Thinking of
how to prepare for a data scientist internship interview? We have outlined a
general interview process that many candidates go through when they are applying
for an intern role as a data scientist and some tips to apply for a data
science intern role.
Step one: Take-Home
Data Challenge
A lot of data science teams in many
companies will probably ask you to work on and complete a data challenge after
you submit your application. Most of these challenges require you to analyze a
small dataset and then write a report discussing any insights gained from your
analysis. Companies are usually very flexible in terms of the language and program
that you have used for analysis of your data, so just be comfortable in at
least one of the languages such as R, Python or even Matlab. These data
challenges serve as good filters for serious candidates.
Step two: Phone
Interview - Analytical Questions
After the
take-home data challenge, some companies will want to discuss the findings in
your report through a phone call. However, there are also some other companies
that might just evaluate your written report without asking more question
about. This process depends on which company you are applying for. During the
analytical phone interview, your interviewer will present you a scenario whereby
you will need to talk about how you would use data to solve the issue at hand.
You should be very comfortable talking about metrics, simple predictive models,
and experimentation. Think with a quantitative approach to everything. However,
do keep in mind that while you explain it technically, think of the problem
from the business point of view.
Step three: Phone
Interview - Coding Questions
During the
coding interview, which might be a separate session from your analytical
interview, your interviewer will generally ask you to write some SQL queries to
make sure that you know database. They'll present you a general schema, and
you'll write increasingly more complex queries. If you don't know SQL, you can
learn it from online tutorial. Some other companies which require the intern to
be more technical, will ask some simple programming questions. Always prepare
yourself with a bank of potential algorithm questions. Be prepared to write
some simple algorithmic programs. Coding interview for a data science role
often involved data structures such as trees, hash tables, and arrays.
Be sure to
have some good questions ready to ask if you get the chance. Make sure you make
use of all the interview opportunities to impressed your interviewer!
Disclaimer:
This is a work for the sole purpose of an academic project. Names, characters,
businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the
author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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