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ML interview questions

The document outlines preparation strategies for written tests and viva related to machine learning (ML), covering core concepts, mathematical foundations, algorithms, and coding challenges. It emphasizes understanding ML frameworks, discussing projects, and real-life applications, along with commonly asked topics and mock questions for practice. Final tips include coding practice, brushing up on basics, and maintaining composure during interviews.

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Aranya Saha
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
5 views

ML interview questions

The document outlines preparation strategies for written tests and viva related to machine learning (ML), covering core concepts, mathematical foundations, algorithms, and coding challenges. It emphasizes understanding ML frameworks, discussing projects, and real-life applications, along with commonly asked topics and mock questions for practice. Final tips include coding practice, brushing up on basics, and maintaining composure during interviews.

Uploaded by

Aranya Saha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

Written Test Preparation

This is usually focused on theory, mathematics, and coding.

Core ML Concepts

 Supervised, Unsupervised, and Reinforcement Learning


o Understand algorithms like Linear Regression, Logistic Regression, SVM,
Decision Trees, K-Means, etc.
o Applications of each learning type.
 Overfitting & Underfitting
o Bias-variance tradeoff, cross-validation, regularization (L1/L2), and dropout
for neural networks.
 Evaluation Metrics
o Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1-score, AUC-ROC, and confusion matrix.
 Feature Engineering
o Handling missing values, scaling, encoding, and feature selection techniques.

Math Foundations

 Linear Algebra
o Matrix operations, eigenvalues/eigenvectors, vector spaces (important for
PCA, SVD, and deep learning).
 Probability & Statistics
o Probability distributions, Bayes’ theorem, hypothesis testing, p-values, and
confidence intervals.
 Calculus
o Partial derivatives, gradients, chain rule (especially for gradient descent).
 Optimization
o Convex functions, gradient-based optimization methods like SGD, Adam, etc.

Algorithms & Data Structures

 Python/Programming Basics
o Arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, and hash maps.
o Sorting and searching algorithms (merge sort, binary search, etc.).
 Specialized ML Algorithms
o Clustering, dimensionality reduction (PCA, t-SNE), and ensemble methods
(Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, etc.).

ML/DL Techniques

 Understand Gradient Descent (batch vs. stochastic), Backpropagation,


Hyperparameter tuning.

Coding Challenges

 Practice on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank for algorithms and problem-


solving.
 Solve ML-specific problems on Kaggle or StrataScratch.

2. Viva Preparation

This will focus on your understanding, projects, and applications of ML.

Understanding ML Frameworks

 Explain Algorithms:
o Be prepared to explain basic algorithms (e.g., how Decision Trees split data,
why SVMs work well for high-dimensional spaces).
 Discuss Trade-offs:
o Why use Logistic Regression over Neural Networks for certain problems?
o Why would you use one metric (like Recall) over another?

Your Projects & Experience

 Prepare to Explain Projects:


o Describe datasets, models used, preprocessing steps, and challenges faced.
 Explain Key Decisions:
o Why you chose specific models, features, or metrics.
 Model Interpretability:
o How to interpret your model’s output or explain feature importance.

Applications in Real Life

 Examples of ML applications (e.g., fraud detection, recommendation systems).


 Current trends (e.g., Generative AI, transformers, Explainable AI).

Scenario-Based Questions

 “How would you handle a dataset with 80% missing values?”


 “What would you do if your model is overfitting?”

Knowledge of Tools

 Common tools: Python, NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch.


 Version control (Git/GitHub).

3. Commonly Asked Topics

1. Data Preprocessing:
o Imbalanced datasets, data cleaning, scaling.
2. Feature Selection:
o Explain methods like PCA, correlation matrices, recursive feature elimination.
3. Deep Learning Basics:
o Neural networks, activation functions, CNNs, RNNs, LSTMs.
4. Time Complexity:
o Know how to calculate it for ML pipelines or algorithms.

4. Mock Questions for Practice

 Basic:
o What is the difference between supervised and unsupervised learning?
o What is regularization in ML? Why is it important?
 Intermediate:
o Explain the difference between bagging and boosting.
o How do you detect multicollinearity in a dataset?
 Advanced:
o How does a Neural Network decide weights and biases during training?
o Explain the vanishing gradient problem and how it can be solved.

Final Tips

1. Be Ready to Write Code:


o Practice implementing ML models from scratch (e.g., Logistic Regression, K-
Means).
2. Brush Up on Basics:
o Even simple concepts like normalization can be tricky under pressure.
3. Prepare for Why Questions:
o Expect questions like “Why did you choose this optimizer for your project?”
4. Stay Calm:
o If you don’t know an answer, explain your thought process.

Good luck, Aranya! Let me know if you need specific explanations or resources!

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