INTERVIEW PREPARATION - EXCEL & SQL (Arrow Electronics)
MS OFFICE / EXCEL & PPT QUESTIONS
1. What is MS Excel used for?
MS Excel is used for storing, analyzing, and visualizing data with formulas, charts, and
tables.
2. Name some commonly used Excel functions.
SUM(), AVERAGE(), IF(), VLOOKUP(), HLOOKUP(), LEN(), TRIM(), CONCAT()
3. Difference between relative, absolute, and mixed cell references.
Relative (A1) changes on copy, Absolute ($A$1) stays fixed, Mixed ($A1 / A$1) locks row
or column.
4. How do you create a chart in Excel?
Select data → Insert → Choose chart type → Format chart as needed.
5. Shortcut keys in Excel.
CTRL+C (Copy), CTRL+V (Paste), CTRL+Z (Undo), CTRL+F (Find), CTRL+T (Insert Table)
6. How do you remove duplicate values in Excel?
Use Data → Remove Duplicates.
7. How do you apply conditional formatting?
Home → Conditional Formatting → Choose rule (e.g. Highlight cells >50).
8. How do you link Excel to PowerPoint?
Copy chart → Paste Special into PPT as Link, so data updates automatically.
9. How to freeze the top row?
View → Freeze Panes → Freeze Top Row.
10. Tips for PPT presentation.
Keep slides simple, use visuals, consistent design, minimal text, rehearse timing.
SQL / PL-SQL QUESTIONS
11. What is SQL?
SQL is Structured Query Language used to communicate with relational databases.
12. Query to display all records from table.
SELECT * FROM table_name;
13. Query to find students with marks > 80.
SELECT name, marks FROM students WHERE marks > 80;
14. What is a primary key?
A column that uniquely identifies each row.
15. What is a foreign key?
A column referencing primary key of another table to create relationship.
16. Difference between WHERE and HAVING.
WHERE filters rows before GROUP BY, HAVING filters after grouping.
17. Write a query to count employees department-wise.
SELECT dept, COUNT(*) FROM employees GROUP BY dept;
18. Types of joins in SQL.
INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN, FULL JOIN, SELF JOIN.
19. Write a query to get top 3 salaries.
SELECT DISTINCT salary FROM employees ORDER BY salary DESC LIMIT 3;
20. What is PL/SQL?
Oracle's procedural extension for SQL with variables, loops, conditions.
21. Write a simple PL/SQL block.
BEGIN
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Hello World');
END;
22. Difference between DELETE, TRUNCATE, DROP.
DELETE removes rows (can rollback), TRUNCATE removes all rows (no rollback), DROP
deletes table.
23. What is normalization?
Process of organizing data to remove redundancy (1NF, 2NF, 3NF).
24. What are transactions in SQL?
A sequence of operations performed as a single logical unit. COMMIT and ROLLBACK
manage transactions.
25. Example of an INNER JOIN.
SELECT emp.name, dept.name FROM emp INNER JOIN dept ON emp.dept_id=dept.id;
