Can Interview Query Help You Land a Data Science Job?

According to LinkedIn’s Emerging Jobs Report from 2020, it’s a good time to be in data science. Alongside behavioral health professionals and engineers, data science is one of the most highly sought after professions, in a field that is seeing “continued growth on a tremendous scale.” The job of a data scientist ranked third on Glassdoor’s “50 Best Jobs in America” for 2020, with a median base salary of $107,801 and an average job satisfaction of 4.0/5.

Although data science is seeing explosive growth and increasingly attractive reviews, it is extremely competitive, especially if you are looking to land a job at a top tech company like Amazon or Lyft. The first step is preparing for data science interviews, which cover a wide variety of topics and lack consistency, making them extremely difficult.

This is the problem that Interview Query sets out to solve. Interview Query is an online service that aims to help aspiring data scientists land their dream job by preparing them for technical interviews. But is it right for you? Read on to find out.

How does it work?

According to the service’s website, Interview Query sources over 250 interview questions from top tech companies like Airbnb, Microsoft, Dropbox, Twitch, Lyft, Reddit, BuildZoom and Amazon. These questions cover a wide breadth of data science-related topics that could come up in interviews such as SQL problems, algorithms, machine learning theory, product and business intuition, statistics, probability and more.

On Interview Query, you can specify what types of questions to practice, sorting by question type, job position, difficulty level, company and question topic. For example, you may choose to focus on “difficult” algorithm questions for Data Scientist positions that were recently asked by Facebook or Google. This allows you to tailor your studying to your weak points and practice questions that relate most directly to your dream role and company.

Upgrading to Premium packages unlocks even more content, providing exclusive access to the service’s “full interview question bank, data science take-home challenges, video course and mock interview content, and community of data science candidates and professionals.” This “community of data science candidates and professionals” comes in the form of an active Slack group, where users prep for interviews together and give each other inside information about interview processes at various top tech companies.

How much does it cost?

Interview Query has three Premium subscription packages: Crunchtime ($75/month), Interview Starter Kit ($229/year) and Mastery Package ($369/year).

All three packages include:

• Full Interview Course
• 300+ Interview Questions
• Peer Mock Interviews
• 10+ hours of course content
• Slack data science community

Interview Query’s most popular package is the Interview Starter Kit, which will also grant customers a collection of take-home challenges. Investing in the Mastery Package will also provide aspiring data scientists with a 1-on-1 coaching and mock interview session, and a resume review and comprehensive plan. The Mastery Package’s pricing drops down to $229/year after the first year.

In addition to its three Premium plans, Interview Query also offers a free weekly interview question delivered straight to your inbox. You can sign up for the emails on their website here.

👉 To check out Candor's data science question bank, click here

What are users saying about it?

Since Interview Query is a newer service, there aren’t many reviews or comments about it online. On Interview Query’s blog, the company publishes a series called “Success Stories,” where it spotlights data scientists who have landed jobs with the help of their service.

One of these interviewees was Jerry Khong, who is currently a Machine Learning Engineer at U.S. Bank. Jerry explains how the term “data scientist” is very broad and can encompass a wide variety of subjects, from machine learning to more business-facing duties. This made it difficult to prepare for data science interviews and was ultimately the reason why Jerry started using Interview Query.

“The take-home challenges and technical screens were initially really difficult. Data scientist is a very broad term that could encapsulate pure analytics, machine learning, applying deep learning, or being more business facing. I feel like since each position is different, just understanding what to expect was the hard part in the beginning. The Interview Query question bank definitely helped me see the commonalities in each question for different companies that cleared up how to efficiently spend my time studying.”

For Jerry, Interview Query allowed him to better prepare for interviews and focus on his weak points, such as SQL problems.

Another spotlighted “Success Story” focuses on Alexander Pan, who is currently a data scientist at Network Next. Alex recounts some of his more difficult interview experiences and said he found Interview Query Premium to be a valuable interview prep resource, in addition to a few supplementary books.

“I found Interview Query Premium really useful to me in terms of showing what the questions from other data science tech companies were like. It was really easy to go down the list and ask myself each question and made sure I knew the right answer by checking the solutions as well. I found the situational business questions helpful because the bigger companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google, etc.. are always looking for a specific person with industry knowledge.”

However, users on Reddit had mixed reviews about Interview Query. While some agreed the service’s solutions were helpful for understanding data science topics and preparing for interviews, others weren't so impressed. For example, one user said he didn’t find Interview Query worthwhile and said the service provided a “very limited number of questions” pertaining to SQL.

Is it right for me?

For aspiring data scientists struggling with technical interviews, Interview Query appears to be a helpful study tool that allows job searchers to build their confidence, improve upon their weak points and better prepare for interviews at top tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft. With a vibrant Slack community of aspiring data scientists and a wide breadth of interview study questions, Interview Query may be a resource that is worth spending $229 for the potential of landing your dream job.

However, if you aren’t ready to make the investment, it is definitely worth signing up for Interview Query’s free weekly interview question delivered to your email. If you find the free questions to be helpful in your interview prep, you can then decide to go all-in with a Premium subscription.

The cover photo for this article is interview query's logo, which can be found on their website, linked here

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