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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.

54,205 data scientist interview questions shared by candidates

Imagine you have N pieces of rope in a bucket. You reach in and grab one end-piece, then reach in and grab another end-piece, and tie those two together. What is the expected value of the number of loops in the bucket?
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Senior Data Scientist

Interviewed at Natera

3.8★
May 19, 2015

Imagine you have N pieces of rope in a bucket. You reach in and grab one end-piece, then reach in and grab another end-piece, and tie those two together. What is the expected value of the number of loops in the bucket?

Given two tables with the following columns: USERS user id date time stamp post id user action action details POST_REMOVED_BY_REVIEWER post id date time stamp report the daily ratio of posts removed by reviewers out of the user reported posts (user action = report)
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Data Scientist

Interviewed at Meta

3.6★
Apr 18, 2020

Given two tables with the following columns: USERS user id date time stamp post id user action action details POST_REMOVED_BY_REVIEWER post id date time stamp report the daily ratio of posts removed by reviewers out of the user reported posts (user action = report)

Describe different JOINs in SQL. Having a categorical variable with thousands distinct values, how would you encode it? How to find linear trends in time series. How to find the flow in a matrix showing temperature. ...
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Data Scientist

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5★
Nov 27, 2019

Describe different JOINs in SQL. Having a categorical variable with thousands distinct values, how would you encode it? How to find linear trends in time series. How to find the flow in a matrix showing temperature. ...

HR manager has asked me: Do you own a house? Are you married? Do you have children and how many? etc. The was no reason for asking these questions. I felt disrespected when i heard them. My enthusiasm for GSK melted like snow is a sunny day. I didnt have anything to hide, but i felt undermined and devalued.
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Analytical Scientist

Interviewed at GSK

3.9★
Jul 1, 2014

HR manager has asked me: Do you own a house? Are you married? Do you have children and how many? etc. The was no reason for asking these questions. I felt disrespected when i heard them. My enthusiasm for GSK melted like snow is a sunny day. I didnt have anything to hide, but i felt undermined and devalued.

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