36 practice questions with answers for Power BI interviews in Indore.
Power BI jobs in Indore
Indore is one of central India's fastest-growing IT hubs, with IT-services campuses and product start-ups in its Super Corridor and IT parks. Companies here hire many freshers and value hands-on project work.
Below are 36 questions that match the mix of service, product and domain employers hiring power bi developers in Indore.
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01
Your calculated columns have made the model huge. What do you do?
I would move simple row-level logic into Power Query or the source SQL, where it compresses better and can fold, and replace aggregations stored as columns with measures. High-cardinality columns such as concatenated keys or precise timestamps should be removed or split. Then check model size with VertiPaq Analyzer in DAX Studio to confirm which columns used the most memory.
02
What is an on-premises data gateway and when is it needed?
The on-premises data gateway is software installed on a machine inside the company network that securely connects the Power BI Service to on-premises sources such as SQL Server, file shares or Oracle. It is needed for scheduled refresh and DirectQuery to those sources. Standard mode supports many users and is centrally managed; personal mode is for a single user. Cloud sources usually do not need a gateway.
Parameters are named values used inside queries, such as server name, database, file path or a date range. They let you switch from a development to a production database without editing each query, and they are required for incremental refresh through RangeStart and RangeEnd. Parameters can be changed in the Service under semantic model settings, which helps deployment pipelines between environments.
04
The total row of a table shows a different value than the sum of rows. Is this a bug?
Usually not. A measure's total is calculated in the total's own filter context, not by adding the visible rows. For non-additive measures like averages, distinct counts or ratios this differs from the row sum. If business wants the sum of rows, I write it explicitly with SUMX over the row values, for example SUMX(VALUES('Product'[Product]), [My Measure]).
05
Why should you use DIVIDE instead of the division operator?
DIVIDE(numerator, denominator, alternate) handles division by zero and blank denominators safely, returning blank or the alternate value instead of an error or infinity. It makes measures like margin percentage cleaner without IF checks. The division operator is slightly faster when you are certain the denominator is never zero, but DIVIDE is the safer default in reports.
06
A refresh fails with 'column not found' after the source team renamed a column. How do you make queries more robust?
I would fix the immediate step, then reduce dependence on exact column names: avoid hard-coded Changed Type steps on all columns, select only needed columns with MissingField.Ignore where suitable, and standardise names in one place. I would agree a data contract or SQL view with the source team so renames go through a stable interface, and set up refresh failure notifications.
07
What is Microsoft Fabric capacity and how do capacity units work?
Fabric capacity is a pool of compute purchased as F SKUs, from F2 upward, measured in capacity units that all workloads share, including Power BI semantic models, refreshes, notebooks and pipelines. Usage is smoothed over time, so short spikes are allowed, but sustained overuse causes throttling where interactive queries are delayed or rejected. Admins use the Fabric Capacity Metrics app to monitor and plan sizing.
08
How do you mentor junior Power BI developers in your team?
I pair with them on real tasks, review their models and DAX with clear reasons rather than just fixes, and share a short checklist covering star schema, naming, measures over columns and performance checks. I give them ownership of small reports early. One junior I mentored moved from building single-table reports to owning a shared finance model within six months.
09
Why should you set data types correctly in Power Query?
Correct data types make sorting, filtering, aggregation and relationships work properly; text-typed numbers cannot be summed and mismatched key types break relationships. Types also affect compression and model size, for example whole numbers compress better than decimals or text. Set types once near the end of a query and avoid repeated automatic Changed Type steps, which can fail when column names change.
10
Sales data has region codes, while targets use region names. How do you combine them?
I would create or import a region mapping table with code and name, clean both sides by trimming spaces and fixing case, then merge in Power Query or better, build a Region dimension table with both columns and relate sales by code and targets by name to it. Unmatched rows should be checked using a left anti join so missing mappings are fixed rather than silently dropped.
11
What are Import, DirectQuery and Live Connection modes?
Import loads a compressed copy of data into the in-memory VertiPaq engine, giving the fastest queries but requiring refresh. DirectQuery sends queries to the source at view time, so data is current but performance depends on the source and some DAX is limited. Live Connection connects a report to an existing semantic model or Analysis Services model without its own model. Composite models mix Import and DirectQuery tables.
12
How does the VertiPaq engine store and compress data?
VertiPaq is the in-memory columnar engine for Import models. It stores each column separately and compresses it using dictionary encoding, which maps unique values to integers, value encoding for numbers, and run-length encoding for repeated sequences. Compression depends mostly on column cardinality, so columns with few unique values compress very well, while unique IDs and precise timestamps take most of the memory.
13
What are slowly changing dimensions and how do they affect Power BI models?
Slowly changing dimensions track attribute changes over time. Type 1 overwrites the old value, so history shows the current attribute. Type 2 adds a new row with a surrogate key and valid-from and valid-to dates, preserving history, such as a customer moving region. In Power BI, Type 2 needs facts to carry the surrogate key, and the warehouse should handle it rather than Power Query.
Connect DAX Studio to the open Power BI Desktop file, go to Advanced, View Metrics to run VertiPaq Analyzer. It shows size per table and column, cardinality, encoding and relationship sizes. Sort columns by total size to find the biggest consumers, often IDs, timestamps or long text. You can export a vpax file to compare before and after optimisation or share with colleagues.
15
How do you create a fiscal year column starting in April?
Fiscal Year =
VAR m = MONTH('Date'[Date])
VAR y = YEAR('Date'[Date])
RETURN
"FY " & IF(m >= 4, y, y - 1) & "-" & RIGHT(IF(m >= 4, y + 1, y), 2)
For April 2026 this returns FY 2026-27, which matches the Indian financial year. Add a fiscal month number column for sorting too.
16
How do you use a bridge table for a many-to-many scenario?
For example, accounts can have multiple customers and customers multiple accounts. Create a bridge table with unique Account and Customer pairs. Relate Customer to Bridge one-to-many, and Account to Bridge one-to-many, with the Bridge to Account relationship set to filter in both directions or use CROSSFILTER in measures. Facts relate to Account. Test totals carefully because shared accounts count once per customer.
17
Create a calculated column that categorises customers by their lifetime sales.
Customer Band =
VAR s = CALCULATE(SUM(Sales[Amount]))
RETURN
SWITCH(TRUE(),
s >= 500000, "Platinum",
s >= 100000, "Gold",
s > 0, "Silver",
"No Purchase")
This is a column on the Customer table; CALCULATE triggers context transition so each row gets its own customer's sales.
Power Query is the data connection and transformation engine in Power BI, Excel, dataflows and Fabric Data Factory. It lets you connect to hundreds of sources and shape data with a recorded series of steps, such as removing columns, changing types, merging and unpivoting. Behind the interface each step is written in the M language. Steps re-run automatically on every refresh, making cleaning repeatable.
19
Tell me about a time a user rejected your report design. What did you do?
Situation: sales managers stopped using a dashboard I built. Task: find out why. Action: I watched two managers use it and found they needed weekly target gaps first, which were hidden on page three. I moved those to the top, removed four rarely used charts and added drill-through for details. Result: weekly usage in the activity log tripled within a month.
20
Tell me about a time you handled a data access or security issue.
Situation: a sales user reported seeing another region's numbers after a reorganisation. Task: fix the leak fast. Action: I confirmed the security mapping table had stale entries, removed the user from the wrong row, refreshed the model and then automated the mapping from the HR system with a daily refresh. I informed the data owner. Result: access stayed correct after later reorganisations, and quarterly access reviews were added.
21
Users need to filter a report by 5,000 product names using a slicer, and it is slow. What do you do?
A slicer with thousands of values sends heavy queries and is hard to use. I would add a hierarchy so users pick category and subcategory first, enable the slicer search box, and consider a text filter visual for direct search. Apply buttons in query reduction settings stop queries on every click. If the slicer depends on a measure-filtered list, I would simplify that logic.
22
A source table has duplicate customer rows with different spellings of the same name. What do you do?
For exact duplicates, Remove Duplicates on the key column. For spelling variations, use fuzzy matching in Merge Queries with a similarity threshold and transformation table, review results, and maintain a mapping table of approved matches. The best long-term fix is to use a stable customer ID from the source system and report data quality issues to the owner rather than cleaning endlessly in Power BI.
23
Your workspace has grown to 150 items and nobody knows which reports are used. How do you clean it up?
I would export usage from the activity log or the workspace usage metrics, list items not viewed in 90 days and confirm with owners before archiving. Duplicate models are consolidated into shared semantic models, naming standards are applied, and workspaces are split by domain with clear owners. A quarterly review keeps it tidy. This also reduces refresh load on capacity.
Running Total =
VAR maxDate = MAX('Date'[Date])
RETURN
CALCULATE(
[Total Sales],
'Date'[Date] <= maxDate,
REMOVEFILTERS('Date')
)
REMOVEFILTERS clears the current period filter so all earlier dates are included. In a visual-only scenario, the visual calculation RUNNINGSUM is simpler.
25
What is the difference between fact and dimension tables?
Fact tables store measurable events at a defined grain, such as one row per order line, with numeric columns like quantity and amount and foreign keys to dimensions. Dimension tables store descriptive attributes used for filtering and grouping, such as product name, category, region or calendar month, with one row per key. Facts are usually long and narrow; dimensions are shorter and wider.
26
Tell me about a report you built that changed a business decision.
Situation: regional managers tracked sales in separate Excel files, and stock planning was late. Task: give one daily view. Action: I combined ERP and target data in Power Query, built a star schema with DAX measures for target achievement and stock cover, and published an app with row-level security per region. Result: weekly planning moved from Friday to Monday morning, and two slow-moving products were discontinued earlier.
27
What is Copilot in Power BI and what should you watch out for?
Copilot in Power BI uses generative AI to help create report pages, summarise visuals in narrative form, suggest DAX and answer questions about data in natural language. It needs supported capacity and tenant settings enabled by admins. Results depend heavily on a clean model with clear names, descriptions and synonyms, and outputs must be checked for correctness before sharing, especially generated DAX.
28
When would you use a custom visual and what are the risks?
Custom visuals from AppSource add chart types not built in, such as Gantt charts, sankey diagrams or advanced KPI cards. Risks include performance issues, limited support, export and accessibility gaps, and data security, since some visuals may call external services. Prefer certified visuals, check organisational policy, since admins can restrict them, and use built-in visuals where they meet the need.
29
What is the difference between SELECTEDVALUE and VALUES?
SELECTEDVALUE(column, alternate) returns the single value of a column when exactly one is visible in the filter context, otherwise the alternate or blank. VALUES(column) returns a table of distinct visible values, including blank for unmatched rows, and can be used in iterators or as a filter. Use SELECTEDVALUE for titles and parameters, and VALUES when you need to loop over the visible items.
Incremental refresh partitions a large table by date so each refresh reloads only recent data, such as the last 10 days, while keeping older partitions, such as five years of history, unchanged. It uses the RangeStart and RangeEnd datetime parameters to filter the query, which must fold to the source. It cuts refresh time and load on sources, and can add a DirectQuery partition for real-time data.
31
Leadership wants to see a red, amber, green status for each region against target. How do you build it?
I would create a measure for achievement percentage, DIVIDE(Sales, Target), and a status measure returning a colour or icon based on thresholds agreed with leadership, such as below 90 percent red, 90 to 100 amber, above 100 green. Apply it through conditional formatting in a matrix or as icon rules. I would also add text or icons so status is clear without colour.
Field parameters let report users switch which measure or dimension a visual shows using a slicer, for example choosing between Sales, Profit and Units, or switching the axis between Region and Category. They are created through Modeling, New parameter, Fields, which generates a calculated table. They reduce the number of duplicate visuals and bookmarks needed for dynamic reports.
Key table functions include FILTER, ALL, VALUES, DISTINCT, SUMMARIZE and SUMMARIZECOLUMNS for grouping, ADDCOLUMNS to add calculated columns, TOPN for top rows, CROSSJOIN, UNION, EXCEPT, INTERSECT, GENERATESERIES and TREATAS for virtual relationships. They return tables used inside iterators, CALCULATE filters or calculated tables. ADDCOLUMNS over SUMMARIZE is a common pattern for reliable grouped results.
Product Rank =
IF(
ISINSCOPE('Product'[Product]),
RANKX(ALLSELECTED('Product'[Product]), [Total Sales], , DESC, DENSE)
)
ALLSELECTED ranks within the products visible after slicers, and ISINSCOPE hides the rank on total rows.
35
A stakeholder insists on a 3D pie chart with 12 slices. How do you handle it?
I would understand what they want to see, usually share of total by category, then show a quick comparison: a sorted bar chart beside the pie, explaining that bars make small differences readable while 3D distorts sizes. Offering a donut with top five plus Others is a compromise. Usually seeing both side by side convinces them, and the final choice remains theirs.
Create a new page, set Page information, Allow use as tooltip on, and set Canvas settings to the Tooltip size. Add small visuals like a monthly trend line for the hovered item. On the main visual, go to Format, Tooltips, set Type to Report page and select the tooltip page. Fields in the main visual automatically filter the tooltip page on hover.
Few big employers listed in Indore?
Many Indore candidates also apply to teams in Pune and to remote or hybrid roles. Practise the Pune set as well.
Which companies hire Power BI professionals in Indore?
Companies with large offices in Indore include many IT services and product firms. Use their company pages below to practise employer-specific sets.
Are Power BI interviews in Indore different from other cities?
The questions depend more on the company than the city. Indore's mix of employers decides the style: Companies here hire many freshers and value hands-on project work
How do I find Power BI jobs in Indore?
Shortlist companies with Indore offices, keep your CV focused on Power BI projects, apply on company career pages and job portals with the Indore filter, and practise the questions on this page before each interview.