Common Interview Questions for Data

Engineering Roles at Top Indian IT Firms (3+ Years

Experience)
Introduction
The data engineering landscape in Indian IT firms has evolved significantly, with companies
seeking professionals who can design, implement, and manage complex data pipelines and
infrastructure [1] [2] . For candidates with 3+ years of experience, interviews typically focus on
assessing both technical proficiency and practical problem-solving abilities across various
technologies and platforms [3] [4] . These assessments help companies evaluate a candidate's
ability to handle the increasing demands of big data analytics, cloud migration, and AI-driven
solutions [5] [6] .

Core Technical Questions

Apache Spark Fundamentals

Almost all major Indian IT firms prioritize Apache Spark knowledge in their technical evaluations
[1] [7] . TCS specifically emphasizes core PySpark concepts such as lazy evaluation,
transformations vs. actions, and the differences between RDD, DataFrame, and Dataset [2] .
Infosys focuses on partitioning optimization and broadcast joins, while Wipro dives deeper into
Spark memory management including executor memory, on-heap memory, and off-heap
memory concepts [8] [9] .
Common Spark questions include:
1. Explain the difference between transformations and actions in Spark with examples [1] [10]
2. How does lazy evaluation improve performance in Spark? [11] [12]

3. What strategies can you implement to minimize shuffle operations? [1] [9]

4. When would you use cache() versus persist() and why? [2] [9]

5. Explain how you would tune a Spark job for optimal performance [6] [8]

SQL and Data Modeling

SQL proficiency remains crucial across all companies, with varying levels of complexity [13] [14] .
LTIMindtree and Tech Mahindra place special emphasis on window functions and complex
employee ranking scenarios [15] [16] . HCL tends to focus on data warehouse concepts,
particularly star schema implementation and fact table design [5] [7] .
Commonly asked SQL questions include:
 1. Write a query to find the nth highest salary in a department [13] [14]

2. Implement window functions for running totals and moving averages [15] [16]
3. Explain the differences between star schema and snowflake schema in data warehousing [2]
[6]

4. How would you handle slowly changing dimensions (Type 1 vs. Type 2)? [8] [17]

5. Write a query to identify and handle duplicate records in a large dataset [17] [14]

Company-Specific Focus Areas

TCS
TCS interviews emphasize theoretical understanding of Spark architecture, broadcast variables
optimization, and partition impact on performance [1] [2] . Their questions often address schema
inference, SparkContext initialization, and best practices for joining large datasets [2] . Technical
evaluations typically consist of 3-4 rounds that progressively test fundamental concepts and
practical implementation skills [2] [3] .

Infosys
Infosys stands out with its focus on cloud-native technologies, particularly Azure integration and
Kafka concepts [4] [5] . Their technical rounds frequently cover exactly-once processing,
Zookeeper's role in Kafka architecture, and schema evolution in data lakes [4] . Candidates
report questions about various file formats including Delta Lake, Parquet, and ORC, along with
their appropriate use cases [4] [6] .

Wipro
Wipro demonstrates a strong preference for Azure technologies, with significant focus on Azure
Data Factory and Databricks implementation [8] [9] . Interview questions frequently address
Change Data Capture (CDC) techniques, Delta Lake for data consistency, and integration of
real-time data streams with batch processing systems [8] [18] . Candidates are often asked about
optimization techniques they've implemented in past projects [18] .

Accenture
Accenture represents the cutting edge of technical requirements, incorporating advanced
technologies like graph databases, vector databases, and large language model integration [3] .
Their system design questions focus on multi-cloud architectures, real-time processing systems,
and scalable ML inference pipelines [3] [6] . Problem-solving scenarios often involve complex
distributed systems and optimization for both cost and performance [3] .
Preparation Strategies

Technical Skills Assessment

Candidates should thoroughly review core Spark concepts, particularly transformations, actions,
and optimization techniques [10] [11] . Strong SQL proficiency is essential, with special focus on
window functions, complex joins, and performance tuning [13] [14] . Familiarity with both AWS and
Azure cloud platforms is increasingly important as companies adopt multi-cloud strategies [19]
[20] .

Project Experience Articulation

All companies place significant emphasis on candidates' ability to articulate their project
experience clearly [3] [18] . Prepare to discuss challenges faced, optimization techniques
implemented, and specific performance improvements achieved [18] [21] . Technical leads often
inquire about deployment strategies, CI/CD implementation, and disaster recovery approaches
for data pipelines [6] [17] .

System Design Preparation

For senior roles, system design questions have become standard across all major IT firms [3] [6] .
Be prepared to design end-to-end data pipelines, explain cloud migration strategies, and
demonstrate understanding of data governance principles [3] [19] . Companies evaluate
candidates' ability to balance technical requirements with business constraints while designing
scalable solutions [6] [19] .

Conclusion
The data engineering interview landscape at Indian IT firms demonstrates distinct specialization
trends, with organizations developing clear technical focus areas and compensation strategies
aligned with market demands [3] [6] . Success in these interviews requires continuous learning,
strategic skill development, and thorough preparation across multiple domains including Spark,
SQL, cloud platforms, and system design principles [14] [10] . Understanding company-specific
focus areas can significantly improve interview performance and help candidates highlight
relevant expertise during technical discussions [4] [8] .
⁂

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2QU5sw6O_M
2. https://www.interviewquery.com/interview-guides/tata-consultancy-services-data-engineer
3. https://www.datacamp.com/blog/top-21-data-engineering-interview-questions-and-answers
4. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shubhamwadekar_infosys-data-engineering-interview-questions-activit
y-7305225590213595138-PTLc
5. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/karthik-kondpak_𝐇𝐂𝐋-𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫-𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞-activity-7193490709495037
952-NTR_
6. https://www.interviewbit.com/data-engineer-interview-questions/
7. https://www.finalroundai.com/interview-questions/hcl-data-engineer-problem-solving
 8. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lakshman-reddy_azure-dataengineer-interview-activity-722276084431
5525120-tGcf
9. https://www.interviewquery.com/interview-guides/wipro-data-engineer
10. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/day-26-100-spark-interview-questions-mastering-rdd-operations-som
-gjglc
11. https://www.turing.com/interview-questions/spark
12. https://jayaananthdevops.github.io/posts/SparkInterviewquestions-Beginner-Part1/
13. https://360digitmg.com/blog/data-engineer-sql-interview-questions
14. https://www.projectpro.io/article/data-engineer-interview-questions-and-answers/456
15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfIrPVE4DNQ
16. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/abhinav-dataguy_data-engineering-real-time-interview-questions-activ
ity-7250362004366888960-cFJX
17. https://www.biochemithon.in/interview-experience/wipro-big-data-engineer-interview-questions-set-1/
18. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jayasree-n-906b91214_𝗪𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗼-𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮-𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿-𝗜𝗻-activity-7303657
086649782272-hFmc
19. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/karthik-kondpak_interview-questions-for-an-aws-data-engineer-activit
y-7230155089766662146-KEJP
20. https://www.whizlabs.com/blog/aws-data-engineer-interview-questions/
21. https://www.interviewquery.com/interview-guides/tech-mahindra-data-engineer