Analytics Execution: SQL, Data Modeling, and Metrics
Strong analytics execution lets you independently get to the data, define correct metrics, and trust your results. Expect hands-on SQL (joins, window functions, aggregations), data hygiene checks, and questions about metric definitions (DAU, activation, retention, conversion).
Be ready to go over:
- SQL fundamentals: Joins, window functions, CTEs, handling NULLs, deduplication
- Event data modeling: Sessions vs. events, user identity, attribution
- Metric design: Activation criteria, funnels, cohorts, retention, LTV
- Advanced concepts (less common): Incrementality, data validation strategies, warehouse performance tradeoffs (Snowflake/BigQuery), anomaly detection
Example questions or scenarios:
- "Write SQL to compute a weekly activation metric for new users with a 7-day lookback and exclude test accounts."
- "Given event tables for page views and purchases, build a conversion funnel and identify top drop-off points."
- "How would you validate a sudden spike in DAU—what checks and queries would you run?"
Experimentation and Statistics
You will be asked to design and interpret experiments. Interviewers probe your understanding of hypothesis framing, unit of randomization, power, significance, guardrails, and pitfalls (peeking, novelty, sample ratio mismatch).
Be ready to go over:
- A/B testing design: Hypotheses, success metrics, guardrails, sample sizing
- Inference: P-values, confidence intervals, Type I/II errors
- Interpretation: Practical vs. statistical significance, heterogeneity analysis
- Advanced concepts (less common): CUPED, sequential testing, non-parametric tests, network effects, experiment holdouts vs. geo tests
Example questions or scenarios:
- "Design an A/B test to improve Acrobat sign-up conversion. What is your primary metric and how do you size the test?"
- "A test shows +0.8% lift, p=0.06. Ship or not? What additional analyses would you run?"
- "How do you detect and handle sample ratio mismatch (SRM)?"
Dashboarding and Data Storytelling
Expect to discuss dashboard objectives, audience fit, information hierarchy, and visual choices. Interviewers want to see how you separate exploration from monitoring, minimize noise, and tie visuals to decisions.
Be ready to go over:
- Tool proficiency: Tableau/Power BI layout, parameters, level of detail
- Design rationale: KPI tiles vs. trends vs. diagnostic views
- Governance: Definitions, refresh cadence, alerting, access control
- Advanced concepts (less common): Metric layer standardization, semantic modeling, accessibility in data viz
Example questions or scenarios:
- "Walk us through a dashboard you built: who uses it, what decisions it informs, and how you iterate."
- "Redesign a cluttered executive dashboard—what do you remove or change?"
- "How do you ensure a dashboard becomes the source-of-truth and not just another view?"
Business Problem Solving and Product Sense
You will translate ambiguous goals into measurable plans and make tradeoffs explicit. Interviewers assess how you size opportunities, prioritize, and connect insights to execution.
Be ready to go over:
- Problem framing: Clarify goals, constraints, success criteria
- Opportunity sizing: TAM/SAM, funnel math, revenue impact, cost-benefit
- Prioritization: ICE/RICE, impact vs. effort, risk
- Advanced concepts (less common): Pricing/packaging experiments, monetization levers, channel attribution complexities
Example questions or scenarios:
- "Creative Cloud churn increased 30 bps—how do you investigate and what actions do you propose?"
- "If you could improve one step in the Photoshop onboarding funnel, which and why?"
- "Choose between two feature bets with limited bandwidth—how do you decide?"
Stakeholder Management and Leadership
Influence is central: you align PM, Eng, Design, Marketing, and Finance around metrics and decisions. Interviews explore how you set expectations, handle disagreement, and drive accountability.
Be ready to go over:
- Influence tactics: Pre-reads, decision memos, option sets with tradeoffs
- Conflict resolution: Data vs. anecdote, principled escalation
- Operational excellence: Experiment calendars, KPI reviews, postmortems
- Advanced concepts (less common): Decision frameworks (DACI), analytics roadmapping, change management
Example questions or scenarios:
- "Tell me about a time your recommendation was unpopular—what happened?"
- "How did you align multiple teams on a single definition of activation?"
- "Describe a decision memo that led to action and impact."