to JOIN 2 tables together, TA, TB, in such a way that you get every raw of TA at least once at the result, which JOIN is that ? (ML): need to train a supervised learning model , but you have only a small amount of data. Which technique to use, to both train and evaluate performance of the model?
avatar

Data Scientist

Interviewed at Pearson

3.5★
Oct 5, 2016

(SQL) You need to JOIN 2 tables together, TA, TB, in such a way that you get every raw of TA at least once at the result, which JOIN is that ? (ML): need to train a supervised learning model , but you have only a small amount of data. Which technique to use, to both train and evaluate performance of the model?

(Probability) Smb has 2 kids, at least one is a girl. What is a probability that Smb has 2 girls? (General algorithm design) Describe an algorithm that will find a global maximum of a well-behaved function (means 1st, 2nd derivatives are defined) ?
avatar

Data Scientist

Interviewed at Pearson

3.5★
Oct 5, 2016

(Probability) Smb has 2 kids, at least one is a girl. What is a probability that Smb has 2 girls? (General algorithm design) Describe an algorithm that will find a global maximum of a well-behaved function (means 1st, 2nd derivatives are defined) ?

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