0

I have applied for a junior data analyst position. I passed three interviews, including technical, with the manager and the recruiter.

Now in the final round they gave me a small project and want me to try my best to solve it and prepare a report and a Powerpoint file for a 1-hour presentation.

I don't have experience with this interview format; how can I best prepare for it?

This is the project description:

Perform a detailed analysis on the factors which impact sales of xxx. Based on the findings of your analysis make recommendation(s) to the business about changes that could be made in order to increase revenue from those products

...

For the analysis you can use any software or programming language of your choosing. During the interview you will be asked to present two items:

  • The workings behind your analysis, containing a brief explanation of the steps you took (Notebook or Word Document)
  • A short PowerPoint slide deck (8 slides or less) that will summarise your key findings and recommendations to a non-technical audience.
Improve this question
3
  • 5
    There is no way to know, but since you got into the final round it looks good. Try your best
    – Kilisi ♦
    Feb 16 at 5:29
  • Did you get it then?
    – numenor
    Feb 24 at 14:30
  • They sure do waste a lot of potential employees time nowadays. Three rounds a technical interview and a project. I cannot imagine an employer for which I would want to work so badly that I would do that.
    – Neil Meyer
    Feb 24 at 16:58

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

You've made it to the last round of interviews - that's a big achievement in of itself. Normally at this stage there's likely only a handful of people left (perhaps just yourself) and so this is the time for you to shine.

Make sure you read and re-read the brief that they've given you. For every question that is 'asked' in the brief, make sure first and foremost you have answered that exact question.

Be clear in how you answered the question - to use a simple example, if the brief asks for a Gross Profit - make sure you have Gross Profit and make sure you have articulate how you've calculated it (Sum of all transactions).

Once you have addressed everything in the brief, perhaps include one or two complimentary metrics - e.g. they might want a break down of what is the most profitable item - so you answer that in terms of Gross profit (answering the question that is asked) but then supplementary to that answer, you include items that have a high profit margin (e.g. Item 1 has a gross profit of $10 - costing $20 to make and being sold for $30 - a 50% markup, but Item 2 costs $1 to make, but sells for $5 - $4 gross profit, but a 500% markup)

Then make sure you know your numbers and your analysis methods inside out and back to front - go in there and articulate why you are the best candidate for the job.

Improve this answer
8
  • wow! thanks. good one. They also wanted me to have a powerpoint presentation in 8 slides max. I added the project above. anything else I should know? specifically the word file i dont know what to put and how to show?A
    – Ahmad Turani
    Feb 16 at 8:17
  • 3
    You work file should have all the details used to generate your PowerPoint slides. For something like this I would start with an "Abstract" or "Executive Summary" that gives the salient point in a 1/2 page or so. Then an "Introduction", a description of the analysis performed, how you did it, what you found. All the gory details. Finally end with your "Summary".
    – jwh20
    Feb 16 at 16:18
  • 2
    It seems that they want to assess your problem solving skills and then how you present and communicate. This is a real-world example of something that you very likely will do repeatedly in your career. So it's good. Those silly online coding tests are useless. Never in my career have I done anything even remotely resembling one of those.
    – jwh20
    Feb 16 at 16:20
  • 1
    @jwh20 - ditto; 30 years in my field I never once gained anything from those online tests & didn’t have the ability to Google for syntax or help understanding a conceptual programming problem
    – Donald
    Feb 16 at 17:04
  • 1
    This is a Junior level position. They're not expecting ground-breaking insights into the data; they want to see basic Excel skills (and any other tools which may be standard for the role), presented in a Word document with a PowerPoint presentation which backs up the Word document. Do your best.
    – PeteCon
    Feb 18 at 18:24

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .