on-line application, and a few days later I got the first contact. my application was handled by a 3rd party consulting company for Argo group. The first interview was on the phone.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
about machine learning, statistics etc.. A 3rd party consulting group managed the interview for a data scientist position. first impression was = unprofessional. While having the interview, I immediately found that they were not good at machine learning, statistics and related theories, although they pretended to know something. Very low level background, but only verbally professional. The 3rd party will be only money consuming to Algo group. I sincerely thought this..
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Argo Group (New York, NY) in Jun 2018
Interview
The interview was drawn out in 4 steps.
1.)HR Screening (Phone Interview):
Talked with an HR rep. Answered some basic questions about my background and why I applied. Pretty much just making sure I was who I said I was. The HR Rep was super friendly and enjoyed her talk.
A week later, I interviewed with the potential supervisor
2.) Supervisor Phone Interview:
This was a lot more technical and asked specific questions ensuring I knew what I was talking about. Questions about specific algorithms of machine learning, some projects I had worked on and how I approached them, what things work best for different scenarios, etc. Really got along with the potential manager and enjoyed the interview.
A week after that, I had an interview with team members I'd directly work with. It was 4 interviews via video conference split between Friday and Monday.
3.) Team Interviews:
Each person was tasked with a various category. Typical HR interview questions to make sure you were a decent human being. One of the four I interviewed got pretty technical with the machine learning aspects. I'm not sure if that was his intention or if that's where the conversation went toward. I really enjoyed everyone I interviewed with.
After this, I had to fill out a questionnaire that asked questions going back to highschool. which would be used for the final interview.
A week later, I had an interview with my potential supervisor and another managerial personnel that I'd be indirectly working with. They scheduled an interview in a different state and provided me with their travel agency to book the flight.
4.) Final Interview.
The final interview involved HR questions explaining my story from highschool to present and various things I've learned along the path. I'm guessing they use the previous questionnaire and interview inputs to determine whether or not you're a flight risk or a potential loyal employee. Once again, I enjoyed the interview and it was a pleasant experience.
After I interviewed, I was informed I was the first to interview for the position and they had just begun to interview the other candidates. It is a corporate policy to interview at least 3 people for this high of a position. I had already gone through a month of interviews and was interviewing with other companies in parallel. I had two offers on the table before they approached the phone interviews with the other candidates and informed me it would take 2 weeks to come to a decision. I ended up accepting a position with another company despite favoring Argo.
I'm not sure how Argo receives quality employees when their interview process takes longer than a month. I understand wanting to make informed decisions, but a month is a long process. I voluntarily left my previous position, so maybe this position was meant for someone currently working, but had a couple months to make a decision.
I probably would have enjoyed working for the company, but I had other competitive offers. Not sure if I would have gotten an offer or not, but wasn't worth the risk of finding out.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The more technical questions were based on projects I had worked on and how I approached them.