What to Expect in a Data Analyst Interview

If you're new to the data analytics field or wanting to find out what to expect in a data analyst interview, here's what I've observed from my entry-level data analyst interviews thus far.

General Interview Stages:

  1. Apply for Job
  2. Recruiter Call (15-30 mins)
  3. Hiring Manager Call (30-60 mins)
  4. Technical Screen (30-60 mins)
  5. Panel Interview (3-5 interviewees, 30-45 mins)
  6. Upper Management Interview (30-45 mins)

Stage 1 - Apply for a Job

This can be on LinkedIn, Dice, Monster, directly on the career page of the company that you want to work for, or through a recruiter. Definitely read through the job description to see if you meet the requirements and are interested in the work, but job descriptions are not written in stone.

Don't be scared off if you see that they're looking for someone with 2+ years of experience and you only have 1, but have experience with the technology listed and feel like you'd be able to do the work within 1-2 months. Or if you think you meet the majority of the requirements. That means you're under-qualified, but have the potential to do well in that role, as opposed to unqualified. Unqualified looks a bit like you don't have close to the experience or education required for that role.

If you can find someone in a company that you're interested in to refer you, that'd be even better!

Stage 2 - Recruiter Call

If the recruiter or hiring manager sees your resume and think you might be a good fit for the position, then they'll reach out and schedule a call. This call is usually to provide an overview of company and position details in addition to getting to know you and your background.

They may cover benefits, salary expectations, company values, and the job description. Then they'll turn it over to you to talk about yourself. Some questions that I've been ask include:

  • Tell me about yourself (everyone you talk to in the interview process will ask this, so perfect your response)
  • What are you looking for in your next position?
  • What are your salary expectations?
  • Why are you looking for a new position?
  • Rate your ____ skills from 1-5/1-10

This is also the time for you to ask clarifying questions about the company in general, as well as the interview process.

Stage 3 - Hiring Manager Call

This call will go more in-depth into the day-to-day expectations of the role as well as your experience and projects.

Questions you might be asked include:

  • What are your strengths as a data analyst?
  • What can you bring to the table?
  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
  • Describe a data project you've worked on
  • What's a mistake you've made?

Sometimes, they might also ask you a case study question to evaluate your thought process.

This is also the time to ask clarifying questions about the role, what they think about the company and their role, the tech stack they use, as well as next steps. If you're new to the industry, a good question to ask is if they're ok with someone growing into the role, or if they want someone who is comfortable with the work.

Stage 4 - Technical Screen

Depending on the company, role, and your experience, there may or may not be this step. Be aware that sometimes hiring managers will throw in a technical screen during their interview too.

There are a few types of technical screens that you might come across:

  1. Live coding session that assesses your SQL skills -

    The interviewer will share a CoderPad or HackerRank link with you (looks like text editor), and you'll be able to see a table schema that you'll use on the assessment.

    There will usually be 3-4 questions for you to answer, but the code you write will not be able to run (also called pseudo code).

    In addition to assessing your coding skills, the interviewer is usually looking to hear your thought process, so don't be afraid to think out loud and ask questions. If you're really stuck, you can also ask for a hint - one or two will not hurt you if you get the hint.

    LeetCode is a good preparation tool for this kind of technical interview (see this post on how to use LeetCode to study)

  2. Interviewer asking SQL questions -

    Instead of evaluating your coding skills by watching you do it in real time, the interviewer could ask you to answer some SQL questions verbally. Some examples would be asking you to verbalize a SQL statement, what a SQL output would look like, and what some SQL clauses mean.

  3. Take-home assessment -

    Instead of a technical screen during the interview, some companies prefer to do a take-home assessment. This could vary widely from company to company, but from my experience, the assessment is usually a data set, and you're expected to produce some analysis. There's usually also a time restriction for the take-home assessment, anywhere from one day to one week.

Stage 5: Panel Interview

This step of the interview will consist of talking with multiple interviewers (typically 3-5), ranging anywhere from data analysts to managers to directors. In my experience, each call could range anywhere from 30-60 minutes. Some things they could ask you:

  • Given this business question, what would you look into and why?
  • What would you do if a client requested significant changes for a project that was due in a day?
  • Given a task you were unfamiliar with, what steps would you take to accomplish it?
  • Given a project, what metrics would you choose to evaluate its success, what charts would you use to define each metric, and how would you design the dashboard?
  • How would you communicate your data findings to someone who isn't data-savy?

Each interviewer will also allow a few minutes at the end for you to ask them questions.

Some companies will also ask you to give a short 5-10 minute presentation on anything data analytics related.

This interview is the longest and usually the most draining for me, so don't forget to practice, get good rest, breathe, and ask questions (or for a bathroom break) if you need to!

Stage 6: Upper Management Interview Interview

This last interview is not always a stage in the interview, but if it is, the interviewer will usually spend 30-45 minutes will assess your enthusiasm for the role and the company, ask about why you think you're a good fit, and how you think you might approach a real business problem.

This is also a good time to ask them big picture questions about the company and their leadership style.

Hope this helped give you an idea of what to expect in a data analyst job interview process, and best of luck to you in yours!!