Avoid These 3 Mistakes In Data Science Behavioral Interviews
Data Science interview processes can vary depending on the company and industry domain you are applying to. Typically, they start with a behavioral interview with the Hiring Manager or an HR member followed by a technical interview with the team leader and then a coding test and another technical interview with your future team members. However this can vary from one company to another, but, it always starts with a behavioral interview. You can know more about the hiring process of data science in this article:
A behavioral interview is a job interviewing technique where candidates are asked to describe past performance and behavior to determine whether they are suitable for a position. The main goal is to know the type of person you are and to see whether you will be a fit with the company culture, core values, and team members and whether you will satisfy their vision and goals or not.
In the previous articles of this series :
In the first article, I discussed what is a data science behavioral interview and what to expect from it.
In the second article, I discussed how to answer the first and the most common question in a behavioral interview which introduces yourself or tells me more about yourself.
In the third article, I discussed how to present your past projects and answer one of the most common questions that you will probably be asked during a behavioral interview which is to explain a project you worked on before.
In this article, I discussed what to ask at the end of a data science behavioral interview. A very common question you will be asked at the end of a behavioral data science interview is “Do you have any questions?”. This is a common final question in data science interviews in general, not only in the behavioral interview but can be asked in all the other hiring stages.
In this article, I will discuss three vital mistakes you should avoid in a data science behavioral interview to avoid leaving a bad impression during the interview.
Table of Contents:
- Avoid Blaming Others
- Avoid Showing Interest in Job Benefits Only
- Avoid Offensive Questions
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1. Avoid Blaming Others
One important skill the behavioral interview measures is how you solve problems and overcome obstacles in the work environment. These problems might be working with underperformance teammates or working under the supervision of an inexperienced team leader and so on.
It is important to focus on showing how you solved the problem and overcome these obstacles instead of focusing on blaming others who might be the cause of them.
This will show that you have a problem-solving mindset and are a reliable team member that can accomplish independent work even if there were obstacles. Since you will probably meet such situations in your new work environment so it is a very important attribute to show that will leave a positive impression.
So, remember to focus on actions you did to solve a conflict or to overcome obstacles instead of blaming others and complaining about their mistakes as it will leave really negative impression and show that you are an unreliable team member that can easily get stuck into problems.
2. Avoid Showing Interest in Job Benefits Only
We all have different reasons and motivations to join a certain company some of them might relate to the work and the position itself and the company you are applying to such as the impact of their products, the working environment, or the expertise they have in the team and the skills you will learn from this position and so on.
On the other hand, some of these motives, of course, will relate to the benefits you get from working there: such as a high salary, high compensation, achieving a work-life balance, and so on. It is totally okay and legit to have these motives, but you need to focus more on the reasons related to the work and the company itself when stating why you would like to join it.
3. Avoid Offensive Questions
Finally, it is important to show that you have a friendly personality, sometimes due to the stress and pressure during the interview, you might ask some offensive questions or normal questions offensively. This will leave give the impression that you can not handle difficult situations or lose your mind under pressure. This is ofcourse one of the bad attitudes that no one will need in a work environment, especially on difficult days.
To avoid this, try to prepare the questions you would like to ask before the interview and rephrase it in a friendly way remember the first impression always last so make sure to leave a good one. Another good practical tip is to practice with a friend, or family member or to do a mock interview. This will reduce the stress and anxiety of the interviews. Also going through a lot of interviews will decrease this feeling and as time passes you will be more friendly and comfortable during an interview.
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