Microsoft Data Engineer Interview Questions & Practice

Microsoft Data Engineer interviews mix solid SQL, Python and Azure data-stack design (Data Factory, Synapse, Fabric). The auto-graded challenges below cover the SQL and coding rounds.

Practice challenges

• Word Frequency Counter (python, easy, +50 XP)
• Count Employees Per Department (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• HR: Average Salary by Department (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• Healthcare: Total Fees Collected Per Doctor (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• ROW_NUMBER: Find the Highest-Paid Employee in Each Department (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• RANK: Rank Employees by Salary (With Gaps) (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• RANK vs DENSE_RANK: See the Difference Side by Side (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• SUM OVER PARTITION BY: Running Total Per Department (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• LEAD: Show Next Day's Sales Amount (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• FIRST_VALUE: Show Highest Salary in Each Department for Every Employee (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• LAST_VALUE: Show Last Day's Sales on Every Row (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• Count Total Orders Placed by Each Customer (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• Find the Most Recent Order Date for Each Customer (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• Count Employees Per Department Including Empty Departments (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• Departments With More Than 2 Employees (HAVING) (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• List Departments That Have No Employees (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• Count Employees Hired in Each Year (sql, easy, +50 XP)
• Find Employees Who Earn More Than Their Department Average (sql, medium, +100 XP)
• Departments With Many Employees AND High Average Salary (sql, medium, +100 XP)
• Median Salary per Department (sql, hard, +180 XP)

What should I prepare for a Microsoft Data Engineer interview?

SQL joins/window functions, Python data manipulation, and Azure pipeline design (ADF, Synapse, Fabric). Behavioral rounds follow the growth-mindset framework.

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