We’ve entered a new year, meaning there will be plenty of data and analytics talent looking for opportunities. It also means that hiring managers will be looking for ways to bolster their already impressive and critical D&A employee rosters.
Below, this blog will discuss what questions candidates should expect and how hiring managers should approach their interviews:
Expect to Ask and Answer Technical Questions
Interviews in the D&A space are a little unique when compared to other positions. Typically, you’ll be expected to demonstrate your skills—possibly on the spot and with little time to prepare.
These questions will occur quickly to ensure all progressing candidates have base-level proficiency. Often, these questions can represent real-life case studies, like providing a recommendation in light of an organization’s pricing and sales of a particular product or service.
It’s also common during the interview process to be presented with tables of columns of dates, strings, and numbers. By applying SQL languages, you should be comfortable with successfully pinpointing the aggregate number of years or specific categories (e.g., age range or places).
Interviewers will be looking for candidates that ask about assumptions, such as whether a particular data point can be represented differently for the same value. Certain questions like considering Corner Cases will likely earn you bonus points!
Answers to questions should be diagrammed, and you’re best served by verbalizing the process to showcase your decision making, training, and aptitude. It’s generally a good sign when the solution is coded out, preferably in Python.
Interviewers and interviewees alike shouldn’t get too hung up about syntax (regarding join-table based questions). And candidates should be honest about any related issues. Lastly, hiring managers should know that you can search for syntax on Google.
Coding Questions will be Crucial
The next logical step in the process is coding questions.
During this stage, for example, you might be asked to sort a 2D array. Alternatively, interviewers might suggest you search for specific patterns within word strings. Hiring managers might even present a data aggregation problem involving Pandas and Python.
Candidates that stand out will be able to provide assumptions and arrange their own test cases. They’ll also be prepared for duplicates, unsorted data, empty lists, or a user passing null values.
You’ll be best served by giving multiple answers. Your ability to use the brute force method (i.e., iterating through each individual list element) can help you stand out. There’s also the opportunity for a potential new hire to impress by deriving a superior sorting algorithm (e.g., merge sort) and iterations.
Behavioral Questions Are Integral Interview Components
This section gets more into the soft skills aspect. The interviewer examines a candidate’s accolades and investigates how they solve problems.
Candidates should be ready with an impressive portfolio of work. Anyone showing up to an interview without previous work will be viewed as unprepared (and rightfully so!).
Another pivotal component of a candidate’s portfolio is showing the analytics and numbers behind their most triumphant projects. Hiring managers need to see how a candidate’s mind works and want proof that their work is concretely impactful.
Bonus Tip: Aligning With a Top Recruiter
One of the best ways to either hire a tremendous candidate or get hired for your dream job is by aligning with a top data & analytics recruiting firm. Contact Synergy Systems to access a diverse pool of top employers and employees in the D&A industry.
