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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.

54,376 data scientist interview questions shared by candidates

Initial screening round with basics on machine learning like overfitting, design a system for the use case. current knowledge of various algorithms. Interview with researcher went on in deep theory of ML and DS/Algo question.
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Data Scientist

Interviewed at SAP

4.2★
Sep 20, 2018

Initial screening round with basics on machine learning like overfitting, design a system for the use case. current knowledge of various algorithms. Interview with researcher went on in deep theory of ML and DS/Algo question.

Codility: find maximum value on a column (something that in pandas would be super easy). Though, I wasn't allowed to use pandas; some coding test that required a priority queue to be solved; question was about a cleaning robot going around a 2D matrix always turning right, and try to tell what will be the covered cells by the robot. Tech screening: linear model, with categorical values, and missing values.
avatar

Data Scientist

Interviewed at Toptal

3.8★
Nov 18, 2021

Codility: find maximum value on a column (something that in pandas would be super easy). Though, I wasn't allowed to use pandas; some coding test that required a priority queue to be solved; question was about a cleaning robot going around a 2D matrix always turning right, and try to tell what will be the covered cells by the robot. Tech screening: linear model, with categorical values, and missing values.

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Glassdoor has 54,376 interview questions and reports from Data scientist interviews. Prepare for your interview. Get hired. Love your job.