I have thought about this problem for a while both as an interviewee and interviewer. Especially because this problem is magnified when you want to hire a data

I have thought about this problem for a while both as an interviewee and interviewer. Especially because this problem is magnified when you want to hire a data scientist; your ideal data scientist can be anyone from a SQL monkey to a statistician to a programmer who likes the title data scientist. The problem however is fear. Most small companies have short term goals that are in flux. So managers want this caricature of a human being: the ubermensch who does everything. The "best" of the "best". So the interview process is fucked up.