Tips to prepare for Facebook Data Science Jobs

Ivy Jul 02, 2020 No Comments

Introduction –

Would not that be surprising if someone says he or she is not aware of Facebook? Undoubtedly, a majority of us most likely uses this social media platform for a while every day. As of December 2019, Facebook has got 2.5 billion active users monthly. This might just be an exciting fact for common users. But can it just be that for a Data Science enthusiast? Not at all. I am sure you are looking at all the data Facebook amasses every month from across the globe. The abundance of data means opportunities for Data Scientists. Not just that. Their recruitment from IIT-KGP with lofty annual salary had earlier created massive ripples for fresh graduate job seekers. So if you are wondering how to land up with a job at Facebook, look no further. We are going to talk about important tips to prepare for Facebook Data Scientist jobs.

How does an interview process at Facebook look like then? Let’s find it out.

Interview Process at Facebook –

The interview usually comprises of 2 stages. They are Phone Screening and an Onsite interview.

Phone Screening will aim at understanding the genuine interest of the candidate for the job. This will help the recruiter know more about the interviewee and his past relevant experiences. You might be asked some scenario-based questions.

Example Questions:

• Tell me about a time you started analysis with certain expectations, and then got unexpected results.
• Tell us about a project that you’ve managed and describe it from beginning to end.

Onsite Interview will breakdown into a couple of rounds: Coding (SQL, Python, or R), Statistics, Analysis Case — Applied Data, and Analysis Case — Product Interpretation. The rounds are usually short. Accordingly, one will require Data Analysis, Statistics, product intuition, SQL coding, and a lot of communication with business and key stakeholders as a skill set. Being a product based company, the interview will focus more on the business side in comparison to engineering.

Confused? Well, don’t be. You must definitely be wondering what kind of questions to expect in these rounds. We are sharing some example interview questions for a better understanding.

Previous Interview Questions –

Sample SQL Questions:

• Would you use UNION or UNION ALL if there were no duplicates?
• Does creating a view require storage in a database?
• Give me an example of when you worked with a large database and were able to get insights from it?
• How can you detect the drop of users in Instagram stories?
• Given a table of account statuses, write a query to get the number of accounts that closed today but were open yesterday.

Do watch our SQL mock interview here preparation.

Product Interpretation:

• How to improve the product?
• What kind of metrics you’d want to consider when solving questions around health, growth, or the engagement of a product?
• How would you measure the success of different parts of the product?
• What metrics would you assess when trying to solve business problems related to our products?
• How would you tell if a product is performing well or not?
• How would you set up an experiment to evaluate any new products or improvements?

Product and Business Sense:

• How would you create a process to identify fake news postings on Facebook? Define a metric.
• Facebook sees that likes are up 10% year over year, why could this be?
• How can Facebook figure out when users falsify their attended schools?
• If 70% of Facebook users on iOS use Instagram, but only 35% of Facebook users on Android use Instagram, how would you investigate the discrepancy?

Data Analysis:

• Write a query to map nicknames (Pete, Andy, Nick, Rob, etc) to real names.
• Write a query to produce a histogram of user comments.

Statistics and Probability:

• Let’s say you’re playing a dice game. You have 2 die. What’s the probability of rolling at least one 3?
• What do you think the distribution of time spent per day on Facebook looks like?

Modeling:

• How would you design a classifier to send email notifications on photo posts?

You can visit this link for interview questions posted on the Glassdoor website. Having shared these questions, it is time to explain some cherry-picked tips to prepare for Facebook Data Science jobs.

Know Your Employer –

Facebook might be a dream job for many, and a lot of us would join the company without a second thought. But it is always helpful to know more about the company you are seeking a job with. You can find out its work culture, Products, Services, various office locations in India and abroad, annual revenue, number of employees, recent mergers and acquisitions, etc. and many more. So visit the Facebook website right away.

Why not share some information here and save you some time in case you are preparing for an interview with them.

1. Facebook was founded in Feb 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States.
2. It is programmed in C++, PHP, and D language.
3. Last year its revenue was USD 70+ billion.
4. Around 45,000 employees are working currently in various locations globally.
5. In India, Facebook offices are established in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, and Gurgaon.
6. Instagram and Whatsapp were acquired in 2012 and 2014 for around 1 bn USD and 19 bn USD respectively.

Benefits –

• This helps understand the mission and vision of Facebook.
• The skills and experience it values.
• You might find something specifically interesting to venture at a later point in time of your employment.

Know About The Job Role –

Along with full-time jobs, Facebook also provides internship opportunities. In Facebook, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Data Science, and Machine Learning are a few categories suitable for Data Science enthusiasts. In that, there are various job roles available and information provided in detail. It is very important to know in detail about the Job Description for which you are competing.

Important information – One can apply for a maximum of 3 different roles with Facebook at a time.

Benefits –

• This strengthens your preparation for the job.
• It makes the interview interactive and interesting if you clarify and dig deep about something from the Job description.
• This can also exhibit your keen interest in the job as well as your Communication Skills prowess.

Communication Skills –

“The ability to explain technical concepts without speaking technical is a key skill that will help you pass the technical portions of the interview.”

In general, Business stakeholders are not sound with the nuances of technology. Furthermore, they rely on Data Scientists capable of telling a compelling story from data for decision making. This trait will require good communication skills and is one of the most important tips to prepare for Facebook Data Science jobs. So ensure that your answers are structured in a well-formatted and succinct way.

Benefits –

• An added advantage over other candidates for selection.
• Being a global company, good communication skills are required to interact with teams across different countries.

Customized Resume –

Assume that the recruiters are window shopping, glancing past volumes of resume in a short period. They will only be tempted to engage with you if they find your resume interesting, crisp, and possessing relevant skills that they require for the job. After you have thoroughly studied the job role, it would be great to customize your resume to fit as much according to the job description as possible.

Benefits –

• The first point where you can leave a mark on recruiters.
• Showcase all relevant knowledge, skills, and experience.
• An amazing resume gets you a job interview faster than for other candidates.

Bonus Tip –

Additionally, do keep in mind that not all the questions have a crisp right or wrong answer like we have in coding related questions. Recruiters will be keen to understand the way the candidate approaches a question. What all missing pieces of information we seek from the interviewer to solve a given question holds brownie points too.

Conclusion –

We hope these tips to prepare for the Facebook Data Science jobs throw enough light for you to be well-equipped for the interview with confidence. Having said that, do share with us your experiences of an interview with Facebook if any. If you are a beginner and want to know more about Data Science, do visit our blog here. All the best!!