Preparing for a Power BI interview requires a strong understanding of the tool and its applications in business intelligence, as well as the ability to communicate effectively and showcase your problem-solving skills. Practice answering both technical and behavioral questions, and be prepared to give concrete examples from your past experiences.

  1. What are the different components of Power BI?
    • Answer: Power BI consists of various components such as Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service, Power BI Report Server, and Power BI Mobile. Power BI Desktop is used to create reports and visualizations on a local computer, while Power BI Service is used to share and collaborate on reports in the cloud. Power BI Report Server is used to publish and manage reports on-premises, while Power BI Mobile is used to view and interact with reports on mobile devices.
  2. What is Power BI?
    • Answer: Power BI is a business analytics service provided by Microsoft that enables users to create interactive visualizations and business intelligence reports. It is a cloud-based service that helps users analyze data and share insights quickly and easily.
  3. How do you connect to data sources in Power BI?
    • Answer: Power BI supports various data sources, including Excel workbooks, CSV files, SharePoint lists, SQL Server databases, and more. To connect to a data source in Power BI, you need to open Power BI Desktop, click on the “Get Data” button, select the data source you want to connect to, and enter the required credentials.
  4. What is the difference between calculated columns and measures in Power BI?
    • Answer: Calculated columns and measures are both used to calculate values in Power BI, but they are used in different ways. Calculated columns are calculated at the row level and are used to create new columns in a table based on a formula or expression. Measures, on the other hand, are calculated at the aggregate level and are used to create summary calculations like totals, averages, or counts.
  5. What is DAX in Power BI?
    • Answer: DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is a formula language used in Power BI to create custom calculations and aggregations. It is similar to Excel formulas, but it is designed to work with relational data and is optimized for data modeling and analysis.
  6. What is the difference between Power BI and Tableau?
    • Answer: Power BI and Tableau are both popular data visualization tools used for business intelligence, but they have some differences. Power BI is a cloud-based service provided by Microsoft, while Tableau is a standalone software. Power BI is more affordable than Tableau, but Tableau offers more advanced features for data analysis and visualization. Power BI is also more tightly integrated with other Microsoft products, while Tableau has a wider range of data connectors.
  7. How do you schedule data refresh in Power BI?
    • Answer: To schedule data refresh in Power BI, you need to go to the dataset settings in the Power BI Service, click on the “Schedule Refresh” option, and select the frequency and time for the refresh. You also need to specify the credentials to connect to the data source and the permissions to access the data.
  8. What are the different types of visuals in Power BI?
    • Answer: Power BI supports various types of visuals such as tables, matrices, charts, maps, gauges, and cards. Each visual is designed to represent data in a different way, and you can customize the visuals by changing the colors, fonts, and other properties.
  9. What is Power Query in Power BI?
    • Answer: Power Query is a data transformation and cleansing tool used in Power BI to shape and manipulate data from various sources. It allows you to extract, transform, and load data from different sources, clean and reshape data, and merge and append tables.
  10. What is a slicer in Power BI?
    • Answer: A slicer is a visual filter used in Power BI to filter data based on a specific field or value. It allows you to interactively slice and dice data in a report and see the results in real-time. You