Book Image

Cracking the Data Science Interview

By : Leondra R. Gonzalez, Aaren Stubberfield
Book Image

Cracking the Data Science Interview

By: Leondra R. Gonzalez, Aaren Stubberfield

Overview of this book

The data science job market is saturated with professionals of all backgrounds, including academics, researchers, bootcampers, and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) graduates. This poses a challenge for companies seeking the best person to fill their roles. At the heart of this selection process is the data science interview, a crucial juncture that determines the best fit for both the candidate and the company. Cracking the Data Science Interview provides expert guidance on approaching the interview process with full preparation and confidence. Starting with an introduction to the modern data science landscape, you’ll find tips on job hunting, resume writing, and creating a top-notch portfolio. You’ll then advance to topics such as Python, SQL databases, Git, and productivity with shell scripting and Bash. Building on this foundation, you'll delve into the fundamentals of statistics, laying the groundwork for pre-modeling concepts, machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI. The book concludes by offering insights into how best to prepare for the intensive data science interview. By the end of this interview guide, you’ll have gained the confidence, business acumen, and technical skills required to distinguish yourself within this competitive landscape and land your next data science job.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Part 1: Breaking into the Data Science Field
4
Part 2: Manipulating and Managing Data
10
Part 3: Exploring Artificial Intelligence
16
Part 4: Getting the Job

Summary

In this chapter, we dove into the core fundamentals of data mining with statistics, which are often assessed during data science interviews. We reviewed the basics of probability, how to describe data using different measures of centrality and variability, how to estimate variables with population sampling, the relevance of the CLT and the assumption of normality, and reviewed probability distributions and hypothesis testing. By learning about these principles, you will be able to identify and describe relevant data statistics and make testable hypotheses. You will also avoid being fooled by misused statistics that manipulate our understanding of data.

Be aware that some interviewers will ask theoretical questions while others will want you to work out the solution to a problem. In either case, statistics is the backbone of many machine learning algorithms and experimentation designs, which are prominent in data science in all industries.

In the next chapter, we will...