25 Datamatics Global Services Interview Questions

1.

Great communication skills are critical when working as an IT Consultant. Walk me through a time when you were successful in communicating with a person that was difficult to work with, and under difficult circumstances?

Throughout corporate America, you'll find your garden variety of different personalities from strategic thinkers, passive aggressive profiles, and of course your ego maniacs. Dealing with difficult people is an art. There's a few ways you can learn to adapt to an environment, culture and difficult circumstances without compromising the success of the project. First, start with the common issues that a difficult person will present to you. He/she will likely try to take credit for the work you completed, or blame you for missing their deadlines. An easy way to handle this is to explain that even though they blamed you, you have no ill will towards them, and actually offered to help with their project so they could get caught up. Another approach is to summarize the issue, then explain that you communicated with the other person and spent time with them to solve the problem.

Tom's Answer

"I've worked with all types of personalities, and have found that a diplomatic approach has worked best for me. The first thing I address with the other person is the blame game. Learning why you are blamed gets you once step closer to resolving the problem. In this case the client was having issues meeting deadlines which caused other departments to also miss their deadlines. I immediately focused on a problem, how to solve it, and started by showing my willingness to get along and help get the project back on track."

Tom's Answer

"It's extremely important to me to avoid getting upset or venting about the person who was difficult to work with. I had an instance where a client was rude, and verbally abusive, and didn't give me access to servers, and software that I needed to complete my work. I kept my cool and was polite the whole time. I demonstrated how they would see immediate results and a turn-around of their project if we could all work together and I could have access to certain files and folder to get my work done, and they agreed."

2.

Your customer wants you to explain the benefits of the Big Data model you developed, how do you communicate the insights they can use for their business?

Everywhere you look in corporate America; you will find Big Data. It's fast becoming one of the most important facets of a business's operation. Big Data is used for data analytics and data management. If you want to know if your company is profitable or losing money, big data analytics can provide that. If you want to see what product sold best in a specific region of the country or world, big data analytics can provide that information. It's like having a dashboard with multiple screens in one that shows the performance of your company, people, processes, etc. Everyone talks about this concept, but very few can articulate the benefits of big data and how it can help a business. This is especially true for data consultants who are new to big data. Depending on the level of experience that you have, one of the most important areas that you should focus your response on is highlighting the insights that the customer is going to realize when they implement a big data solution.

The interviewer is interested in hearing about how you present benefits to the customer in a way that connects with the customer's pain and adds value to the company. Effective communication is key here. They might ask for a hypothetical scenario where you clearly presented a case for big data and it's benefits. It would help to mention that they would be able to calculate metrics for data gathered from multiple sources like social media, customer profile data, company website, etc.

Tom's Answer

"My expertise has been in Data Analysis, so Big Data to me was a pretty flat and easy learning curve. When you're working with large volumes of data, you need to make sure that the data is scrubbed (clean) so that the information can be interpreted by the organization so they can use that data to make better business decisions. I was able to do this by using data warehouse applications that broke down the data in smaller manageable groups that had relevant information about each customer or prospect. Based on my knowledge, there are a lot of benefits that a company can get out of big data. Here's a short list that I have compiled based on my experience:

1. Ability to acquire, extract, modify, analyze, and blend the data with various business intelligence tools in order to get the information you need to run your business.
2. You can evaluate risk by a portfolio of products or services.
3. Be able to customize customer experiences.
4. You can identify important information or performance data to improve decision making.
5. Real-time forecasting and monitoring across company-wide locations, divisions, and business units.
6. You can monitor sales and marketing campaigns, and track customer purchasing habits."

Tom's Answer

"In years past when I worked with data management tools, it was systems like ETL and Data Warehouses that I used to compile and structure data that the business could use. These were typical Business Intelligence solutions at the time, but they weren't as robust as they are now. My responsibility was to extract and cleanse data so I could present it in a way that was easy to understand to a non-technical person. Having a strong analytical background helped me to analyze different forms of data so I could optimize and index data structures in order to present the many benefits that big data has to offer."

3.

Why is this job with Datamatics Global Services right for you, at this time in your career?

Discuss with the interviewer why you are looking to make a change, and how this particular role fits well with the changes that you are seeking. Be sure to give a more in-depth answer than the typical 'I am looking for growth' answer that so many interviewers hear. Be thoughtful and draw upon the research you have done on the company.

Tom's Answer

"I have been passively seeking a new position for quite some time and haven't jumped on anything yet because I want to make sure it's the right fit. I feel that this job is right for me, at this point in my career, because it offers an opportunity for me to utilize my recent education in IT while giving me an opportunity to advance in my management skills."

Tom's Answer

"This job is right for me at this time in my career because I am prepared and ready to take on a management position. I feel that your company would nurture my desire for growth and prepare me with the appropriate training."

4.

Explain what the difference is between Data Mining and Data Analytics, and tell me how you have used both in your recent projects?

Data Mining and Data Analytics go hand In hand in the world of big data. Data Mining is used to find patterns among large datasets, while Data Analytics is used to test hypothetical models on particular datasets. Over a period of time, you acquire skills that companies see as valuable to their organization. It's these skills that set you apart in the market. As you hone these skills over time, you become good at many different soft skills that accompany the technical skills. Here's where you can use a combination of these skills to articulate a compelling message that explains the differences between Data Mining and Data Analytics.

A very important question that might come from an interviewer is how much data do you analyze, and how do you manage that data without risking a security breach. Large scale big data projects use tools like Hadoop as a repository for this data. The reason I mention it is the hiring manger might ask what repository you use to store it, and what your level of confidence using this tool is.

Tom's Answer

"Data Mining and Data Analytics data is compiled by a number of different sources throughout a company. This data comes into the organization in many different forms from different formats, platforms, media, etc. It comes in different shapes, sizes, and venues like social media, social activity reports, customer surveys, emails, weblogs, sensors and bots related to the Internet of Things. I take this data and put it in the correct silos of a data warehouse, then break it down into data points that have relevant and usable data that the business can understand and use it to make business decisions. I was responsible for a data mining project that needed data to calculate operational expenses within the marketing group. They needed to know what it cost the Marketing department to run lead generation campaigns, and what the customer acquisition costs were."

Tom's Answer

"To me, comparing and contrasting two things like Data Mining and Data Analytics is an exercise that I enjoy a lot. I'm very passionate about data in general. Let me give you an example of these two, and how I used them in my current and past projects. Let's examine the difference between the two, and my experience using both. The Data Analytics process goes into the following steps: Project Definition, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Data Modeling, and Deployment. The Data Mining process is a little different. The steps are Problem Definition, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Data Modeling, Verification and Validation, and Insights. Now for my experience: In a recent project, I collected data from our websites to look at patterns in user behavior and website traffic for all our pages. This data was helpful to the Search Engine Optimization team so they could focus on redeveloping pages that were getting inquires and orders."

5.

What is your knowledge of imputation? Would you kindly list different types of imputation techniques, and which method you find to be most favorable for your environment?

There are multiple imputation methods that can be used for missing data. It comes down to the experience one has using imputation techniques. In most cases, your software by default chooses Listwise deletion. This, of course, all depends on why and how much data is missing. Another approach is imputation which means replacing data values with an estimate, then analyzing the data to see if imputed values were observed.

A question like this is posed to help the hiring manager determine your level of expertise with imputation. First, start with an overview of your knowledge with imputation and imputation techniques. They will probably be looking for something along the lines of mean imputation and single or multiple imputations. The way to answer this question with relation to mean imputation is to talk about Regression Imputation, Hot Deck Imputation, Cold Deck Imputation, Substitution, Stochastic Regression Imputation, and Interpolation and Extrapolation. If a question comes up about single or multiple imputations, it's going to depend on unbiased parameter estimates and accurate standard errors.

Tom's Answer

"When I work on different types of imputation techniques, the goal I want to achieve is what missing information am I looking for, and what am I suppose to do with it. Every company has different rules about imputation policies, and how to handle missing data. In most cases, the software you use defaults to a listwize method of cleaning up unwanted, unused or missing data. It's important to look into how much data you are storing, and how much of that is usable data that the business can use. Some of the methods I use to determine single or multiple imputations are the following:

1. Hot Deck Imputation - (A missing value imputed from a random selection).
2. Cold Deck Imputation - (Same as hot-deck, but more advanced and selects from other datasets).
3. Mean Imputation - (Replacing missing values with predicted values).
4. Single Imputation - (Denotes that the missing value is replaced by a value)."

Tom's Answer

"Working with missing data can be a challenge for most people, but I find this type of work very rewarding professionally. My role requires me to work with a team of data architects and consultants who provide me with data, and then I apply imputation techniques to cleanse the data so that the company can use it for managing and growing the operations. It is important that I obtain the best quality data before making it ready for the business to use. This is why I apply these types of imputation techniques.

1. Multiple Imputation - (Estimates the values multiple times).
2. Regression Imputation - (Involves replacing missing values with a predicted value).
3. Stochastic Regression - (Same as regression, but adds a common regression variance to the imputation)."

6.

At Datamatics Global Services we seek to hire individuals who have ambitions of growing their career. Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

Every hiring manager would like to know that their investment of time and training will pay off. Assure the interviewer that you see this position as a long-term fit. How does this role with Datamatics Global Services fit into your longer-term plans?

Tom's Answer

"In 3-5 years I would like to see my career with Datamatics Global Services include a path towards a leadership role. I am very keen on paving a long-term career in the healthcare services realm and would love the opportunity to do that here."

Tom's Answer

"One of the attractive points of working for Datamatics Global Services is that you care about the growth of your employees. I'm motivated to learn and am looking for a long-term fit. In 3-5 years I'd like to be grounded in the clinic, learn about this site, your patient base and earn certifications that would help the unit advance. Personally, I'd like to get involved in some of the local volunteer organizations. I speak Spanish, and I have an interest in urban outreach so it would be nice to do something formal in that context...health-education or fundraising."

7.

What type of manager brings out the best in you?

The interviewer wants to see that you are self-aware and understand the type of manager or employer that brings out the best in you. Some individuals prefer a close working relationship with a lot of accountability while others prefer space and autonomy. If you are unsure of the management style of the interviewing company, try to leave your answer as open as possible. You can certainly ask the interviewer to describe their management style.

Tom's Answer

"I have worked with a wide range of personalities and management styles with great success. If I could express a preference, I feel that I am best in an independent and autonomous environment. Can you describe the management style here?"

Tom's Answer

"Here are some management styles:

- Directive Autocrat
- Permissive Autocrat
- Consultative Style
- Persuasive Style
- Inclusive
- Democratic Style
- MBWA (Management By Walking Around)
- Laissez-faire
- Mentorship Style"

8.

Our clients have high expectations of our work, tell me about a time you worked with challenging time constraints, but were still able to exceed client expectations.

If I only had more time. I hear this all the time. It's a fact of life in the business world. Being prepared for situational questions that ask about project planning, resource planning, expectations, delivery, and how you anticipate distractions will show the hiring manager that you have meticulously planned and know each step in the process. Your answer should reflect the steps you take to resolve a problem, or minimize risk so problems don't occur. Walk the interviewer through one of the steps in the process, and detail how you address time constraints specifically, and how you are able to still meet client expectations. Detail this response with how you set up a project plan, the step-by-step approach, and why everyone needs to follow the process in order to avoid delays, and to deliver on time.

Tom's Answer

"Almost every project will have time sensitivity challenges and deadlines that need to be met. I am very mindful of these things, and take the appropriate steps to ensure projects are planned properly with the appropriate amount of resources, technology, and approvals throughout the process. The way that I start and execute on a project is always with a project plan that serves as a roadmap for success. If I am to avoid time constraints and other challenges, I clearly identify the deliverables, and follow through on the most efficient way to produce them. In order to avoid distractions, I take a close look at design and test times, project risk, team focus, and management involvement so that we minimize delays from the executive level."

Tom's Answer

"When I start a project, there are a number of tasks and milestones that I consider very carefully. The most important one is identifying risks up front to avoid surprises. I take a systematic approach to each step and phase of the project. It has been my experience that setting quality expectations in advance sets the tone for a much more favorable outcome for the project. Keeping a focus and not deviating from the original plan is important for meeting milestones and expectations. I understand that changes happen, and change management needs to be addressed if this happens. If or when change happens, we refocus the project using rapid application development RAD to stay on schedule so the delivery date of the project doesn't change."

9.

IT projects rely on teams and each other to succeed. Describe a scenario were you lead your team to a successful outcome?

Here's a great opportunity to show the value and worth that you can bring to the organization. While you were managing a team, you can describe how you motivated and empowered your team so they could have ownership and accountability on the project. Your goals should be to illustrate how you recognized the team's achievements, and inspired them to work towards a successful outcome. Don't forget to provide examples of when you were able to meet deadlines, and overcome obstacles that might have delayed your project. Lastly, provide a purpose for the project, and how important their involvement is, and why it's important to have a successful outcome for the project.

Tom's Answer

"Teams respond in different ways based on how their manager leads. I found this to be true in many cases when I manage teams. I feel that effective collaboration and leveraging the appropriate resources is important to reach a goal or target. I strongly believe that building strong relationships with my team and stakeholders separates me from mediocre managers. Igniting a passion in my team has helped me show them that anything is possible when you work together as a team to achieve a successful outcome. It's not difficult to envision a goal if you nurture a belief in your team, and trust their capabilities. Case in point, I was tasked with creating and documenting a sequence of events for our IT Project Management team so that projects could be assigned more efficiently, and everyone from the project management team would get task notifications to complete before the next phase of a project could be assigned to another project manager. This resulted in projects starting and completing 40% faster, and with an established sequence in place, this was easy to follow and maintain for the department manager."

Tom's Answer

"There was a particular instance where my team and I were assigned a project to re-write the functionality of a module from our enterprise software. Our goal was to develop new features in the manufacturing module so it could perform real-time data analytics and the plant manager could track inventory levels, and error rates in the production environment. I made sure that my team was well prepared and understood what needed to be done for this to be a success. This initiative resulted in timely reorders when stock was low, and it also reduced error rates by 70% which also resulted in cost savings to our bottom line."

10.

Big Data can be an efficient tool to monitor and grow a business, but can have challenges if not properly implemented. What challenges have you encountered while working with big data?

Any implementation if not monitored and managed correctly can turn into a complete disaster. This is especially true of Big Data. When you're dealing with large volumes of sales data, customer data, even confidential data, it makes it that much more important to ensure that you mitigate risk at every level of the implementation process. Having prior experience with successful implementations in the big data space will give you a distinct advantage.

A hiring manager wants to hear about the challenges you had with past big data implementations. Managers know that implementations don't always go as planned, so they will be listening carefully to see if you own up to your mistakes or blame others for things that go wrong. It goes without saying, but you never badmouth your company, subordinates or colleagues. A good way to turn this question around is to give an example of a big data implementation that didn't go as planned, but that you were able to get it back on track by re-evaluating the process, the requirements and your team's ability and experience to get this implementation completed successfully.

Tom's Answer

"I have used Business Intelligence tools like ETL, Informatica, Tableau, QLIK, and Power BI. These tools have helped me shape my knowledge base and career path over the years. I enjoy working with data because it's fun to work with, and I get enjoyment out of it. It has been my experience that big data doesn't always work as advertised. I did have some set-backs on a couple of projects that I managed, and the way I was able to resolve some of the impending issues was I had to re-assess the overall situation, and after doing that, was able to figure out that there was miscommunication between team members and the understanding of the final delivery of the implementation. The issue was the data wasn't being analyzed thoroughly enough to use it as accurate data for the business."

Tom's Answer

"A lot of technologies are used simultaneously in the implementation process of a big data project. One area that can't be overlooked is storage. My experience with implementations is that if you have the right infrastructure in place like software-defined storage, compression, duplication, and tiering; it can reduce the amount of space and costs associated with big data implementations. If you don't have these in place before you start the implementation, then you're setting yourself up for failure. I was involved in a project that was delayed for a few reasons. One was that the data wasn't validated, another reason was we were working with disparate data sources, and lastly, we came across organizational resistance (Insufficient alignment and lack of middle management understanding)."

11.

Help me understand your standards for success in your last job. Please describe what you did to attain those standards, and if you fell short of expectations, what did you do to remedy the problem?

If you look at companies of all sizes, you'll find different types of standards for each one of them. A smaller company's standards might differ from a larger one, and this could be based on processes, management and overall operations. They hiring manager in this case would like to hear if you value standards, and if you are involved in setting standards or following them. Ideally you want to explain that you have involvement with both. Start with some basic facts about the standards you have set, and how you have garnered support from leadership and have successfully maintained those standards over a long period of time. It's also important to talk about times you had challenges maintaining standards, and how you were able to remedy issues that came up, and regain the support of your teams. This shows the interviewer your human side, because everyone falls short of expectations at some point, but what you did to remedy the problem will be something they will pay close attention to.

Tom's Answer

"There are standards that I follow which have made me successful. I start by putting together a winning team. The way that I select a team is I look for winning attitudes, and quality attributes that fit within our team dynamics. Each team member must possess a willingness to learn from failures, and the eagerness to practice and improve even under challenging deadlines. Each person on my team has to accept ownership of their role, and be accountable for their work. Lastly, each and every person on my team has to be respectful to each other."

Tom's Answer

"When it comes to standards, there are many ways to measure success. For me, customer satisfaction is a very important measurable metric. It's my job to figure out what the client is looking for in order to ensure complete satisfaction. I admit, client satisfaction isn't always easy to measure, but once you develop a system that allows them to measure success, you will have a better idea of how to meet their needs. This is a common practice that I developed and use with all my customers. In rare cases where I fell short of my client's expectations, I always examine where things went wrong, and implement a change to immediately right the ship. It could be a number of things like budget, bureaucracy, unrealistic timelines, etc. I document all project cases so I prevent failures in the future."

12.

We're a company of innovative thinkers; we rely upon our innovative thinking to solve client problems. Tell me about a time when you came up with a breakthrough idea that was not obvious to others. Describe your idea and how you developed it?

Innovation is the cornerstone of any successful company. If you show me a highly successful company, I will show you people within that company that were innovative thinkers. Great examples are Steve Jobs from Apple, Bill gates from Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon just to name a few. The hiring manager is posing this as a two-part question to see if your response is clear, concise, and related to the question. Stay on point with your response, because that's what they're looking for. Think about this question for a minute to dissect what they are asking. They are a company of innovators.....which means, will you fit into their culture and be able to come up with ideas that will be innovative. They will be listening attentively to how you articulate your message about your breakthrough idea. Walk them through how you came up with the idea, what your thought process was, how you got approval to move forward, and how you executed on the idea.

Tom's Answer

"I've always considered myself an Outside the Box thinker. Settling for the norm has never been my working style. I always work with the expectation that my idea will serve many purposes, and bring value to our customers. One example is when I came up with an idea to train the trainer at multiple locations via remote video conferencing. This idea was well received, and was implemented at over 50 locations worldwide. I came up with the idea because I was responsible for training multiple divisions and didn't have the budget to fly everyone in from multiple locations for the training sessions."

Tom's Answer

"I was working on implementing a friendlier looking graphical user interface solution for a financial services client. The inspiration came from the feedback I received from people at the client site complaining about processing transactions on a mainframe computer that wasn't much fun to work with or look at. They were used to the dreaded Green Screen on a mainframe, but my solution had a Windows look and feel which they liked quite a lot."

13.

In your opinion, is data a true asset for a business. Why or why not?

Many companies still struggle with the idea that their data is a real asset when it comes to their business. The interviewer would like to know that, if a client asked you about the importance of their data, that you would give a well-thought-out and appropriate response. Share with the interviewer why data is indeed an asset.

Tom's Answer

"Since acquiring data comes with a significant cost, I believe it is fair to say then that data is an asset. Data can give precious insight into a company's operations, financial strength, future scalability, and more. By properly analyzing data, a company can open itself to millions in growth. For these reasons, I absolutely consider data to be a true business asset."

Tom's Answer

"It is interesting to me that this idea is still in question with some of the clients with which I work. I recently read a study claiming that 36% of businesses lack the tools needed to extract and analyze the information and data that they have. When a client asks me if their data is valuable, I always reply with a hearty 'yes!' It is expensive to gather data, but also more costly to never analyze your data."

14.

What decisions did you routinely make in your last position?

The interviewer would like to know more about the types of decisions you are accustomed to making in the workplace. The way you answer this questions will give them a good idea of your level of experience, seniority, and ability to handle the decision-making requirements in this possible position.

If the job you are interviewing for requires you to be decisive and quick on your feet, you will need to be able to provide examples of how you have done these things in the past. If you worked in tech support, you faced problems that you needed to find solutions for on a regular basis. If you worked as a sales rep, you might have required to know how to negotiate and make decisions on prices and benefits you can give your customers.

You may have faced decisions that became so routine you didn't think twice! Refer to these types of decisions and be sure to highlight how these types of decisions have prepared you for a role like this one.

Tom's Answer

"In my previous position I was quite often required to make decisions on staff scheduling as well as hiring and terminating. I feel that role prepared me quite well for a position like this one. I have well-honed decision-making skills and my intuition, when it comes to hiring, has been elevated."

Tom's Answer

"I was responsible for planning the content calendar: emails, blog post topics, and timing, social media posts, in addition to actually executing the plans. That means everything from creating web copy, to choosing images, and the like. Also, I collaborate with management to decide what promotions and sales we will be running, and when."

15.

The way we approach clients in our business is we identify client needs and recommend solutions to their needs. Tell me about a time when your knowledge and expertise allowed you to make a recommendation to resolve a problem or address a pain point?

The is a classic example of the hiring manager asking you to role play your response. The way it works is the hiring manager asks you to role play as the consultant, and he/she is the client who asks you to give them a pitch about why your company is a firm that they need to work with. There are a few ways to make this role play work in your favor. Here are a few examples you can use in a response. 1. Act as a problem solving adviser that can find and recommend solutions quickly, 2. Tell the client they have accessibility to you and other team members as needed, 3. Point out the benefits that they will get when they hire your company, 4. Share some examples of successes from companies of a similar industry, size or market.

Tom's Answer

"I've been a firm believer that the customer is always our highest priority and that I need to be the eyes and ears of the customer. With that said, there some examples I can share that will hopefully resonate with you. I typically ask what solutions have been proposed in the past, and how they have worked. Are there metrics to track the success or failure of past efforts? Having data to review helps me understand the process and approach previously used. Knowing the team makeup, and what methodology they used will also give me a deeper insight into what they were thinking. I like to conduct a voice of the customer survey, which I believe adds tremendous value to this campaign. Lastly, it's important for me to analyze the cause & effect relationships from the customer surveys, because It reveals a lot of underlying issues like task failures, root cause problems, and how good or bad the data is."

Tom's Answer

"My recommendations would be based on what the customer wants and how well they articulated the deliverable. If, for example, the client wanted something that resembles a ketchup bottle, but the team delivered a salt shaker, that would indicate a miscommunication of what the client requested. My approach would be to closely dissect the customer requirements, then build a mock-up of what they requested, and have them review for approval before going to the next phase of development. After this phase is approved, I would do testing and debugging before presenting it to the customer. Mapping the customer journey is a visualization process a customer goes through and tracks each step along the way with the vendor, so everyone is on the same page."

16.