Cox Communications is a leading company dedicated to creating moments of real human connection, both in the workplace and in customer solutions. Known for its innovation in telecommunications, the company is seeking a Data Scientist to join the Analytics + Intelligence Team.

In this role, you'll be at the forefront of designing and developing analytics applications that drive decision-making across customer-facing and employee-facing platforms. Key responsibilities include architecture, development, and implementation of scalable analytics and ML applications within the AWS ecosystem.

Candidates should have strong programming skills, experience in cloud platforms, and a robust understanding of machine learning, deep learning, and AI. Cox offers a competitive compensation package and values diversity, inclusion, and continuous growth.

Ready to join a team where your contributions matter? Let’s get started with Interview Query to guide you through the interview process and help you land this exciting role at Cox Communications.

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Cox Enterprises as a Data Scientist. Whether you were contacted by a Cox recruiter or have taken the initiative yourself, carefully review the job description and tailor your CV according to the prerequisites.

Tailoring your CV may include identifying specific keywords that the hiring manager might use to filter resumes and crafting a targeted cover letter. Furthermore, don’t forget to highlight relevant skills and mention your work experiences.

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your CV happens to be among the shortlisted few, a recruiter from the Cox Talent Acquisition Team will make contact and verify key details like your experiences and skill level. Behavioral questions may also be a part of the screening process.

In some cases, the Cox Data Scientist hiring manager stays present during the screening round to answer your queries about the role and the company itself. They may also indulge in surface-level technical and behavioral discussions.

The whole recruiter call should take about 30 minutes.

Technical Virtual Interview

Successfully navigating the recruiter round will present you with an invitation for the technical screening round. Technical screening for the Cox Data Scientist role usually is conducted through virtual means, including video conference and screen sharing. Questions in this 1-hour long interview stage may revolve around Cox’s data systems, ETL pipelines, and SQL queries.

In the case of data scientist roles, take-home assignments regarding product metrics, analytics, and data visualization are incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency against hypothesis testing, probability distributions, and machine learning fundamentals may also be assessed during the round.

Depending on the seniority of the position, case studies and similar real-scenario problems may also be assigned.

Onsite Interview Rounds

Followed by a second recruiter call outlining the next stage, you’ll be invited to attend the onsite interview loop. Multiple interview rounds, varying with the role, will be conducted during your day at the Cox office. Your technical prowess, including programming and ML modeling capabilities, will be evaluated against the finalized candidates throughout these interviews.

If you were assigned take-home exercises, a presentation round may also await you during the onsite interview for the data scientist role at Cox.

Quick Tips For Cox Enterprises Data Scientist Interviews

• Brush Up on AWS Ecosystem: Given that Cox emphasizes developing analytics applications using AWS, it would be beneficial to familiarize yourself with the AWS ecosystem and related services.
• Strengthen Communication Skills: Cox values the ability to communicate advanced technical topics to non-technical business partners. Practice explaining complex technical details in simple and comprehensible terms.
• Prepare for a Diverse Set of Tools: Make sure you're comfortable with a variety of data and analytic tools, such as Python, SQL, Docker, and Java, as well as machine learning frameworks like TensorFlow or Keras.

Typically, interviews at Cox Enterprises vary by role and team, but commonly Data Scientist interviews follow a fairly standardized process across these question topics.

• How would you use data to convince a fast-food franchise to purchase another custom Snapchat filter? Snapchat partnered with a fast-food franchise to create a custom filter available for a week. How would you use data from this campaign to persuade the franchise to buy another custom filter this year?

• Write a function missing_number to find the missing number in an array of integers. You have an array of integers, nums of length n spanning 0 to n with one missing. Write a function missing_number that returns the missing number in the array. The complexity should be \(O(n)\).

• Create a function first_uniq_char to find the first non-repeating character in a string. Given a string, find the first non-repeating character in it and return its index. If it doesn't exist, return -1. Consider a string where all characters are lowercase alphabets.

• Write a function inject_frequency to add the frequency of each character in a string. Given a string sentence, return the same string with an addendum after each character of the number of occurrences a character appeared in the sentence. Do not treat spaces as characters and do not return the addendum for characters that appear in the discard_list.

• Create a query to find the number of rows resulting from different joins on a table of ads. Allstate is running N online ads ranked by popularity via the id column. Create a subquery or common table expression named top_ads containing the top 3 ads by popularity and return the number of rows that would result from INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN, and CROSS JOIN operations. Include a join_type column in your output with values inner_join, left_join, etc.

• How would you explain what a p-value is to someone who is not technical? Explain the concept of a p-value in simple terms to someone without a technical background. Use relatable examples to illustrate its significance in hypothesis testing.

• What is the difference between Logistic and Linear Regression? When would you use one instead of the other in practice? Describe the key differences between Logistic and Linear Regression. Provide practical scenarios where each method would be appropriately applied.

• How would you build a fraud detection model with a text messaging service for transaction approval? You work at a bank that wants to build a model to detect fraud. The bank also wants to implement a text messaging service that will notify customers when a fraudulent transaction is detected, allowing them to approve or deny the transaction via text response. How would you build this model?

• What is the difference between Logistic and Linear Regression? Explain the difference between Logistic and Linear Regression. When would you use one instead of the other in practice?

• What does the backpropagation algorithm do in neural networks? Describe the backpropagation algorithm in the context of neural networks. What is the informal intuition behind the algorithm? What are some drawbacks compared to other optimization methods? Bonus: Formally derive the backpropagation algorithm and prove its claims.

What is the average salary for a Data Scientist at Cox Enterprises?

Q: What is the primary role of a Data Scientist at Cox Enterprises?
As a Data Scientist at Cox Enterprises, you will be responsible for developing analytics applications for decision-making that are integrated into both customer-facing and employee-facing platforms. This includes designing, developing, and testing analytics solutions using industry best practices and working within the AWS ecosystem.

Q: What qualifications are required for the Data Scientist position?
Candidates should possess a bachelor’s degree in a related discipline and have a minimum of 4 years of experience in a related field. Alternatively, this could be a master’s degree with 2 years of experience, or a Ph.D. with up to 1 year of experience. Strong programming skills and experience with tools and languages such as Python, SQL, and Docker are essential. Additionally, a year of AWS experience in a data science or analytics capacity is required.

Q: What does the development aspect of the job entail?
Development duties include creating scalable analytics applications using industry best practices, implementing quality unit and end-to-end testing strategies, and working with AWS for deploying solutions. You will also be focusing on observability, reusability, testability, and scalability.

Q: What makes Cox Enterprises an attractive place to work?
Cox Enterprises offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes a competitive salary, 401(k) with company match, healthcare benefits, and perks such as adoption assistance and pet insurance. The company culture prioritizes people, recognition, diversity, and inclusion. Additionally, there are ample opportunities for career growth and skill development.

Q: How can I best prepare for an interview at Cox Enterprises?
To prepare for an interview at Cox Enterprises, you should thoroughly understand the job description and required qualifications. Strengthen your technical skills and practice common interview questions using Interview Query to better prepare. Additionally, be ready to discuss your experiences with advanced analytics, machine learning, and cloud environments, and how they align with the responsibilities of the role.

Ready to get started on your Data Scientist journey with Cox Enterprises? Sign up with Interview Query for more tailored interview preparation!

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Cox Enterprises Interview Guide, where we have covered many interview questions that could be asked. We’ve also created interview guides for other roles, such as software engineer and data analyst, where you can learn more about Cox Enterprises’ interview process for different positions.

At Interview Query, we empower you to unlock your interview prowess with a comprehensive toolkit, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence, and strategic guidance needed to conquer every Cox Enterprises machine learning engineer interview question and challenge.

You can check out all our company interview guides for better preparation, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Good luck with your interview!