Walmart Data Scientist Interview Process

Billion-dollar retail giant, Walmart, has a competitive interview process for data scientists. The Walmart data scientist interview process typically seeks to evaluate one's problem-solving skills, analytical skills, knowledge of distributed, scalable systems, and knowledge of data models, statistical analysis, deep learning, and ML algorithms.

Data science is one of the most in-demand and highest-paying fields today, making it among the most sought-after professions for programmers and software engineers. The enormous amount of data and information that’s available has enhanced the scope for data science and data-related professions. Top companies are actively hiring competitive data scientists to gain much-needed insights from data and analytics to create advanced statistical and data models that consequently steer business growth and profits. Walmart is one such company.    

If you’re preparing for a data scientist interview, this piece on the Walmart data scientist interview process will give you sufficient insight on what to expect at these interviews, especially at top companies. Most top companies have similar interview processes for data scientists to evaluate core logical, analytical, reasoning, and problem-solving capabilities.

In this article, we will look at the Walmart data scientist's interview process in detail. We’ll also look at some sample interview questions asked at each interview stage to help you understand the type of questions to expect. 

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Here’s what we’ll cover in this piece:

• Roles and responsibilities of a Walmart data scientist
• The Walmart data scientist interview process
• Average Walmart data scientist salary
• FAQs on the Walmart data scientist interview process

Roles and Responsibilities of a Walmart Data Scientist

Data scientists at Walmart are fundamentally responsible for collecting raw data, managing it, and leveraging information and insights obtained from the data for business processes and applications. Their role typically covers the following elements:

• Create predictive data models, simulations, and scalable, automated systems that make decisions based on data insights
• Use machine learning algorithms to build insightful data-driven systems and applications
• Leverage analytics to create predictive data models
• Build software tools to automate the decision-making for business processes and systems
• Perform statistical analysis and fine-tune systems and applications for max performance
• Constantly upgrade data and predictive models for optimal business performance

The Walmart Data Scientist Interview Process

The data scientist interview process at Walmart evaluates key areas and skills required to fulfill the responsibilities of your role. The Walmart data scientist interview process tests your skills and knowledge in the following areas:

• Coding — data structures and algorithms
• Systems design — basic knowledge of how distributed systems work
• SQL and database management
• Deep learning
• ML algorithms
• Statistical analysis and probability

Questions and problems in these topics are asked over multiple interview rounds. Typically, the Walmart data scientist interview process has three main stages.

The Initial Recruiter Screen Round

The initial recruiter screen round is more like an informal round where a recruiter from Walmart will contact you. Recruiters, typically from human resources, will attempt to form an understanding of your skills and professional experience. The idea is to understand whether your profile fits the responsibilities and requirements of the role. 

Some questions to expect at the initial recruiter screen are:

• Are you currently interested in the role at Walmart?
• What are your expectations from the role?
• Why are you looking to make a job switch?
• How do you think your experience will benefit the company?
• Do you have a working knowledge of ML algorithms?
• What are your current and expected compensation?

The Technical Phone Screen Round

The technical phone screen round fundamentally evaluates your problem-solving skills. This is a remote interview round where you’re given about 1 or 2 problems to solve in core data structures and algorithms. You’ll also be asked a few questions in concepts around data science, including statistical models, data models, and ML algorithms. 

The recruiter screen typically lasts 30 to 40 minutes. The coding evaluation takes place through a remote interviewing tool. A hiring manager who conducts this round mainly seeks to understand your approach to problem-solving.  Below are some sample questions/coding problems to expect while going through the Walmart interview process.

1. Write a program to print the right view of a binary search tree.
2. Write a program to find the missing elements in a two-dimensional array.
3. Write a function to identify if a string is a palindrome or not.
4. Write a program to perform a breadth-first search for a given undirected graph.
5. Write a program to use Tarjan’s algorithm to find the strongly connected components in a graph.

Some questions in data science asked at the technical phone screen include:

1. What are some big-data analytics tools that you’re familiar with?
2. What are some things to consider while building a predictive data model?
3. What are some aspects to consider while designing a machine learning algorithm?
4. What is your understanding of statistical analysis?
5. Which Python libraries will you use while processing data?

The On-site Interview Round

The on-site interview fundamentally evaluates your coding knowledge and domain knowledge in data science. You also go through a behavioral and leadership round during the on-site interview (also known as the HR round).

The on-site interview will typically have 3 to 4 interview rounds.

1. A coding round
2. One to two domain rounds
3. Behavioral round

The domain rounds test your knowledge in core domain concepts such as:

• Statistical analysis
• SQL programming and databases
• ML algorithms
• Data modeling
• Deep learning and neural networks
• Basic concepts in distributed systems

The behavioral or HR round in the Walmart data scientist interview process aims to help recruiters make good hiring decisions by evaluating candidates' responses to various workplace situations and past project experiences. 

Below are some behavioral questions asked during the Walmart data scientist interview process:

1. How do you think Walmart can help you advance your career?
2. What are some learnings from the most challenging project you worked on?
3. How do you think your experience can help the company?
4. Tell us about a time when you were stressed because of a professional challenge.
5. How do you handle conflicts at work?

Knowing the type of questions asked during each step of the way can help you get more clarity and direct your prep accordingly. Remember, a good interview prep strategy is key to acing challenging technical interviews.

Average Walmart Data Scientist Salary

The average salary of a Walmart data scientist is $294,903 per year, which is 134% more than the national average. While entry-level engineers' salaries start from $84,000 onwards, the average senior data scientist salary at Walmart is $$164,944. 

If you want some help in sprucing up your resume as you apply for the Walmart data scientist role, you can check out How to Make a Perfect Software Engineer Resume for FAANG Companies.

FAQs on the Walmart Data Scientist Interview Process

Some commonly asked questions on the Walmart data scientist interview process are:

1. How many interview rounds does the Walmart on-site interview for data scientists have?
   The Walmart data scientist interview typically has 3 to 4 on-site interview rounds. These typically include 1 to 2 coding rounds, 1 to 2 data science(domain) rounds, and one behavioral/leadership round. 

2. How long does the Walmart data scientist interview process take?
   The initial phone screen lasts about 20 minutes, the technical screen about 40 minutes, and the on-site interviews take place over the course of an entire day. The entire Walmart data scientist interview process can take anywhere between 2 to 5 weeks.

3. What is the average Walmart data scientist salary?
   The total average salary offered to data scientists at Walmart is $124,456 per year. 

4. How many total interview rounds does the Walmart data scientist interview have?
   The Walmart data scientist interview has three main interview rounds — the initial screen, the technical screen, and the in-person interview. 

5. Is Walmart a good employer?
   Based on employee reviews and compensation benefits, Walmart has a Glassdoor rating of 4.2 out of 5.

Get Ready for Your Next Walmart Data Scientist Interview

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