How to Crack Data Science Interviews in the Big 4s

Data Science is indeed the most trending and appealing career in the 21st century. Getting placed at one of the Big 4s is the dream of every aspiring Data Scientist. However, the lack of the right guidance and the technological challenges are the reason that not many deserving candidates make it up to the selection.

This article talks about the tips that can give your Data Science career a head start in the right direction. We are living in a highly competitive world where having the right skills is not enough for getting your dream job. This article highlights all the crucial details required to prepare to be a Data Scientist in the Big 4s.

1. Build a Powerful Resume

A resume plays a critical role while applying for any job. Many candidates can not even make it to the interviews because they got rejected on the basis of their resumes. A good resume and a poor resume have just one difference - presentation.

• Try to keep your resume crisp and clear. Do not over exaggerate things.
• Mention your experiences in the Data Science field and projects you have worked upon. Try to mention them in bullet points.
• Include the links of your digital profiles on all the professional and technical platforms like LinkedIn and GitHub.
• Do not use paragraphs, write everything in short and precise bullet points.
• Keep updating your resume format according to the trend.

2. Portfolio: A Fruitful Asset

A convincing portfolio is a great way to showcase your business perception. A strong portfolio can give you a fair advantage over other candidates in the interview. Companies like the Big 4s look for candidates having top skills and hands-on experience in the latest tools and technologies.

An impressive portfolio with 3-5 Data Science projects will create a strong foundation of achievements that you can present in the interview. Make sure to have a strong grip on the basics of all the technologies used in your projects. You should be ready for any follow-up questions regarding the projects in the portfolio.

3. Strong Foundation in the Primary Skills

Having a stronghold of primary skills of Data Science places you far ahead of other candidates. Keeping pace with the technology is essential but the Big 4s largely focuses on the person’s primary skills. One should have a great knowledge of the parent technologies before entering the hot and trending stuff.

You should have strong fundamentals of topics like data structures and distributed computing. Primary skills include languages like Python and SQL can surely give you an upper hand. Since most of the big companies including the Big 4s are switching to cloud infrastructure as it eases the work of data scientists by far, so you should be familiar with at least one cloud service like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

4. Present Yourself Digitally

This is the digital era and having a one-page resume for a technical job is not enough to present your worth. Most of the companies prefer to go through candidate’s digital profiles on channels like LinkedIn, GitHub, and Kaggle. Make sure to maintain accounts on these digital platforms and update them with recent works and experiences relevant to the Data Science job you’re applying for.

You can also write Data Science blogs and articles on various platforms like Medium and Quora to showcase your comprehensive knowledge of the subject. Attend conferences and summits to grow your Data Science network. This will help you gain insights into the industry and its trends. Maintaining a good digital image can certainly uplift your chances of nailing the interviews.

Wrapping Up

Cracking the interviews even at the tech giants like KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY), or Deloitte could be your cup of tea if your approach is right. Work out on your primary skills and data science portfolio, make your digital presence well known and polish your resume and you will see “Data Scientist” written against your name in the Big 4s.