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Power BI Interview Questions in Kolkata

36 practice questions with answers for Power BI interviews in Kolkata.

Power BI jobs in Kolkata

Kolkata has a steady IT-services and BFSI technology job market around Salt Lake Sector V and New Town. Many openings are with service companies and their delivery centres, with a focus on strong fundamentals.

Below are 36 questions that match the mix of service, product and domain employers hiring power bi developers in Kolkata.

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01

What is the difference between a calculated column and a measure?

DAX FundamentalsEasy
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A calculated column is computed row by row at refresh and stored in the model, so it uses memory and can be used in slicers, filters and relationships, for example Profit = Sales[Amount] - Sales[Cost]. A measure is computed at query time in the current filter context and is not stored, for example Total Profit = SUM(Sales[Profit]). Prefer measures for aggregations and use columns only when you need to slice by the value.
02

What are deployment pipelines?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityMedium
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Deployment pipelines move content through stages, typically Development, Test and Production workspaces. Creators deploy reports and semantic models from one stage to the next, compare differences, and use deployment rules to change data source connections or parameters for each stage. This supports controlled releases and testing before users see changes. They work alongside Git integration for version control in Fabric workspaces.
03

What does the Best Practice Analyzer do?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationMedium
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Best Practice Analyzer, in Tabular Editor and also available in Fabric notebooks through semantic link labs, scans a semantic model against a set of rules, such as avoiding bi-directional relationships, hiding foreign keys, not summarising numeric IDs, using DIVIDE, and setting format strings. It lists violations with their severity so teams can fix them before release. Rules can be customised to match team standards.
04

What is row-level security in Power BI?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityEasy
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Row-level security restricts which rows of data a user can see in a semantic model. You define roles in Desktop with DAX filter expressions on tables, such as Store[Region] = "North", then assign users or security groups to roles in the Service. Filters propagate through relationships to fact tables. RLS applies to viewers; workspace Admins, Members and Contributors can see all data.
05

How do you explain a technical limitation to a business user who wants something impossible?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationMedium
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I acknowledge the goal, explain the limitation in simple terms and offer an alternative that meets most of the need. For example, when a user wanted live updates every second on a DirectQuery report over a slow system, I explained the load it would create and offered a 15-minute refresh plus an alert for threshold breaches. They accepted because the key decision was covered.
06

How do you create a dynamic axis using field parameters?

Visualisation and Report DesignMedium
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Go to Modeling, New parameter, Fields, and add the fields such as Region, Category and Channel. Power BI creates a parameter table and slicer. Put the parameter field on the axis of a chart; users select which dimension to show from the slicer. You can add measures to a separate field parameter so users switch both the measure and the axis.
07

How do you set up drill-through to a customer details page?

Visualisation and Report DesignEasy
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Create a new page named Customer Details, add visuals showing customer information, orders and trends, and drag Customer Name or Customer ID into the Drill through well in the Visualizations pane. Power BI adds a back button automatically. Users can now right-click a customer in any visual and choose Drill through, Customer Details, and the page opens filtered to that customer.
08

What is the difference between sharing a report, publishing an app and using a workspace?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityMedium
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A workspace is where creators collaborate. Direct sharing gives one person or group access to a single report, which is quick but hard to govern at scale. An app packages reports and dashboards from a workspace for consumers, with audiences controlling who sees which content, and updates only when republished. Apps are the recommended way to distribute content to large business audiences.
09

What are the most useful table functions in DAX?

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceMedium
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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.
10

Why can too many visuals on a page slow down a report?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationEasy
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Each visual sends at least one DAX query when the page loads or when filters change, and visuals render in the browser. A page with 30 visuals, especially complex tables and custom visuals, sends many queries in parallel, competing for capacity and causing long load times. Reducing visuals, combining cards into one multi-row card or using tooltips and drill-through pages improves speed.
11

How do you choose the right chart type in Power BI?

Visualisation and Report DesignEasy
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Match the chart to the question. Use bar or column charts to compare categories, line charts for trends over time, stacked bars for part-to-whole across few categories, scatter charts for relationships, maps only for true geographic patterns, cards and KPI visuals for single numbers, and tables or matrices when users need exact values. Avoid pie charts with more than four or five slices.
12

Write a measure for percentage of grand total sales.

DAX FundamentalsMedium
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Sales % of Total = DIVIDE( [Total Sales], CALCULATE([Total Sales], REMOVEFILTERS('Product')) ) This gives each product's share of total across all products. Use ALLSELECTED('Product') instead if the denominator should respect slicer selections on products.
13

What are the formula engine and storage engine in Power BI?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationHard
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The storage engine, VertiPaq or DirectQuery to the source, retrieves and aggregates data quickly and in parallel. The formula engine handles complex DAX logic that the storage engine cannot, working single-threaded on intermediate results. Fast measures push most work to the storage engine. DAX Studio's server timings show time spent in each, helping identify measures that create large intermediate data caches for the formula engine.
14

How do you use Performance Analyzer in Power BI Desktop?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationEasy
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Open View, Performance Analyzer, click Start recording and then Refresh visuals or interact with the page. Each visual shows total duration split into DAX query, visual display and other. Sort by duration to find the slowest visuals, expand them and choose Copy query to paste into DAX Studio for deeper analysis. Clear the cache between tests so timings are realistic.
15

Write a dynamic rank measure for products.

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceMedium
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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.
16

How do you create a measure-driven conditional colour?

Visualisation and Report DesignMedium
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Sales Colour = VAR ach = DIVIDE([Total Sales], [Target]) RETURN SWITCH(TRUE(), ach < 0.9, "#D64550", ach < 1, "#F2A93B", "#2E9E5B") In the visual, open conditional formatting for background or font colour, choose Format style Field value and select this measure.
17

Why should you use DIVIDE instead of the division operator?

DAX FundamentalsEasy
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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.
18

What is object-level security?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityHard
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Object-level security hides entire tables or columns from specific roles, so users in that role cannot see or query them, for example hiding a Salary column from non-HR users. It is configured with Tabular Editor or similar external tools on the model's roles. Unlike RLS, which filters rows, OLS removes metadata access. Visuals using a secured object show an error for restricted users.
19

Split a datetime column to reduce cardinality in Power Query.

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationMedium
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= Table.AddColumn(Source, "OrderDateOnly", each DateTime.Date([OrderDateTime]), type date) = Table.AddColumn(Prev, "OrderHour", each Time.Hour([OrderDateTime]), Int64.Type) Then remove the original OrderDateTime column. A datetime with seconds can have millions of unique values, while date and hour columns have only thousands and 24 values, compressing much better.
20

A source table has duplicate customer rows with different spellings of the same name. What do you do?

Power Query and Data TransformationMedium
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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.
21

Create a date table with DAX.

Data ModellingEasy
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Date = ADDCOLUMNS( CALENDAR(DATE(2022, 1, 1), DATE(2026, 12, 31)), "Year", YEAR([Date]), "Month No", MONTH([Date]), "Month", FORMAT([Date], "MMM"), "Quarter", "Q" & QUARTER([Date]), "Weekday", FORMAT([Date], "ddd") ) Then mark it as a date table and sort Month by Month No.
22

Describe a time you cleaned very messy data under a deadline.

Power Query and Data TransformationMedium
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Situation: a client sent 36 monthly Excel files with merged headers and changing columns two days before a review. Task: build a consolidated sales report. Action: I used the Folder connector with a custom function that promoted the right header row, unpivoted month columns and mapped renamed fields through a lookup table. Result: the report was ready a day early, and future files loaded automatically with no manual work.
23

What are report themes and why use them?

Visualisation and Report DesignEasy
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A report theme is a JSON file that sets default colours, fonts, visual styles and backgrounds for all visuals. Using a company theme keeps reports consistent with brand guidelines and saves formatting time, since new visuals adopt it automatically. Themes can be built in Desktop's theme customiser or edited as JSON and shared across the team as a standard.
24

Users need to filter a report by 5,000 product names using a slicer, and it is slow. What do you do?

Performance Optimisation and AdministrationMedium
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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.
25

Write a running total measure.

Advanced DAX and Time IntelligenceMedium
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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.
26

What is the difference between SUM and SUMX?

DAX FundamentalsEasy
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SUM aggregates a single column, such as SUM(Sales[Amount]). SUMX is an iterator: it evaluates an expression for each row of a table and then sums the results, such as SUMX(Sales, Sales[Qty] * Sales[Price]). Use SUMX when you need row-level calculations before aggregating. Other iterators include AVERAGEX, MAXX, COUNTX and RANKX.
27

What are Import, DirectQuery and Live Connection modes?

Power BI FundamentalsMedium
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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.
28

Users want to analyse sales by both order date and delivery date in the same report. What do you do?

Data ModellingMedium
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I would keep the Date table related to OrderDate as the active relationship and add an inactive relationship to DeliveryDate. Then create measures like Sales by Delivery Date using USERELATIONSHIP. If users need separate slicers for both dates at the same time, I would create a second Delivery Date table as a role-playing copy related actively to the delivery column.
29

Tell me about a time you handled a data access or security issue.

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityMedium
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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.
30

Sales data has region codes, while targets use region names. How do you combine them?

Power Query and Data TransformationMedium
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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.
31

What is cross-filter direction and why is bi-directional filtering risky?

Data ModellingMedium
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Cross-filter direction controls which way filters travel across a relationship. Single direction, from the one side to the many side, is the default and safest. Bi-directional lets the fact table filter the dimension too, which can be useful for slicers showing only relevant values, but it can cause ambiguous paths, unexpected results and slower queries. Prefer single direction and use CROSSFILTER inside specific measures when needed.
32

Every month a new Excel file arrives in a folder. How do you load all of them automatically?

Power Query and Data TransformationEasy
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Use the Folder connector, or SharePoint Folder for files on SharePoint, pointing to the folder, filter to the right file extension and naming pattern, then use Combine Files. Power Query creates a sample-file transform function applied to every file and appends the results. New files dropped into the folder are included on the next refresh, as long as their structure matches the sample.
33

Your model has one wide flat table with 80 columns from an Excel export. How would you remodel it?

Data ModellingMedium
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I would identify the grain, such as one row per order line, and split descriptive attributes into dimension tables like Customer, Product, Store and Date using Reference queries and Remove Duplicates on keys. The fact table keeps keys and numeric columns only. Then create one-to-many single-direction relationships. This reduces size, simplifies DAX and makes slicers faster and more reliable.
34

What is the grain of a fact table and why does it matter?

Data ModellingMedium
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Grain is the level of detail of one fact row, such as one row per order line per day. It must be defined clearly before building measures, because mixing grains in one table, for example daily sales and monthly targets, causes double counting and wrong totals. Facts at different grains should be separate tables related to dimensions at the matching level.
35

How do you manage multiple report requests from different departments with tight deadlines?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityEasy
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I log every request with its business goal, deadline and effort, and agree priorities with my manager instead of choosing alone. I reuse shared semantic models so new reports are faster, and I communicate realistic timelines early. In one quarter this helped me deliver eight reports, with two lower-priority ones moved by a week after discussion with requesters, without escalations.
36

What are endorsement, sensitivity labels and lineage view?

Power BI Service, Sharing and SecurityMedium
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Endorsement marks content as Promoted by its owners or Certified by authorised reviewers, guiding users to trusted semantic models. Sensitivity labels from Microsoft Purview classify content, such as Confidential, and labels flow to exports like Excel and PDF. Lineage view shows how data sources, dataflows, semantic models, reports and dashboards depend on each other, which helps impact analysis before changes.

Companies with offices in Kolkata (5)

IT services

Wipro

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune +2

View questions
IT services

Cognizant

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune +2

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Consulting

EY

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Bengaluru, Kolkata, Gurugram +2

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Consulting

PwC

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai +2

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IT services

Genpact

Power BI interview questions

  • 30 questions
  • 4 rounds

Gurugram, Hyderabad, Bengaluru +2

View questions

Frequently asked questions

Which companies hire Power BI professionals in Kolkata?

Companies with large offices in Kolkata include Wipro, Cognizant, EY, PwC, Genpact. Use their company pages below to practise employer-specific sets.

Are Power BI interviews in Kolkata different from other cities?

The questions depend more on the company than the city. Kolkata's mix of employers decides the style: Many openings are with service companies and their delivery centres, with a focus on strong fundamentals

How do I find Power BI jobs in Kolkata?

Shortlist companies with Kolkata offices, keep your CV focused on Power BI projects, apply on company career pages and job portals with the Kolkata filter, and practise the questions on this page before each interview.

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