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Alibaba Group Data Scientist Interview Questions

The questions to prepare for a Alibaba Group Data Scientist interview. Questions from real interview reports rank first. Updated weekly.

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1
Machine LearningStart here. 8 questions · ~65 min
Handling Imbalanced Fraud LabelsMedium

Explain how to train and evaluate models on highly imbalanced fraud data without relying on misleading accuracy.

Cross-ValidationFeature EngineeringSupervised LearningAlibaba Group
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2
A/B Testing & Experimentation3 questions · ~24 min
Primary vs Guardrail Metric ChoiceMedium

Choose a primary success metric and guardrails for a game experiment, then explain how that choice drives power, analysis, and ship decisions.

ExperimentationGuardrail MetricsA/B TestingAlibaba Group
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3
SQL & Data Manipulation4 questions + 3 drills · ~62 min
SQL Window Functions for Top CategoriesMedium

Tests your proficiency with SQL window functions for ranking and time-based aggregation.

Window FunctionsRankingAggregationsAlibaba Group
7-Day Rolling Active UsersMedium
Practice
Practice drill

Compute daily active users and a 7-day rolling average using a CTE, distinct counts, and window functions.

Window FunctionsDate FunctionsRunning TotalsMetaSpotifyMeta IT
SQL Window Functions Moving AverageMedium
Practice
Practice drill

Calculate a three-day moving average of active-client revenue using aggregation and SQL window functions.

Window FunctionsData AnalysissqlAAreteMITREGlassdoor
Rolling 7-Day Incident AverageMedium
Practice
Practice drill

Calculate a calendar-aware 7-day average of Samsara incident counts using CTEs and window functions.

Window FunctionsData AnalysissqlSamsara
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4
Behavioral & Leadership15 questions · ~122 min
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5
More topics6 questions · ~49 min
Explain Transformer Self-AttentionHard

Explain how transformer self-attention works, including its role in sequence modeling and why it scales better than RNNs.

Neural NetworksLanguage ModelsDeep LearningAlibaba Group
Diagnose KPI Drop After ReleaseMedium

Diagnose a post-release KPI drop by separating instrumentation issues from real behavior changes and tracing the problem through the metric hierarchy.

KPILeading IndicatorsDiagnosisAlibaba Group
Interpreting P Values in TestingEasy

Explain what a p-value means in hypothesis testing and how it relates to statistical significance.

Hypothesis TestingStatistical SignificanceP-ValuesAlibaba Group
E-commerce Product Metrics DesignMedium

Tests product sense and your ability to define measurable, reliable metrics for launches.

Metricsuser valueProduct VisionAlibaba Group
Model Design in ChineseHard

Evaluates ability to communicate model design thinking and structure an end-to-end approach.

Alibaba Group
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