Wealthfront Data Scientist Interview Questions + Guide in 2024

Wealthfront is a pioneering financial technology company known for revolutionizing the investment advisory space. They created the first automated investment product, providing high-quality financial advice and cutting-edge banking solutions. With over $50 billion in client assets, Wealthfront continues to redefine how individuals manage their wealth.

At Wealthfront, Data Scientists leverage financial and behavioral data to drive key product and marketing decisions. The role involves advanced data analysis, A/B testing, model building, and collaboration across various business units. Ideal candidates possess strong mathematical and software engineering skills and marketing analytics experience, excelling in technical and communication abilities.

Dive into this guide to navigate the interview process and gain insights into the kind of Wealthfront data scientist interview questions you might get asked and the preparation needed to succeed. Happy interviewing!

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your CV is among the shortlisted few, a recruiter from Wealthfront’s Talent Acquisition Team will contact you and verify key details like your experiences and skill level. Behavioral questions may also be part of the screening process. The recruiter is known for being very responsive and may schedule the next interview stage promptly.

Take-Home Assignment

If you pass the recruiter screening, you will be given a take-home assignment with 7 days to complete. This rigorous assignment will test your data science skills in various practical scenarios. Commit significant time to ensure your work is reflective of your capabilities.

Manager Call

After the take-home assignment, you’ll have a call with a manager, possibly an Engineering Director. This call could delve into your technical experiences and test how well you understand Wealthfront’s products and operations. Be prepared to discuss in depth how much you know about Wealthfront, your use of their app, and other relevant experiences.

Onsite Interview Rounds

Completing the manager call will land you an invitation to the onsite interview. This will include multiple interviews with senior engineers and other stakeholders. You can expect these interviews to involve technical discussions, problem-solving exercises, and behavioral questions.

Wealthfront places high importance on knowing about its operations and products. Interviewers may focus on assessing whether you’ve used their app, followed their social media, and read their blog posts. They may also inquire about your genuine interest in joining the company.

Throughout this stage, your technical prowess—including programming, machine learning, and problem-solving skills—will be assessed during multiple rounds, which may also include take-home exercise presentations if assigned.

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

1. How would you design a function to detect anomalies in univariate and bivariate datasets?

If given a univariate dataset, how would you design a function to detect anomalies? What if the data is bivariate?

2.What are the drawbacks of the given student test score data layouts?

Assume you have data on student test scores in two layouts (dataset 1 and dataset 2). What are the drawbacks of these layouts? What formatting changes would you make for better analysis? Describe common problems in “messy” datasets.

3. What is the expected churn rate in March for customers who bought subscriptions since January 1st?

You noticed that 10% of customers who bought subscriptions in January 2020 canceled before February 1st. Assuming uniform new customer acquisition and a 20% month-over-month decrease in churn, what is the expected churn rate in March for all customers who bought the product since January 1st?

4. How would you explain a p-value to a non-technical person?

How would you explain what a p-value is to someone who is not technical?

5. What are Z and t-tests, and when should you use each?

What are the Z and t-tests? What are they used for? What is the difference between them? When should you use one over the other?

6. Write a function search_list to check if a target value is in a linked list.

Write a function, search_list, that returns a boolean indicating if the target value is in the linked_list or not. You receive the head of the linked list, which is a dictionary with keys value and next. If the linked list is empty, you’ll receive None.

7. Write a query to find users who placed less than 3 orders or ordered less than $500 worth of product.

Write a query to identify the names of users who placed less than 3 orders or ordered less than $500 worth of product. Use the transactions, users, and products tables.

8. Create a function digit_accumulator to sum every digit in a string representing a floating-point number.

You are given a string that represents some floating-point number. Write a function, digit_accumulator, that returns the sum of every digit in the string.

9. Develop a function to parse the most frequent words used in poems.

You’re hired by a literary newspaper to parse the most frequent words used in poems. Poems are given as a list of strings called sentences. Return a dictionary of the frequency that words are used in the poem, processed as lowercase.

10. Write a function rectangle_overlap to determine if two rectangles overlap.

You are given two rectangles a and b each defined by four ordered pairs denoting their corners on the x, y plane. Write a function rectangle_overlap to determine whether or not they overlap. Return True if so, and False otherwise.

11. How does random forest generate the forest and why use it over logistic regression?

Explain how random forest generates multiple decision trees and combines their results. Discuss the advantages of using random forest over logistic regression, such as handling non-linear data and reducing overfitting.

12. When would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm?

Compare two machine learning algorithms. Describe scenarios where bagging (e.g., random forest) is preferred for reducing variance and boosting (e.g., AdaBoost) is preferred for reducing bias. Provide examples of tradeoffs between the two.

13. How would you evaluate and compare two credit risk models for personal loans?

• Identify the type of model developed by the co-worker for loan approval.
• Describe how to measure the difference between two credit risk models over a timeframe, considering monthly installment payments.
• List metrics to track the success of the new model, such as accuracy, precision, recall, and AUC-ROC

14. What’s the difference between Lasso and Ridge Regression?

Explain the differences between Lasso and Ridge Regression, focusing on their regularization techniques. Highlight how Lasso performs feature selection by shrinking coefficients to zero, while Ridge penalizes large coefficients without eliminating features.

15. What are the key differences between classification models and regression models?

Describe the main differences between classification and regression models. Classification models predict categorical outcomes, while regression models predict continuous outcomes. Discuss examples and use cases for each type.

17. What metrics would you use to evaluate the value of marketing channels?

For a company selling B2B analytics dashboards, determine key metrics to assess the effectiveness and value of different marketing channels.

18. How would you determine the next partner card for a company using customer spending data?

Using customer spending data, outline the process to identify the most suitable partner for a new co-branded credit card.

19. How would you investigate if a redesigned email campaign led to an increase in conversion rates?

Analyze the impact of a redesigned email campaign on conversion rates, considering other potential influencing factors to validate the results

• Familiarize Yourself with Wealthfront’s Products: Wealthfront interviewers assess how well you know their operations and products. Be prepared to discuss your use of their app and your understanding of their services.

• Show Your Passion: Wealthfront values candidates who demonstrate genuine enthusiasm for their mission and products. Make sure to express your passion for Wealthfront’s vision and goals .

• Prepare for Technical and Behavioral Questions: The interview process includes technical and behavioral assessments. Practice problem-solving and coding related to data science, as well as answering behavioral questions that reflect your collaboration and communication skills.

What is the average salary for a Data Scientist at Wealthfront Inc.?

How should I prepare for the behavioral interview rounds at Wealthfront?

You should practice common behavioral questions and be ready to talk about your past technical experiences. Demonstrate your understanding and passion for Wealthfront’s mission. Review their blog and prepare questions that show your interest in their engineering culture and products.

Are there any openings at Wealthfront?

Check out our Job Board to check latest openings for a data scientist position at Wealthfront.

Wealthfront offers a vibrant and challenging environment for Data Scientists who are deeply passionate about their mission. While the interview process is rigorous, we hope you found this interview guide helpful for your preparation.

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Wealthfront Interview Guide to see other questions as well as the interview process for other positions.

Good luck with your interview!