1 min lesson
Onsite rounds map
Connect "The onsite is compact, three to five rounds and each one maps to a slice of the actual job" to the decision you would make.
Step 1 of 3
The onsite is compact, three to five rounds and each one maps to a slice of the actual job. If you know which round you are in, you know what they are testing and which muscle to lead with. The later DS modules drill each round in depth - this is the map that tells you where they sit.
Use this stage map to decide what evidence belongs in each round. Memorizing the order is the shallow version. For every stage, prepare one artifact, one story and one question that shows how you reason in the role.
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Advanced table
What the Onsite Weighs Hardest
Interactive diagram. Tab through its regions; each focused region shows its detail in the panel below.
Not all rounds carry equal weight. The two heaviest are the ones candidates most often underweight.
- Round
- Metric design / product sense
- What it tests
- Defining and operationalizing a reliability metric
- Lead with
- North-star + guardrails, stated to query
- Deep dive
- DS 3
- Round
- Experimentation & causal inference
- What it tests
- Test design or untangling a confounded regression
- Lead with
- MDE/power, then the right causal method
- Deep dive
- DS 4
- Round
- Analytics / applied modeling
- What it tests
- Anomaly and regression detection on noisy telemetry
- Lead with
- Robust stats, change-point thinking
- Deep dive
- DS 5
- Round
- Data tooling & collaboration
- What it tests
- Building self-serve and partnering with engineers
- Lead with
- Semantic layer, dashboards, alerting
- Deep dive
- JD-explicit
- Round
- Product / craft
- What it tests
- Real, hands-on opinions on Cursor and rivals
- Lead with
- Specific reliability rough edges you hit
- Deep dive
- DS 6
- Round
- Behavioral / hiring manager
- What it tests
- Ownership, ambiguity, pace, truth-seeking
- Lead with
- A regression you owned end to end
- Deep dive
- Behavioral set
| Round | What it tests | Lead with | Deep dive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metric design / product sense | Defining and operationalizing a reliability metric | North-star + guardrails, stated to query | DS 3 |
| Experimentation & causal inference | Test design or untangling a confounded regression | MDE/power, then the right causal method | DS 4 |
| Analytics / applied modeling | Anomaly and regression detection on noisy telemetry | Robust stats, change-point thinking | DS 5 |
| Data tooling & collaboration | Building self-serve and partnering with engineers | Semantic layer, dashboards, alerting | JD-explicit |
| Product / craft | Real, hands-on opinions on Cursor and rivals | Specific reliability rough edges you hit | DS 6 |
| Behavioral / hiring manager | Ownership, ambiguity, pace, truth-seeking | A regression you owned end to end | Behavioral set |
Order and exact count vary by candidate. Map your stories to rounds in advance so you are not improvising which one to tell.