Power BI interview questions become necessary for all those preparing for Power BI job interviews and plunging into the dynamic world of business intelligence. With the advent of Power BI, businesses have been able to visualize and analyze data. It is developed by Microsoft and positioned as the leader in BI for Gartner’s Magic Quadrant due to ease of use and strong functionality.
In this overall guide, we will help you prepare for a Power BI job with total confidence. We have categorized the questions into three sections: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, which cover things from basic concepts related to data modelling to advanced topics, such as DAX calculations and integration with Azure.
Most Common Asked Power BI Interview Questions
Though Power BI interviews can be different, there is a set of questions that are usually asked. Here is a list of the most common interview questions on Power BI to help one prepare and rise above the rest.
- What is Power BI?
- What is Power BI Desktop?
- What is Power Query?
- What is a Power Pivot?
- What is DAX?
- What is GetData in Power BI?
- How do you import data into Power BI?
- What are filters in Power BI?
- Why are visuals so important in Power BI reports?
- What are custom visuals in Power BI?
- How does Power BI differ from Tableau?
- Describe how Power BI can be used by various types of users.
- Can you tell me how Power Query differs from Power Pivot?
Top 10 Power BI Interview Questions and Expert Answers For Freshers
When applying for entry-level or junior Power BI positions, you must be able to discuss some basic Power BI concepts. Also, it is important to understand why an organization would use Power BI and how it can provide value, as well as some possible risks or downsides that need to be considered when using it. Hence, we’ll examine each of these basic essential Power BI interview questions for freshers in detail.
- What is Power BI?
Power BI is a business analytics service provided by Microsoft that helps connect with a variety of data sources in order to transform, visualize and create interactive reports. This will not only help make data assessment easier but also offer advanced features such as DAX and custom visuals. Also allows many organizations to have increased collaboration and data-driven decision-making through reports and dashboards via Power BI.
- What is Power Query?
Power Query, a Microsoft-designed BI tool for Power BI desktop or Excel files, simplifies data integration by importing data from multiple sources. It enables users to clean, transform, and reshape data effortlessly. With its reusable query feature, users can automate processes by refreshing data, making it a powerful tool for data preparation.
- How does Power BI work?
Power BI works by connecting to numerous data sources, structuring the raw data, and publishing insights through interactive reports and dashboards. It simplifies the operational function by giving employees unified, easy-to-understand representations of information in charts and diagrams so that decisions can be well thought out and business growth scaled with increased data-driven collaboration.
- What is a Power Pivot?
Microsoft Power Pivot is an add-on for Excel provided by the company since 2010. It was designed to extend the analytical capabilities and services offered by Microsoft Excel.
- What are the main components of Power BI?
Power BI consists of several essential components, each designed for different aspects of working with data and are identified as:
Power BI Desktop
A Windows application where users connect to data sources, clean and transform data, build models, and create detailed visualizations.
Power BI Service
A cloud-based platform for publishing, sharing, and managing reports and dashboards for collaboration.
Power BI Mobile
Mobile applications for iOS, Android, and Windows, enabling users to view and interact with reports and dashboards anywhere.
Power BI Gateway
A tool that connects on-premises data sources to Power BI Service for live queries and scheduled refreshes.
Power BI Report Server
An on-premises server to publish, manage, and share Power BI reports alongside traditional paginated reports.
Power BI Report Builder
A specialized tool for creating paginated reports, ideal for printing or exporting to PDFs and publishing them to Power BI Service.
Power BI Embedded
A service for developers to integrate Power BI reports and dashboards into custom applications, offering rich, interactive visualizations to users.
- What is DAX?
It is a powerful formula language that is used in Power BI, Power Pivot, and SSAS. It brings together functions, operators, and constants in expressing calculations for new custom calculations and insights from data that already exists.
- What are filters in Power BI?
A Power BI filter refines the data to be shown for certain insights in reports and dashboards. The filters, through logical and mathematical conditions, screen what information turns up and allow focus in analysis. However, Power BI provides several types of filters to suit the different needs that arise:
Visual-Level Filters: Applies only on a selected visual, showing its effect within the visual.
Page-Level Filters: This applies across all visuals in a report page for consistent filtering.
Report-Level Filters: Applicable to all visuals across reports for more general control.
Drillthrough Filters: Enable users to navigate from higher-level views of data to detailed views on another page.
Include/Exclude Filters: Enable manual selection of data points to include/exclude.
Drill-Down and Cross-Drill Filters: Hierarchical exploration within the data to enable detailed analysis of it.
URL Filters: Temporarily apply filters via URL parameters.
Pass-Through Filters: Pass filtering support to an embedded application to enable advanced filtering.
- What are the different versions of Power BI?
Power BI offers three versions to suit different needs:
Power BI Desktop
A free application for creating reports and visualizing data, ideal for individuals. It provides powerful tools for data transformation, modelling, and visualization.
Power BI Pro
A subscription-based service enabling collaboration and sharing, real-time dashboard updates, and integration with other services for team use.
Power BI Premium
Designed for large organizations, it offers higher capacity, better performance, advanced features like larger datasets, and enhanced administration without per-user licensing.
- What are content packs in Power BI?
In Power BI, the content pack is a prepacked set of dashboards, reports, and datasets targeted to instant insight into services like Google Analytics or Microsoft Dynamics. They rid the need to create visualizations from scratch; rather, they offer ready-to-use templates. With the use of content packs, businesses can save oodles of time, ease through data analytics, and quicker insights.
- Describe how Power BI and Tableau differ
Power BI and Tableau are leading tools in data analytics and visualization, but they cater to different user needs and capabilities:
| Main Difference | Power BI | Tableau |
| Ease of Use | User-friendly interface suitable for beginners and experts. | More complex interface, designed for advanced users. |
| Data Handling | Handles smaller data volumes effectively. | Efficiently manages large datasets. |
| Calculation Language | Uses DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) for calculations. | Measures and dimensions are expressed using MDX (Multidimensional Expressions). |
| Cloud Integration | Limited capacity for large-scale cloud data. | Excels in seamless cloud support. |
| Target Audience | Ideal for organizations needing affordable and accessible tools | Best for enterprises requiring high scalability and complex analysis. |
| Cost | More cost-effective, with subscription-based pricing. | Higher cost, aimed at larger organizations. |
Top 10 Power BI Interview Questions and Answers for Intermediate Level
Now we’ve compiled 10 intermediate-level power bi technical interview questions, perfect for interviews with candidates who have practical experience using the tool over the past few years.
- Can you name three crucial DAX rules or concepts?
Three crucial DAX concepts are context, functions, and syntax, which are foundational for building effective formulas in Power BI:
Context
Row Context: When a formula operates on specific rows in a table, this is described as a row context. For example, calculated columns use row context to apply logic to each row individually.
Filter Context: This comes into play when filters are applied to a calculation, either explicitly or through slicers, to narrow down the data scope for analysis.
Functions
Functions take arguments and execute computations. Categories include statistical (e.g., AVERAGE), date/time (e.g., YEAR), and logical (e.g., IF). Mastering functions allows for building dynamic and versatile formulas.
Syntax
Syntax defines the correct structure of a DAX formula. Incorrect syntax, such as missing parentheses or using invalid column names, results in errors. Attention to syntax ensures formulas execute as intended.
- Where is data stored in Power BI?
Through Microsoft Azure, Power BI stores data in the cloud. The usage will include:
- Structured data with Azure SQL Database.
- Azure Blob Storage for large, unstructured files.
Besides that, data can be stored locally utilising Power BI Desktop, which is very flexible for small-scale or offline projects.
- Which types of relationships does Power BI support?
Power BI supports three relationship types:
- One-to-One (1:1)
Links one record to one, like employee IDs across two tables.
- One-to-Many (1:*)
A row links to many, e.g., customers and their orders.
- Many-to-Many (:)
Interconnect rows in both directions, e.g., students and courses.
- Can you tell me about the pros and cons of Power BI?
While Power BI offers numerous advantages, it also has some limitations to consider.
Pros:
- Ease of Use
- Seamless Integration
- Built-in ETL Tool
- DAX Language
- Rich Visualizations
- Frequent Updates
- Cost-Effective
Cons:
- Limited Export Options
- Performance Issues
- Customization Challenges
- Power BI Desktop offers different views. What are they?
Power BI Desktop offers three main views:
Report View
For creating and designing visualizations, adding report pages, and publishing on the portal.
Data View
With the help of the Query Editor, you can shape and transform data.
Relationship View
Allows users to manage and define relationships between datasets, ensuring seamless integration and accurate data modelling.
Note: These views enable effective report creation and data management.
- What is meant by M language?
M language, or “mash-up” language, is used for data manipulation in Power BI data transformation. The application lets users combine data from a variety of sources by filtering, shaping, and combining it. M Language in Power or Data Query provides advanced data transformation through powerful means of cleaning, merging, and structuring data before its usage in reports and visualizations.
- Power BI is made up of what components?
Power BI is comprised of the following essential components:
- Power Query
- Power View
- Power Pivot
- Power Map
- Power Q&A
- In Power BI, how do you create relationships?
Power BI Desktop allows you to create relationships between tables in two ways:
Manually
Using primary and foreign keys, you can link columns from different tables that share common data. This gives you full control over the relationship.
Automatically
Using column names and data types that match, Power BI can automatically find relationships.
Note: Both methods ensure data is properly connected for accurate analysis.
- What is query folding?
Query folding is a technique in Power BI where data transformations are pushed back to the source database instead of being performed locally. This optimizes performance by leveraging the data source’s processing power, reducing local processing load, and improving efficiency, especially with large datasets or complex transformations.
- What are the major differences between Power BI and Excel?
Though both Power BI and Excel are used for data assessment, they have significant differences:
| Main Differences | Power BI | Excel |
| Data Relationships | Supports bi-directional relationships for complex data models. | Supports single-directional relationships (one-to-many). |
Cross-Filtering |
Enables bi-directional cross-filtering for interactive reports. | Does not support bi-directional cross-filtering. |
| Security | Robust security features, including Row-Level Security (RLS). | Data sharing and access features are limited. |
| Use Case | The perfect tool for analyzing large data sets and creating interactive dashboards. | Best for small-scale data analysis and personal reports. |
Top 10 Power Bi Interview Questions for Experienced Professionals
Finally, you’ll find 10 advanced Power BI interview questions and answers, ideal for candidates applying for senior-level roles with extensive experience in Power BI.
- Describe the key components of SSAS
SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) provides the following features:
OLAP Engine
The OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) engine efficiently processes complex, ad-hoc queries, enabling fast data examination by end-users.
Data Drilling
It involves drilling down into the data at higher granularities for detailed information.
Slicers
Data slicing in SSAS means data organization and storage are done in rows and columns so that it can be manipulated and viewed with greater ease.
Pivot Tables
Pivot tables allow users to dynamically switch between different data categories stored in rows and columns, offering flexible data exploration and reporting.
- How does Power BI work?
Power BI’s comprehensive working system involves three main steps:
Data Integration
Power BI extracts data from various sources, such as Excel, SQL, or online services, and integrates it into a common format stored in the staging area.
Data Processing
To remove redundancies and make data useful, the integrated data is cleaned and transformed. To make further use of this processed data, it is stored in data warehouses.
Data Presentation
In Power BI Desktop, cleaned and transformed data visualizes results through reports, dashboards, or scorecards. The visualizations can be shared through mobile apps or web interfaces for insights to the stakeholders.
- What is your approach to managing dynamic data updates in Power BI?
Several methods are available to manage dynamic data updates in Power BI, including:
Scheduled Refreshes
Power BI Service can set up automatic data refreshes at specified intervals (daily, hourly) to ensure reports are current.
Live Connections
Connect directly to data sources (e.g., SQL Server, Azure Analysis Services) for real-time data queries without importing data.
Real-Time Data Streaming
Use streaming datasets to update dashboards in real-time via sources like Azure Stream Analytics or the Power BI REST API.
- Give examples of Power BI formats
According to the following table, Power BI is offered in three different formats.
Power BI Desktop: An open-source desktop version
Power BI Services: In the case of online services
Power BI Mobile Application: Suitable for use on mobile devices
- How do R and Python fit into Power BI?
R and Python in Power BI enhance the power of examining and visualizing data. Both languages are in wide usage in data science, owing to their powerful libraries. It is possible to use R or Python in Power BI in the following ways:
Data Preparation
Before analyzing data, it is necessary to clean and transform it.
Machine Learning
Creating models for predictive analytics.
Advanced Visualizations
Generating custom visualizations that are not natively available in Power BI.
- Which professionals use Power BI the most?
Power BI is widely used by both beginners and experts in business intelligence. It is mainly used by professionals who apply Power BI, including:
Business Analysts
They analyze business data and present insights through graphs and dashboards.
Business Owners
Apply Power BI to gain insights and make informed decisions.
Business Developers
Develop custom applications and dashboards to optimize business processes.
Note: Power BI helps these professionals make data-driven decisions efficiently.
- What are KPIs in Power BI?
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) in Power BI are the quantifiable measure that shows how well an organization or individual is reaching its objectives. At companies, KPIs are targeted to teams and individuals. These KPIs are tracked over time and compared to previous performance to assess the progress of certain actions and to make effective decisions based on data. It also allows for the visualization of such KPIs through the use of a dashboard for easy monitoring.
- Define Power BI custom visuals.
A custom visual in Power BI is something more than the creation of an already existing bar chart, pie chart, or line graph. By sharing, any developer can create a custom visual and publish it for use by other users to provide a customized, unique representation. It generally requires TypeScript or JavaScript skills in addition to familiarity with the D3.js library. Further aligning reports to business goals is possible with custom visuals.
- Can you tell me what the ‘Get Data’ icon in Power BI does?
The “Get Data” icon in Power BI allows users to access and import data from a wide range of sources. Clicking it opens a drop-down menu listing available data sources, including files like Excel, CSV, XML, and JSON, as well as databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, and MySQL. It also supports data imports from online sources like Azure, Power BI datasets, and data flows, enabling seamless integration across multiple platforms.
- Describe the meaning of ‘data lineage’ in Power BI.
Data lineage in Power BI refers to the process of tracking and visualizing the journey of data from its source to its final destination. It gives an overview of the origin of data, its flow, and how it has been transformed along its flow. Thus, investigating data lineage is crucial to understanding the source of data, improving data quality, managing data transformations, addressing regulatory compliance, and tracing integrity and governance challenges to their sources.
Top 5 Power BI Scenario Based Interview Questions
- You are being given a dataset through Excel in which some of the data columns do have null values in them. How would you clean this in Power BI before importing it for analysis?
For cleaning the data, I would want to do that in Power BI using Power Query. I’ll filter out the rows containing null values or replace them with some default values by using “Replace Values.” I could remove any unnecessary columns and ensure the data types are correct before loading the cleaned data.
- You are given sales data showing, for each product and their quantities, sales over time (daily or monthly). How would you go about visualizing the data in Power BI?
With regard to the sales of each product over time, I would create a table based on data such as Sales, Product Name, Order Date (in-date data type for hierarchical levels such as year, month, and day), and Order Quantity. I will apply a line or column chart, using the product name as a legend, the order date as an axis, and further breaking it down into months or days.
- If you were to use Power BI to visualize overseas sales of a product, how would you do so?
I would use the map in Power BI, positioning the country column in the location field. Also, plot the size of the bubbles with the value of sales and then use the product in the legend to colourize the different sales per product at the country level. The result will be a geographic view of overseas sales distribution.
- How would you create a report to visualize the top products based on sales in Power BI?
I would use a table or bar chart to display the product name (or product ID) and sales. I would use a “Top N” filter to filter for top products. I would select three, five, or ten items according to the sales value to see which product was selling the most, hence indicating a few of the top products.
5. An organization wants to have a custom visualization that isn’t available by default in Power BI. How would you go about building this custom visual? Which tools or languages would you use?
I would use the Power BI Custom Visuals SDK, writing in TypeScript and JavaScript programming languages, along with utilizing libraries such as D3.js to actually develop a custom visual. Once developed, I would package it and then deploy the visual into Power BI, where the client could use the provided visual in their reports.
Tips to Prepare for Power BI Interview
To succeed in a Power BI interview, proper preparation is key. Here are a few essential tips to help you ace your interview:
Research the Company
Understand the company’s industry, goals, and challenges to tailor your responses.
Review the Job Description
Match your skills with the job requirements and prepare relevant examples.
Refresh Core Concepts
Go through core BI concepts involving data modelling, DAX, and building reports.
Practice Common Questions
Get familiar with technical and situational Power BI questions.
Showcase Hands-on Experience
Share examples of your previous projects, focusing on how you’ve used Power BI for insights.
Understand the Power BI Service
Be clear on the features and benefits of the Power BI Service for collaboration and sharing.
Practice Soft Skills
Communication is key. Practice presenting complex data assessments clearly and confidently.
With these tips, you’ll be well-equipped to showcase your Power BI expertise and increase your chances of landing the job.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking forward to becoming a professional by joining the world of business analytics, then Power BI interview questions may prove to be just that crucial change in interview preparation.
It might be for the position of a Power BI data analyst, a Power BI developer, a project manager, or even a consultant, you would be expected to have some decent knowledge about the features offered by Power BI.
We cover DAX, Power Query, data modelling, and visualization in this guide of essential Power BI developer questions. Go through all these questions, practice the answers, and get yourself prepared to present your skills and knowledge properly in an interview.
