Bombed a Data Scientist Interview!
Our take
I had an interview for a Data Science position. For reference, I've worked in Analytics/Science-adjacent fields for 8 years now. I've mainly been in mid-level roles, and honestly, it's been fine.
This was for a senior level position and... I bombed the technical portion. Holy cow - it was rough!
I answered behavioral questions well, gave them examples of projects, and everything started going smooth until....
They started asking me SQL questions and how to optimize queries. I started doing good, but then my mind started going completely blank with the scenarios they asked. They wanted windows functions scenarios, which made sense, but I wasn't explaining it well. I know what and how to use them, but I could not make it make sense.
And then when I wasn't explaining it well my ears started turning red. I apologized, got back on track, and then bombed a query where multiple CTEs were needed.
The Director said "Okay, let's take a step back. Can you even explain what the difference between WHERE and HAVING is?" It was so rude, so blunt, and I immediately knew I was coming off as someone who didn't know SQL. I told him, and then he said "Okay then."
He asked me another question and I said "HUH" real loud for some reason. My stomach started hurting like crazy and it was growling.
They asked me some data modeling questions and that was fairly straightforward. Nothing actually came across as what the role was posted as though.
Anyway, I left the interview and my stomach was hurting. I thought I could make it but I asked the security guard if I could turn around and use the restroom. I had to walk past the people again as they were coming out of the room, and they looked like they didn't even want to share eye contact lmao!
I expect a rejection email. I tell you this to know anxiety can get the best of you sometimes with data science interviews, and sometimes they're not exactly data science related (even though SQL and modeling are very important). A lot of posts here are from people who come across as perfect, and maybe they are, but I'm sure as hell not and I wanted to show that it can happen to anyone!
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