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How to Be Better Prepared for Virtual Data Science Interviews

Nail the data science interviews with confidence, part 5

Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash
Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash

This article is the fifth part of my "nail the Data Science interviews with confidence" series. In the previous articles, I was mostly focused on discussing technical questions in machine learning, statistics, probability theories, and case studies during the data science interview. It is important to not only showcase your hard skills but also essential to demonstrate soft skills like communication skills during interviews. As traditional in-person interviews have been widely suspended due to the pandemic, how to present the best of yourself over the screen is a challenging task for all interviewees. During the past months of job-hunting, I have had over 30 virtual interviews with different people from different companies in different rounds. In this article, I want to provide some tips on preparing virtual interviews better based on my experience.


Before the interviews

Once getting the interview invitation, respond to your recruiter regarding the best time and date for you. If you need to change the time afterward, make sure to contact the recruiter ASAP. After setting up the date and time, you can start preparing for the interviews in the following steps:

1. Install the needed software and test the links ahead:

Some companies use zoom and some use google hangout for virtual interviews. For technical interviews, you may need to use google doc or other whiteboard software to write pseudo code. If you are not provided with the whiteboard‘s shared links, you may not need to answer whiteboard questions during the interview. However, you should still be prepared in case you need extra tools to explain yourself better. For example, you need to know how to write things down and send them through chat and share your screen showing the whiteboard or Word with your thoughts written on it. At least you should have a pen and paper next to you, in case you want to show them directly through the camera. Make sure to download all the necessary software ahead of time and test the links to see whether they are working well before the interview.

2. Prepare good devices and spare ones

Make sure you have good cameras and microphones to use during virtual interviews. Laptops or tablets should all have great cameras so that you do not need to buy extra ones. However, it is recommended to have your own sets of earphones to use during the interviews. I personally find the noise canceling earphones very helpful since it establishes a quiet environment for me, and it delivers my voices clearly to the interviewers. If possible, always have extra devices next to you if the ones you are using break down unexpectedly. I remember one time, I couldn’t open zoom on my two computers and my iPad, and I eventually interviewed with the zoom in my phone. Nevertheless, it is important to have your phone next to you during interviews. In case you get disconnected, you can still reach out to your recruiter or your interviewer through the phone. Moreover, make sure your computers, tablets, and earphones are fully charged before the interview to reduce the chance of disconnection.

3. Know the content of the interview and prepare accordingly

If it is a technical screen, practice basic questions for a wide variety of fields. For virtual onsite sessions, prepare for behavior questions, coding tests, and the technical parts that are most used by the company you are interviewing for. Each session can go deep in technical details, make sure to do some research on the company and the interviewers through the company websites, LinkedIn, blog posts, etc.

4. Prepare small talk and have some good questions to ask

Small talk are crucial during virtual interviews. It helps break the ice over the screen and builds up the connection between you and the interviewers faster. Besides safe topics like weather and current news, I found asking your interviewer’s virtual background to be super helpful. Small talks play the role of opening up a conversation and avoiding the awkward silence at the beginning.

Besides the beginning, you can ask follow-up questions after the interviewer has introduced himself or herself to show your interest. At the end of the interview, you should have one or two good questions prepared to ask the interviewer about the company and the role. It requires you to take some time to research the interviewer and the company to ask impressive questions. You can have a list of commonly asked questions prepared and tailored to the company and the role. Questions like "how do you measure success here?", "what does a typical day look like for a data scientist working here?" are great examples. Or you can ask more technical questions. For example, you can ask, "how do you choose between model interpretability and model complexity for the projects you are working on here?". Questions that are not too complicated, highly correlated with the company’s business, and won’t take too long for the interviewer to answer should be chosen. Besides, it is expected to ask questions throughout the interview to show that you are deeply engaged in the conversations.


During the interview

After good preparation, today is the date! Make sure to log in earlier than the set time and check these points:

1. Dress professionally, at least on top

Even though not all companies have specific dress codes for the candidates to follow during the interviews, I think it is more polite to dress professionally. It shows the interviewer that you are taking this interview seriously and helps you transit to the interview mindset. However, I wouldn’t say I like to wear too professionally that I feel anyway restricted during the interview. I usually wear a professional blouse at the top and sweatpants at the bottom.

Besides professional dressing, I will also put on light makeup for the interview. Moreover, I find the "touch up appearance" feature from zoom very useful. This feature basically puts on a filter for video chat, and it makes me look better and more energetic for the interview.

2. Test internet connections, cameras, and microphones

Once logged in:

  • Check the internet connections by looking at how clearly you appear in the camera. If the internet is not very stable, try to shut down other devices currently using the internet, or try to connect your computer with a hotspot in your phone.
  • Test the microphones to see whether you can hear and deliver voices normally.
  • Have good lighting in the right position. The lighting should not be too bright or too dark, making the interviewer harder to see your face clearly.
  • Adjust the camera position. The tricky part of the virtual interview is that you are somewhat looking down from the interviewer’s perspective when you are actually making eye contact with the interviewer. Based on personal habits, you could keep reminding yourself to look directly at the camera, or you can move your computer higher or adjust the angle of your computer so that you are not shown looking down when looking at the interviewer or yourself on the screen.
  • Have a clean background with minimal distractions, like a white wall. If it is impossible to have a clean background, you should use a virtual background or blur the background. Make sure you are in a room that is quiet and without pets or kids during the interview.

3. Keep constant communication with the interviewers

After the interviewer logs in, ask whether he or she can hear and see you clearly. You can start small talks with the interviewer or wait for him or her to lead the conversation. If you keep a pen and blank paper next to you to take notes during the interview, you should show the paper to the interviewer and tell them that you might write some notes during the interview. This will prevent the interviewer from thinking that you are distracted during the interview or cheating with pre-written notes on the side.

When answering the questions, especially during the coding test, make sure to communicate your thoughts throughout the process, which can be referred to as "think loudly." You want to make sure that the interviewer knows how you are coming up with this solution. Often, the interviewer values your thinking process more than you get the perfect solution out of nowhere. Lack of communication might be why you think you did great in an interview but still received a rejection. To better communicate, you can start by stating the question in your own sentence and ask whether you have understood the question correctly before jump into your solution. This will also buy you some time thinking about the answer. Always ask clarifying questions, especially if you get stuck. Do not be afraid to communicate your confusion with the interviewer and ask for hints. You could ask, "I am thinking about approaching this question with XX. Do you think I am on the right track?". Good interviewers should always give the right hints. At my first Data Science Interview, I was asked to write a SQL query, and I did it all quietly without making any explanation. The interviewer had to ask me, "are you done with the solution?" to get me to talk to him. It would be best if you always avoided this scenario for better interview performance.

4. Observe the interviewer’s reaction constantly

It is important to observe the interviewer’s reactions towards your answers. Make sure to not talk to yourself and constantly remind yourself to check your audience’s reactions. You can check directly through the camera, or ask whether you have explained yourself clearly. This is especially important when you are doing a presentation and may not be able to see your audiences when sharing your screen. Constantly check whether your audiences are understanding your answers, and give them the chances to ask follow-up questions.

5. Ask questions you prepared at the end

As mentioned above, you should do some research ahead of time to ask meaningful questions by the end of the interview. You should always ask questions to show your interest in the company. Make sure to ask questions that are not too complicated or too technical so that the interviewers can’t answer in a short time. You can find customized and interesting questions to ask by researching its recent launching projects, interesting product features, online webinars, or blog posts. Or you could ask questions you really want to know for your own benefit. For example, you can ask the questions like the company culture, common career path for the role you are applying for to make wise decisions if you need to compare offers in the future.

5. Don’t forget to say thank you

You should always end the interview by expressing your gratitude no matter how you feel about the interview. You should thank the interviewer for taking the time to interview you and answering the questions you have about the company/team/role. During the pandemic, I sometimes end the conversation with "thank you for giving me the chance to have conversations with someone other than my cats. I am looking forward to hearing back from you soon".


After the interview

After the Virtual Interview, don’t forget to send a say thank you email to your recruiters. Moreover, let them know that you have finished the interview and you are looking forward to hearing from them soon. If you encounter any issues during the interview, like the computer not working, earphones disconnected, make sure to upgrade or fix your devices before your next interview.


These are the tips I have for better preparing virtually interviews. You will always get better in interviews with enough practice as long as you keep learning from experience. Thank you for reading. Lastly, don’t forget to:


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