Behavioral & Leadership — Technical Screen (Data Scientist, Bank of America)

Context

You are interviewing for a Data Scientist role at Bank of America. Provide concise, metric-driven, and structured answers (use STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result). Where possible, quantify impact.

Prompts

1. Self-Introduction and Motivation
   • Provide a concise self-introduction.
   • Explain why you want to join Bank of America.
   • Explain why this specific quant role aligns with your goals.
2. Recent Research Project
   • State the objective and business/analytical problem.
   • Describe the methodology and data used.
   • Clarify your individual contributions.
   • Share measurable results.
3. Initiative Beyond Requirements
   • One key accomplishment that shows personal initiative.
   • Include context, specific actions taken, obstacles, and the outcome.
4. Complex Problem Requiring Deep Analysis
   • Define the problem and constraints.
   • Outline your analytical approach.
   • Compare solution options and justify your choice.
   • Explain implementation and measurable impact.
5. Quant/Technical Project
   • Describe the system architecture/components (e.g., data pipelines, feature engineering, visualizations).
   • List programming languages and tools used.
   • Explain design decisions and trade-offs.
   • Report results.
6. Learning New Technical Skills Outside Class/Work Requirements
   • What you learned and why.
   • Tools/frameworks and how it changed your approach.
   • Impact on the project and how you use those skills today.
7. Building Strong Relationships
   • With a teammate, client, or manager: actions taken, challenges, how you addressed them, and outcomes.
8. Disagreement on the Team
   • Describe the situation, how you reconciled differing opinions, the decision process, and the final result.