Interview Preparation Notes for Data Analyst position at Amazon

Contact Information

• Name: SparkySundevil8
• Phone: 123-456-7890
• Email: sdevil123@asu.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sparkysundevil
• GitHub: github.com/sparkysundevil

Summary

Senior mechanical engineering student with internship experience in medical device manufacturing and product development. Project experience includes applications of software and hardware. Seeking full-time position May 2020 in medical device manufacturing and pharmaceutical production.

Education

• B.S.E., Mechanical Engineering
• Graduating May 2020
• Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
• 3.82 GPA
• Barrett, The Honors College
• Relevant coursework: Hardware Design Languages and Programmable Logic, Advanced Excel in Business

Technical Skills

• Data Analysis and Statistics: JMP, Minitab
• Design and Modeling Tools: SOLIDWORKS, LabVIEW, MATLAB, Microsoft Office
• Programming: Python, C, C++
• Certifications: National Instruments Certified LabVIEW Associate Developer (CLAD) – August 2019

Experience

ABCSolutions, Phoenix, AZ: Research & Development Development Intern (May 2019–Aug 2019)

• Applied measurement system analysis (MSA) to qualify relocated test equipment (JMP, Python)
• Authored three technical reports for relocated packaging equipment, following IQOQPQ guides (JMP, Excel)

MedApps, Scottsdale, AZ: Quality Engineering Intern (May2018–Aug2018)

• Assessed equivalency of proposed alternate plastic packaging material (Minitab, Excel)
• Created and delivered presentations to train field sales representatives on new product features (PowerPoint)

Academic Projects

HandCycle for Polio Victims (Fall 2019 – Spring 2020)

• Collaborated in a team of three to design model of custom hand cycle for polio victims (SOLIDWORKS)
• Developed team schedule, including quality measurement for each major milestone (Microsoft Project)
• Ensured team compliance to Design Control Procedures according to Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
• Recognized by faculty audience as “Best Presentation” out of 15 teams

Sensor for Quadriplegic Patients (Spring 2019)

• Led team of three to design and develop a mouse-like device to allow quadriplegic patients to use websites
• Assessed range-of-motion data to determine feasible solutions (Python)
• Created device to detect muscle flexion in neck to control the mouse click (Arduino, FPGA)

Other Work Experience

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ: Tutor (10 hours/week) (Aug 2018–May 2019)

• Tutored 10-15 undergraduate engineering students per week in MATLAB programming and math coursework

Kohl’s, Gilbert, AZ: Sales Associate, Jewelry Department (16-24 hours/week) (Aug 2017–Dec 2017)

• Achieved #2 highest selling associate within one month of hire date

Activities

ASU Society of Women Engineers (SWE) (Aug 2017–Present)

• Multiple leadership roles, including vice-president and industry relations chair (300 members, $75k annual budget)
• Tutored 10-15 undergraduate engineering students per week in MATLAB programming and math coursework
• Organized 2018 annual conference participation, including 8 student poster submissions

Interview Preparation Notes

The Data Analyst position at Amazon typically includes four rounds of interviews – a phone screening round, technical round, behavioral round, and a design round. The preparation for each round may vary as per the interviewer, but the following are some of the most common questions that can be asked in each round:

Phone Screening Round

1. What intrigued you about our company and what do you know about it?
2. What excites you about the data analyst role at Amazon?
3. Do you have experience handling large data sets? If so, can you give an example?
4. What experience do you have in SQL and programming? Can you give an example of a data extraction query that you have written?
5. What are some of your data analysis techniques and how have you applied them in your previous roles?
6. How familiar are you with Tableau and other data visualization tools?
7. How do you ensure that your analysis is accurate? What steps do you take?
8. What is your experience with A/B testing and statistical concepts?
9. Do you have any experience in machine learning? If so, what techniques do you specialize in?
10. How do you handle missing or incomplete data in a data set?

Technical Round

1. Explain the time and space complexity of Quicksort algorithm?
2. What is Big O notation and why is it important for coding?
3. Can you write a program in Python that will print numbers from 1 to 100 in steps of 5?
4. What data structures have you used in your previous projects and what were their complexities?
5. What is the fastest way to find a specific number in a sorted list?
6. What is a hash table and how does it work?
7. What is a dynamically-linked library and how does it work?
8. Can you explain the difference between a stack and a queue and how they are implemented?
9. What is the difference between supervised and unsupervised learning in machine learning?
10. What is the curse of dimensionality and how do you handle it?

Behavioral Round

In this round, the interviewer might ask about your previous experiences and how you dealt with specific situations from a behavioral standpoint. Answering these questions in the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format can help you to give a clear and concise answer. Some of the behavioral questions that you might encounter in this round can be:

1. Tell us about a difficult or challenging problem you faced in your previous role. How did you approach it and what was the outcome?
2. How do you deal with stress and busy workloads?
3. Can you provide an example of a time where you had to work with a difficult team member?
4. Tell me about a time where you took the initiative to solve a problem or improve a process in your previous job?
5. Can you explain a situation where you had to go out of your comfort zone to achieve a goal?
6. Explain a time when you had to convince someone to come around to your way of thinking. How did you approach the situation?
7. What is your experience working in a team environment and how do you contribute to a team's success?
8. Can you explain a situation where you had to prioritize between multiple ongoing projects?
9. How do you handle failure in a project or task? Can you provide some examples?
10. Tell me about a situation where you had to comprehend and work with difficult technical material. How did you approach it?

Design Round

In this round, the interviewer may ask you to solve an open-ended question in a specific domain and evaluate your thought process and decision-making abilities. They might also ask you to design a system or a database schema. Preparing for this round requires both high-level and low-level details. The following are some of the design problems that you might encounter in this round:

1. Design a library management system with functionalities such as borrowing, searching books, reserving books, etc.
2. How would you design a recommendation system for Amazon's e-commerce platform?
3. Can you design a system for real-time traffic updates in a city?
4. How would you design a messaging system like Slack?
5. Can you design a schema for a database containing information about products in a store?
6. Design a system that can detect fraudulent credit card transactions.
7. How would you design a database that stores and offers quick access to the temperature of a city for the past 10 years?
8. Can you design a system that schedules appointments for doctors and their patients?
9. Design an algorithm to find the shortest path between two locations in a map?
10. How would you design a high availability and fault-tolerant system for a web application?

Preparing for an interview is not only about knowing the answers to expected questions but also about presenting yourself in a clear and professional manner. Practice your responses to these questions before the interview and make sure you have a good understanding of your resume, experiences, skills, and the Amazon company culture and values.