Easy Interview Questions

Python
1. Question: What is a list in Python?
Answer: A list is an ordered collection of items defined with square brackets, for example my_list
= [1, 2, 3].
Explanation: Lists can hold mixed data types, preserve order, and support operations like indexing,
slicing, and methods such as append() and pop().
2. Question: How do you define a function in Python?
Answer: You use the def keyword followed by the function name and parameters, for example:
3. def greet(name):
4. return f"Hello, {name}"

Explanation: Functions encapsulate reusable logic; you call them by name and pass arguments to
execute the block inside.

5. Question: What does the print() function do?

Answer: It outputs text or variable values to the console, for example print("Hi") displays Hi.
Explanation: print() is used for quick debugging or user interaction by showing messages during
script execution.
6. Question: How do you write a for loop to iterate over a list?
Answer: You use the syntax for item in my_list:, for example:
7. for num in [1, 2, 3]:
8. print(num)

Explanation: The loop runs once per element in the list, assigning each value in turn to the loop
variable.

SQL
5. Question: What does the SELECT statement do in SQL?
Answer: It retrieves data from one or more tables, for example SELECT * FROM Customers;.
Explanation: SELECT defines which columns to fetch and from which tables, forming the core of data
querying.
6. Question: How do you filter rows based on a condition?
Answer: Use the WHERE clause, for example SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE Amount > 100;.
Explanation: WHERE applies a Boolean expression to return only rows that satisfy the specified
criteria.
7. Question: How do you count the number of rows in a table?
Answer: Use the aggregate function COUNT(), for example SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Employees;.
Explanation: COUNT(*) returns the total row count; you can also count a specific column with
COUNT(column_name).
8. Question: What is a JOIN in SQL?
Answer: A JOIN combines rows from two tables based on a related column, for example:
9. SELECT *
10. FROM Orders
11. JOIN Customers
12. ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.ID;

Explanation: Joins (INNER, LEFT, RIGHT) allow you to merge data across tables according to
matching keys.
Excel
9. Question: What is a Pivot Table used for?
Answer: A Pivot Table summarizes and aggregates data (sum, average, count) interactively, for
example grouping sales by region.
Explanation: It lets users drag and drop fields to quickly reshape and analyze large datasets without
formulas.
10. Question: How do you sum a range of cells?
Answer: Use the SUM() function, for example =SUM(A1:A10) adds all values from A1 through A10.
Explanation: SUM() is a basic aggregation function for totaling numeric data.
11. Question: What does conditional formatting do?
Answer: It applies visual styles (colors, icons) to cells that meet specified rules, for example
highlighting values above a threshold.
Explanation: This feature helps spot trends or outliers at a glance in a worksheet.
12. Question: How do you look up a value in another table?
Answer: Use VLOOKUP(), for example =VLOOKUP(B2, Sheet2!A:B, 2, FALSE) finds B2 in the first
column of Sheet2 and returns the matching value from column B.
Explanation: VLOOKUP searches vertically; it’s common for simple one-key lookups in Excel.

Power BI
13. Question: What is Power BI?
Answer: Power BI is a business intelligence tool for connecting to data sources, modeling data, and
creating interactive reports and dashboards.
Explanation: It combines data preparation (Power Query), modeling (DAX), and visualization in one
platform.
14. Question: What’s the difference between a report and a dashboard?
Answer: A report is a multi-page collection of visuals in Power BI Desktop; a dashboard is a single-
page snapshot of pinned visuals in the Power BI Service.
Explanation: Dashboards are for high-level monitoring, while reports allow deeper, multi-page
exploration.
15. Question: What is a slicer in Power BI?
Answer: A slicer is a visual filter that lets users interactively select values to filter other visuals on
the page.
Explanation: Slicers improve interactivity by providing clear, clickable filter controls.
16. Question: How do you add a new chart to a report?
Answer: In Power BI Desktop, you select the visual type from the Visualizations pane and drag
fields onto the axis, legend, or values buckets.
Explanation: This drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to explore different visual representations of
your data.
Machine Learning
17. Question: What is supervised learning?
Answer: It’s a type of ML where models learn from labeled data (inputs with known outputs), for
tasks like classification and regression.
Explanation: The model uses input-output pairs to learn a mapping and make predictions on new,
unseen data.
18. Question: What is a feature in ML?
Answer: A feature is an individual measurable property or characteristic used as input to the model,
for example “age” or “income”.
Explanation: Good features help the model distinguish between different outcomes.
19. Question: What is overfitting?
Answer: Overfitting occurs when a model learns noise and details from training data, performing
well on train data but poorly on new data.
Explanation: It indicates the model is too complex and has not generalized well.
20. Question: What is a train-test split?
Answer: It’s dividing your dataset into a training set to build the model and a test set to evaluate its
performance on unseen data.
Explanation: This practice helps estimate how the model will perform in real-world scenarios.

Python (5)
1. Question: Reverse a list in Python.
Task: Write a function reverse_list(lst) that returns the list in reverse order.
Answer:
2. def reverse_list(lst):
3. return lst[::-1]

Explanation: Uses Python slicing with a step of –1 to invert the list in one line.

4. Question: Filter even numbers from a list.

Task: Given nums = [1,2,3,4,5,6], write a list comprehension to keep only evens.
Answer:
5. evens = [n for n in nums if n % 2 == 0]

Explanation: Demonstrates a concise way to filter using a comprehension and the modulo operator.

6. Question: Merge two dictionaries.

Task: Combine d1 = {'a':1} and d2 = {'b':2} into one dict.
Answer:
7. merged = {**d1, **d2}

Explanation: Uses dictionary unpacking (Python 3.5+) to create a new dict with keys/values from
both.

8. Question: Read a CSV into pandas.

Task: Write the line of code to load “data.csv” into a DataFrame.
Answer:
9. import pandas as pd
10. df = pd.read_csv('data.csv')

Explanation: Shows basic use of pandas for file I/O and DataFrame creation.
 11. Question: Write a function with a default argument.
Task: Create greet(name, msg="Hello") that prints “msg, name”.
Answer:
12. def greet(name, msg="Hello"):
13. print(f"{msg}, {name}")

Explanation: Demonstrates default parameter values and f-strings for formatting.

SQL (5)
6. Question: Select top 3 sales by amount.
Task: Write a query to return the three highest Amount rows from Sales table.
Answer (MySQL syntax):
7. SELECT *
8. FROM Sales
9. ORDER BY Amount DESC
10. LIMIT 3;

Explanation: Orders by Amount descending and uses LIMIT to restrict rows.

11. Question: Find unique customer IDs.

Task: Return distinct CustomerID values from Orders.
Answer:
12. SELECT DISTINCT CustomerID
13. FROM Orders;

Explanation: DISTINCT filters duplicate values in the selected column.

14. Question: Count orders per customer.

Task: Show each CustomerID and their order count.
Answer:
15. SELECT CustomerID, COUNT(*) AS OrderCount
16. FROM Orders
17. GROUP BY CustomerID;

Explanation: Aggregates rows by CustomerID using GROUP BY and COUNT().

18. Question: Join two tables.

Task: Show OrderID, CustomerName by joining Orders and Customers.
Answer:
19. SELECT o.OrderID, c.CustomerName
20. FROM Orders o
21. JOIN Customers c
22. ON o.CustomerID = c.ID;

Explanation: Uses an inner join on matching keys to combine related data.

23. Question: Update a value.

Task: Increase Price by 10% for all products in Products where Category = 'A'.
Answer:
24. UPDATE Products
25. SET Price = Price * 1.10
26. WHERE Category = 'A';

Explanation: Modifies rows conditionally with an arithmetic expression.

Excel (4)
11. Question: Remove duplicate rows.
Task: Describe the steps to delete duplicates in an Excel table.
Answer:
1. Select the table or range.
2. Go to Data → Remove Duplicates.
3. Choose columns to check for duplicates and click OK.
Explanation: Shows use of the built-in Remove Duplicates feature for quick data cleaning.
12. Question: Freeze header row.
Task: How do you lock the top row so it stays visible when scrolling?
Answer:
1. Click View → Freeze Panes.
2. Select Freeze Top Row.
Explanation: Demonstrates worksheet navigation and view options.
13. Question: Create a simple Pivot Table.
Task: Outline how to summarize Sales by Region.
Answer:
1. Select your data range.
2. Insert → PivotTable.
3. Drag Region to Rows and Sales to Values.
Explanation: Captures the basic drag-and-drop process for aggregating data.
14. Question: Apply a formula across a column.
Task: Fill C2:C10 with the sum of A and B columns.
Answer:
1. In cell C2 enter =A2+B2.
2. Double-click the fill handle (bottom-right corner) to copy down to C10.
Explanation: Shows formula entry and quick auto-fill technique.

Power BI (3)
15. Question: Connect to an Excel file.
Task: List the steps to import “data.xlsx” into Power BI Desktop.
Answer:
1. Home → Get Data → Excel.
2. Browse to “data.xlsx” and click Open.
3. Select the sheet(s) and click Load.
Explanation: Demonstrates basic data connection workflow.
16. Question: Create a new measure.
Task: Write a DAX measure to calculate total profit as SUM(Revenue) – SUM(Cost).
Answer:

TotalProfit = SUM(Table[Revenue]) - SUM(Table[Cost])

Explanation: Shows the syntax for defining measures in DAX.

17. Question: Add a slicer to a report.

Task: Describe how to let users filter by “Year”.
Answer:
1. In Visualizations, click the Slicer icon.
2. Drag Year field into the slicer.
Explanation: Illustrates adding interactive filters to a report.
Machine Learning (3)
18. Question: Split data into train and test.
Task: Write the scikit-learn code to split X and y 80/20.
Answer:

from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split

X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(

X, y, test_size=0.2, random_state=42)

Explanation: Demonstrates using train_test_split for reproducible splits.

19. Question: Handle missing values.

Task: In pandas, fill nulls in df['Age'] with the column mean.
Answer:

mean_age = df['Age'].mean()
df['Age'].fillna(mean_age, inplace=True)

Explanation: Shows simple imputation using column statistics.

20. Question: Train a basic classifier.

Task: Write code to train a LogisticRegression on your split data.
Answer:

from sklearn.linear_model import LogisticRegression

model = LogisticRegression()
model.fit(X_train, y_train)

Explanation: Captures the minimal steps to instantiate and fit a scikit-learn model.

Here are 10 more quick hands-on tasks—two per domain—to stretch your practice:

Python (2)
18. Question: Flatten a nested list
Task: Write flatten(nested) that turns [[1,2],[3,[4,5]]] into [1,2,3,4,5].
Answer:
19. def flatten(lst):
20. result = []
21. for el in lst:
22. if isinstance(el, list):
23. result.extend(flatten(el))
24. else:
25. result.append(el)
26. return result

Explanation: Uses recursion to dive into sublists, extending a flat result list.
 27. Question: Check if a number is prime
Task: Implement is_prime(n) returning True/False.
Answer:
28. def is_prime(n):
29. if n < 2:
30. return False
31. for i in range(2, int(n**0.5) + 1):
32. if n % i == 0:
33. return False
34. return True

Explanation: Tests divisors up to √n for efficiency and handles edge cases.

SQL (2)
20. Question: Use CASE WHEN for bucketing
Task: Write a query that labels Amount as ‘Low’ (<100), ‘Medium’ (100–500), ‘High’ (>500).
Answer:
21. SELECT
22. Amount,
23. CASE
24. WHEN Amount < 100 THEN 'Low'
25. WHEN Amount <= 500 THEN 'Medium'
26. ELSE 'High'
27. END AS AmountBucket
28. FROM Orders;

Explanation: CASE lets you derive categorical labels from numeric ranges.

29. Question: Update using a join

Task: Increase Target.Price by 5% if Source.Discounted = 1.
Answer (MySQL):
30. UPDATE Target t
31. JOIN Source s ON t.ID = s.ID
32. SET t.Price = t.Price * 1.05
33. WHERE s.Discounted = 1;

Explanation: Demonstrates conditional, set-based updates via an UPDATE…JOIN.

Excel (2)
22. Question: SUMIF for conditional totals
Task: Total sales for “East” region in A2:B10 (Region, Sales).
Answer:
23. =SUMIF(A2:A10, "East", B2:B10)

Explanation: SUMIF sums only rows where Region equals “East”.

24. Question: Create a basic chart

Task: Describe how to plot Month vs. Revenue as a line chart.
Answer:
1. Select the two columns.
2. Insert → Line Chart.
 3. Format axes titles and legend.
Explanation: Covers selection and a one-click chart insertion.

Power BI (2)
24. Question: Add a calendar table
Task: In Power Query, generate a date table from 1 Jan 2020 to today.
Answer:
1. Home → Enter Data → create blank.
2. In Advanced Editor, paste:
3. let
4. Start = #date(2020,1,1),
5. End = DateTime.Date(DateTime.LocalNow()),
6. Dates = List.Dates(Start, Duration.Days(End - Start)+1,
#duration(1,0,0,0)),
7. Table = Table.FromList(Dates, Splitter.SplitByNothing(), {"Date"})
8. in
9. Table
10. Convert Date to Date type.
Explanation: Builds a self-sufficient calendar for time intelligence.
25. Question: Quick measure for year-over-year growth
Task: Write a DAX measure % YoY = (ThisYear – LastYear)/LastYear.
Answer:
26. YOYGrowth =
27. DIVIDE(
28. SUM(Sales[Amount]) -
29. CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(Date[Date])),
30. CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]), SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(Date[Date]))
31. )

Explanation: Uses SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR to fetch last year’s value for comparison.

Machine Learning (2)

26. Question: Cross-validation score
Task: Code to get 5-fold CV accuracy for a classifier.
Answer:
27. from sklearn.model_selection import cross_val_score
28. scores = cross_val_score(model, X, y, cv=5, scoring='accuracy')
29. print(scores.mean())

Explanation: cross_val_score splits data and returns array of fold scores.

30. Question: Compute a confusion matrix

Task: Show true/false positive/negative counts.
Answer:
31. from sklearn.metrics import confusion_matrix
32. y_pred = model.predict(X_test)
33. cm = confusion_matrix(y_test, y_pred)
34. print(cm)

Explanation: Returns a 2×2 array summarizing classification outcomes.