Despite living in the big data era, we’re still lagging. With more companies turning becoming data-driven it has rather become difficult for organizations to find the right talent.

Most often candidates find it difficult preparing for their first interview in the big data space. Candidates are confused and unsure about the kind of questions that’ll be asked during the interview.

You’ve got it covered. Below are a few questions employers will likely ask you during your first interview.

Additionally, candidates are also getting themselves certified through big data certifications just to add on a little extra on their portfolio.

Question 1: What’s your approach toward data preparation. How can you turn unstructured data into structured data?

Why you’re asking? There are several ways how you can handle data preparation. But when you’re asking this question to a big data engineer, it is to show that you’re opening a window to get into their process, to know whether they’re eligible to handle a huge amount of data. This can be tricky, you need to be patient and wait for them to think analytically, assess their answer and analyze whether they’re security-minded or not. If so, how can you further get an insight into their understanding of the technical aspect, and whether they can work efficiently?

Answer: I’ll start by taking my company’s governance as my guide just to ensure I comply with the company’s policies. Further on, I will work with the raw material to determine I meet the request that was asked of me. This includes identifying the sources from which the data will be extracted and ensure to complete the project given to me. Once the extraction is done, the data will be examined to create a solid profile as well as minimizing errors to make it easier in identifying the data types.

Question 2: Tell me the process of deploying a big data solution?

Why you’re asking? If the employer is asking you this question, it simply means they are trying to assess the process the big data engineer follows and to check their capabilities. Period. Part of their question is to analyze your technical know-how. However, the main goal is to analyze the capability of the candidate’s understanding of big data and how well they can manage a specific process that is related to one goal. Additionally, you’ll be able to analyze the kind of experience they possess. Their in-depth knowledge in data management etc.

Answer: Firstly, I’ll be starting my task by extracting data from reliable sources such as MySQL, social media feeds, CRM, and SAP or probably whatever source that is required to support the kind of business that is making the request. Generally, I tend to use real-time streaming or batch jobs to ingest, then store it in HDFS or perhaps a NoSQL database such as HBase. Then I continue with processing the data using MapReduce or Spark to ensure whether it will be used for the kind of project I’m working on.

Question 3: Tell me the difference between big data and Hadoop? Are they related?

Why you’re asking? Probably you’ve already asked a question previously about how you can transform unstructured data into structured data, hence, now it is time you need to dig deeper and get the candidate involved in the technicalities of the job. Although having an understanding in Hadoop that is in conjunction with data doesn’t necessarily show the process. What it shows are the proficiency and a deeper understanding of the data and data management.

Answer: An ideal candidate would simply answer saying, both are the same however, you cannot have one without the significant other. Because of Hadoop projects as a powerful framework for data analysis. Being a big data engineer you must understand how to deal with structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data.

Question4: How can you increase business revenue using big data solutions?

Why you’re asking? Probably this is to understand how and why you need to use big data and demonstrate future insights to help the company advance. When you ask this question to a candidate, it is to ensure the candidate understands the genre of the industry and their skill set.

Answer: Using big data you’ll be able to understand where your company is positioned in the labor market which is in comparison with the competitors. These help big data engineers understand the strengths and weaknesses and come up with the right approach. Besides this, big data analytics helps us get to the micro-level of these weaknesses and strengths to customize the approach to gain better audiences.

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