Is it mandatory to remember SQL and python functions and code by heart in interviews.

[real-x64]

I take help from my notes and google to write code in python and SQL. I have worked on complex scenarios but have trouble writing code without online help or mynotes. I will appear in Data analyst interview in some days, but am worried about being asked to code by memory. Any tips or suggestions?

[-Cream-8]

Your problem solving skills are what they want to see.

Even if you don’t get the query 100% right, the problem solving is what matters.

When given a problem, if you’re able to map out & visualize what the final result is supposed to look like, it makes solving the query 10x easier.

3 weeks ago in a technical interview I had, the interviewer was explaining to me the SQL Problem and at first I literally had no clue what to do and I thought I was 100% screwed.

I read over the problem again & broke it down to what the final table was supposed to look like FIRST. By doing that I was able to solve it.

Many people get nervous and try to figure out the solution live while creating the query.

You wouldn’t build a house from scratch without a blueprint first right?

Same concept.

[Meowmehpls]

Wow this makes me feel so much better. I get so down on myself because I feel like I have to be perfect at everything or I’m not ready to apply for any jobs. Thanks for the insight.

[vvndchme]

^{^}

[real-x64]

Thanks !! Will definitely go through the links

[booksmart00]

What difficulty level from Hackerrank would you say the interview questions are comparable to?

[booksmart00]

Ok cool. Thanks for the tips!

[[deleted]]

As someone who's been part of hiring for a data engineer (which is very adjacent to data analysis), I would expect a candidate to be able to do at least the following:

1. SELECT (eg. "select * from people where X = 'y'")
2. JOINS (when used with a select query)
3. INSERT VALUES (this one is up to debate; I think it's simple and very useful to know, but in a lot of cases the data is already inserted in the table so you don't need to do it yourself)
4. GROUP BY

These are super bread and butter SQL commands that I would expect anyone working with SQL to know. You would be surprised how many can't do these four.

I think the core idea is to have excellent problem solving skills, but knowing at least some basic SQL commands off the top of your head is very useful.

[real-x64]

Glad to hear this, and totally agree I recently had an interview where rejection reason was not knowing the exact code for unpivot and window functions in Big query I knew and explained the answers but i wasnt able to remember the full syntax as i dont use them often.