INFORMS Open Forum

On behalf of the INFORMS Analytics Society I am happy to announce the launch of "Analytics Advice." The concept is to use the collective experience of the INFORMS community to offer advice to students and early career professionals. Questions will be posted on Connect and the collective responses compiled into "Analytics Advice" articles.

The first "Analytics Advice" article, finding an internship, can be found in OR/MS Today (https://pubsonline.informs.org/do/10.1287/orms.2023.03.13/full/).

The current question is what are good tips when interviewing for an OR/analytics/data science job?

Please send your thoughts through Connect by September 30 and the Analytics Society will compile and publish the results.

I look forward to hearing your best interview tips!

Thanks,

Dave

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David Hunt
Vice President
Oliver Wyman
Princeton NJ
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Here's my two cents: Don't concentrate on listing your skills. Concentrate on how well you can apply your skills and "best fit" to the company that you interview with. 

When I was in the process of recruiting my team, 9 out of 10 candidates have very similar background: Python (even similar packages), BI tools, R, SQL, SAS.... You name it. For interviewers, they probably already known by your resume that you have these skills. But how well you can apply these skills in real projects? 

Use Excel as an example, different ways of how you can say it and how interviewer may perceive them:

1. I know how to use Excel. ("People can say that they know how to use Excel, and they may just know some simple calculations")
2. I can use vlookup and VBA in Excel.  ("That sounds better, but I still don't know how good this person is")
3. I have used Excel and a built-in tool to do a project to clean 5-year local traffic data and analyze how to improve the road design. ("That's nice, this person can do complicated projects on Excel")
4. I have used Excel and a built-in tool to do a project to clean 5-year local traffic data and analyze how to improve the road design. In this project, I used vlookup, VBA, xxx built-in tool. ("This person can do complicated projects using Excel, and the skills he/she has with Excel are exactly what we looking for")
5. I have used Excel and a built-in tool to do a project to clean 5-year local traffic data and analyze how to improve the road design. In this project, I used vlookup, VBA. I learnt xxx built-in tool from xxx book during the project. ("And this person can learn new things that's necessary for the project, that is awesome")

Or, if you don't have any project experience, you can mention certifications, or classes that can prove "how well" you are in such skill, especially the ones that the job description mentioned. 

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Shannon (Xiaonan) Shang
Manager, Data Analytics
Enovation Controls
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Some advice for interviewing for an OR/analytics/data science job include:

• Know the company and position you are applying for: go to their website, be familiar with the position description, have questions ready
• Be honest with your capabilities and weaknesses: if you are not comfortable/familiar with databases, say so; if you are strong with machine learning, say so
• Demonstrate the willingness to work hard & learn: if the position requires knowledge of databases, but you are weak in that area, demonstrate from your past that you are willing to learn (on your own) the skills required
• Research the domain: if the company produces widgets, research the widget making process; do not be an analyst/data scientist only - be a problem solve

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Aaron Hussey
Founder & CEO
Integral Analytics, LLC
Concord NC
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This may sound simple, but actually research the company. Know what the company does, main product lines, its revenue.  Read the 10K. Read the local and national news for any articles on the company. If you're interviewing for a particular function (e.g., marketing, supply chain) come with specific comments on what's going on in those areas, either at the company or more broadly.

Like other posts have said, the technical skills are known... but are you actually able to put your work in the context of the business you'll be supporting? When I worked at a big retailer, it was always a major plus if the interviewee took the time to learn about the company on their own. It showed initiative and suggested they would actually be interested in working with the business side.

My 2c

Ralph

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Ralph Asher
Founder, Data Driven Supply Chain LLC
Data Driven Supply Chain LLC
Minneapolis MN
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