SAMPLE
TECHNICAL
QUESTIONS
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How would you rank yourself in Excel?
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What skills would make you a good data analyst?
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Can you tell me about a time you worked with data to solve a problem?
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Can you tell me about a time where you presented complex data?
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How would you estimate the sales of hotdog buns for next month?
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How would you determine if a set of numbers was random?
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Do you use vlookup or index match?
TIPS
FOR
ANSWERING
TECHNICAL
QUESTIONS
TIPS FOR ANSWERING TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
Q1 ANALYSIS
Before answering this question, it is important to understand what an interviewer is trying to learn by asking this question. The interviewer does not want a confession nor does he care about what you specifically failed at. What the interviewer wants to do is to learn about who you are as a person, specifically how honest you are about your work, how you handle challenges, and how you rectify failure.
Simply sharing about a time that you failed an exam, lost at a competition, or did not meet expectations, does nothing to reveal the desirable traits in a new hire that employers are seeking. What is important is demonstrating an understanding of how to respond to failure. Therefore, choose a failure where you can explain the following key points:
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An understanding of why you failed
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How you communicated and were transparent with those of whom you had failed
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The efforts you took to rectify the problem
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Changes you made to your practices to prevent future repeats
If your story of a time you failed does not explain the above, it is not worth sharing. It is also important to note that the reason of failure in your story should never be due to malice, poor attitude, or lacking ethical integrity. A good example would be one where the mistake was honest, albeit due to inexperience, lack of attention to detail, or lack of foresight.
CHECK ANSWER
How would you rank yourself in Excel?
Q1 EXAMPLES
Here is an example answer to the above question:
At my previous internship, I often worked on various client-facing reports which were often faced with a tight schedule. Previously, I had completed several of these reports without issues and therefore in my overconfidence I began to take shortcuts. Additionally, as work accumulated, I did not implement new practices to organizing and managing my files. It was inevitable that a mistake would eventually arise given how I was currently doing things at the time. I made a mistake on a report that was sent out to the client. Both the manager and the client did not immediately recognize the issue, however, I decided to communicate to my boss that the report would need to be retracted for corrections. The boss, while irritated, appreciated my transparency and handled communications with the client. Thankfully, I was given the opportunity to make fixes without severe consequences. Additionally, I was able to restore confidence with my boss by explaining to him improvements to my workflows and best practices in order to prevent a repeat.
CHECK ANSWER
How would you rank yourself in Excel?
Q2 ANALYSIS
This is one of the more challenging questions in an interview because it is asking the interviewee to effectively sabotage his or her own desirability. At the same time, interviewers will not look positively at interviewees who try to evade or avoid directly answering the question. With this in mind, the goal of any interviewee’s response to this question is to provide a valid and transparent response while also minimizing the damage to their desirability as a new hire.
Whatever possible weaknesses interviewees may choose to use, there are some answers that are never acceptable. Interviewees should never admit a deficiency in a skill very critical to the job. Additionally, interviewees should never admit or imply a behavioural issue such as being a poor team player, being lazy, or lacking punctuality as these are core professional traits that everybody should have. Finally, interviewees should never give a fake response like “I’m a perfectionist”, because this is seen as disingenuous and a non-answer.
CHECK ANSWER
What skills would make you a good data analyst?
Q2 EXAMPLES
A good example of a weakness that fits this criterion is poor English (assuming the first language of the interviewee is not English). Although English is a crucial skill in any Canadian workplace, admitting a lack of proficiency in English will not damage an interviewee’s desirability because the interviewer has already determined how well the interviewee speaks English based on the interview. The interviewer will already know that the interviewee is weak in English, and therefore, while this is a valid response it does not actually impact the interviewee’s chances.
Inexperience is another valid answer. While experience is very important, the interviewer has already carefully reviewed the resume of the interviewee and yet the interviewer has chosen to speak with the interviewee despite the lack of experience. Therefore, admitting a weakness that the interviewer already knows will not have a net negative impact. Additionally, inexperience is not unique to most applicants to entry-level positions and therefore this weakness, while real, does not particularly impact the interviewee relative to his/her peers.
A third possible weakness is being a poor public speaker. Public speaking is often a valued skill in professional work environments as employees often have to share their perspectives and opinions on various matters. However, public speaking is rarely so critical to an entry-level position that a weakness in this area can ruin an applicant’s chances of being given a job offer.
CHECK ANSWER
What skills would make you a good data analyst?
Q3 ANALYSIS
When answering this question, it is important to have a structured and analytical approach to your response. A good response will not merely inform the interviewer that you had used data in the past, but that you can think critically about problems from beginning to end, and that you demonstrate a full range of competencies crucial to the Data Analyst’s skillset. Generally, responses should more or less follow this structure:
Problem Identification
Data gathering, cleansing, and management
Data exploration
Data modeling and validation
Storytelling and visualization
CHECK ANSWER
Can you tell me about a time you used complex data to solve a problem?
Q3 EXAMPLES
TO BE COMPLETED
CHECK ANSWER
Can you tell me about a time you used complex data to solve a problem?
SAMPLE
TECHNICAL
QUESTIONS
-
How would you rank yourself in Excel?
-
What skills would make you a good data analyst?
-
Can you tell me about a time you worked with data to solve a problem?
-
Can you tell me about a time where you presented complex data?
-
How would you estimate the sales of hotdog buns for next month?
-
How would you determine if a set of numbers was random?
-
Do you use vlookup or index match?