DATA SCIENCE INTERVIEW GUIDE | every type of interview question explained

As a data scientist at a tech start-up and someone who's interviewed people in the past, there is only so much an interviewer can ask you. So I've grouped EVERY data science question I've heard into 6ish buckets of data question types and I'm going go into exact what to expect out of your data science interview! And hopefully you'll feel completely prepared with data science interview questions!

Other videos you'll like!!!

Timestamps:

00:00 context✨
00:42 Coding Assessment
03:51 Behavioral
05:34 DataCamp (sponsor)
06:35 Rapid Fire Stats
09:24 Multi-Part Coding Round
10:23 Data Science Case Study
11:41 ✨ FINAL ROUND TAKE HOME ✨
15:13 Presenting your Take-Home!

Data Science Behavioral Interview Resources:

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Welcome to my channel - College Tips From the Almost Astrophysicist! I'm Priya and I'm here to help you get into college. I'm a University of Chicago grad with an Astrophysics degree that currently works as a Data Scientist and I want to break down the college application process and tackle all of the misconceptions about college for you! Let me know in the comments section down below if you have any video requests, or just want to say hi! :)

[mubarakamuchhala]

This feels like A LOT of knowledge and skill to expect for an entry level position

[johnjung-studywithme]

Data science has not been easy to break into because of how many people from different academic/professional backgrounds who are pursuing these roles compared to the number of data scientists who are actually needed. Really appreciate videos like this to provide insight for people looking to get started!

[alancedeno]

A scientist who works in data science has been a godsend. Finding a job has been difficult in the wake of my graduation and several unsuccessful job applications. After weighing my options, I chose to leave physics and hunt for a position in data science. Before seeing your videos, I was baffled as to why I continued being turned down for jobs despite having two master's degrees, one in physics and the other in applied physics. Now that I've seen some of your vids, I understand why. Glad I found your channel on YouTube:)

[sydneydenham]

This makes me so excited to be a data scientist! Thank you for the video.

[benheim]

Want to quickly commend you for the consistency and quality of your content. I don't usually comment - but from helping me with my UChicago application (where I will be attending next year :D) to now supporting me in identifying my future career (I am very interested in data science), I am grateful to you for all your work. Thanks!

[RunOs]

If I have to do 8 hours worth of work for an interview, I expect to get paid or the company can expect to get sued.

[Itsdanielpeng]

Thank you for this video. This is extremely helpful as I am currently applying to data science and quantitative analytics positions.

[cademade]

Gradient descent is not finding maximum. It’s about finding minimum, gradient ascent is finding a maximum.

[mwave]

10:00 this is an extremely hard coding task. It deals with a custom data-type, implies the iteration and verification of the end. I wasted 40 minutes and didn't resolve it, all the solutions I have found, include flattering with a separate method, than iterating and len() verification. And the task is formalized in a way, that next() and hasNext() methods should be enough to do the flattening (which is again more difficult).
I am not sure if it is a suitable task for a middle software developer in a fortune-500 company coding interview. Comparing this with the "explanation of the gradient descend" is like chalk and cheese.

[trinadhreddy]

The video is really helpful in understanding how a data science interview works.

[Vintagetube]

Hi Priya- thank you for this video. I am concluding my last year as a student receiving my BS in data analytics. And I have so many questions that are causing me anxiety. As I am nearing the end of my journey I have realized that the path in computer science ( DS/DA) is not structured like one probably imagined it would be. What I am wondering is if you encountered the same during your journey in terms of learning these program tools (Python, SQL, tableau, R, ) if what’s important while in school is getting a basic understanding of these tools and how to use them, but the real challenge starts after graduating, in teaching yourself on how to use these tools more effectively to actually be able to draw meaningful insights ?

Did you have to hone your skills a bit more once you graduated before you started to apply to jobs? I have beginner level on all these programs right now but I feel like I probably won’t be able to land a job in data analytics until I’m at least intermediate in SQL and at least Python, for starters. I would appreciate your feedback, and would also love to connect with you offline to chat if possible. Congratulations again on your journey and your role in data science.

[MrMiroto]

I don't think the Gradient Descent question is that weird.
If you think of the multivariate loss function as a surface, the Gradient as the direction in wich a ball would roll, you could literally explain the optimizer Adam ("adaptive moment estimation") with the momentum of the ball and why the ball don't stop in a local minima and can reach the global minima.
I think it's a great question!

Edit: The direction is the negative of the gradient.

[BrianHickmanMilitaryBrat]

Good information! Also love the fact that you're wearing a Metallica shirt too.

[getstartedwithmadhuri]

Hey that was quite informative.Also can you please explain how do you approach a particular business problem for its solution and implement data science techniques to drive profit for it....Also if there would be specific videos for various domains like Supply chain, finance, banking, healthcare and whichever you would like to mention that would be great..

[spifuntastic]

The intro was really dang good, keep it up :)

[nebulandromed]

Awesome video! Good structure, so many growth points, to DS specialist) Thank you so much for your knowledge and energy!))

[chijiokennabueze]

I love your videos, cus they are straight to the point and very informative. Pls keep it up.

[mamuzouakpo]

Impressive work! She over killed it. I will not forget to mention that she's very beautiful too with lots of smiles 😍🤩

[samitchakraborty]

It would be really great if you could share the questions that were you asked in your very first interview for Associate Data Scientist roles.

[shashwatrajput]

How did you become a data scientist ?Can you make a video on that?