When preparing for a Genpact Business Analyst interview, one thing becomes clear early on — you can’t escape questions on SQL and Excel. These two tools are the lifeblood of analytical roles at Genpact, forming the foundation of day-to-day operations, from extracting and cleaning data to performing complex analyses and creating reports.
If you want to stand out, you need more than a basic understanding of these tools. This guide covers the most common Genpact Business Analyst interview questions related to SQL and Excel, explaining why they’re asked, what they assess, and how to answer them effectively.
At Genpact, business analysts are responsible for making sense of raw business data and turning it into actionable insights. To do that efficiently, they rely heavily on:
SQL for querying large databases and performing data transformations.
Excel for summarizing, visualizing, and presenting the final insights.
Genpact values candidates who can work seamlessly between data extraction (SQL) and analysis (Excel). These skills also form the core of technical assessments and practical rounds during the hiring process.
Expect your interviewer to test how comfortably you can manipulate and analyze structured data. SQL questions usually start basic and then move into intermediate or scenario-based problems.
Why it’s asked: To test your ability to merge data from multiple tables — a crucial analyst skill.
Answer:
INNER JOIN – Returns only the matching rows between two tables.
LEFT JOIN – Returns all records from the left table, even if there’s no match in the right table.
RIGHT JOIN – Returns all records from the right table and matched ones from the left.
FULL JOIN – Combines all records from both tables, matching where possible.
Example:
SELECT e.EmployeeName, d.DepartmentName
FROM Employees e
LEFT JOIN Departments d
ON e.DeptID = d.DeptID;
Why it’s asked: To evaluate your logical problem-solving skills.
Answer:
SELECT MAX(Salary)
FROM Employees
WHERE Salary < (SELECT MAX(Salary) FROM Employees);
Or using window functions:
SELECT Salary
FROM (
SELECT Salary, DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY Salary DESC) AS RankOrder
FROM Employees
) t
WHERE RankOrder = 2;
Answer:
WHERE filters rows before aggregation.
HAVING filters after aggregation.
Example:
SELECT DepartmentID, COUNT(*)
FROM Employees
GROUP BY DepartmentID
HAVING COUNT(*) > 5;
Answer:
SELECT EmployeeName, COUNT(*)
FROM Employees
GROUP BY EmployeeName
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;
Answer:
SELECT *
FROM Employees
WHERE JoinDate >= DATEADD(MONTH, -6, GETDATE());
Answer:
UNION removes duplicates.
UNION ALL includes duplicates and is faster.
Answer:
SELECT DepartmentID, AVG(Salary) AS AvgSalary
FROM Employees
GROUP BY DepartmentID;
Answer:
Window functions perform calculations across related rows without collapsing data.
SELECT EmployeeID, Salary,
RANK() OVER (ORDER BY Salary DESC) AS RankOrder
FROM Employees;
Answer:
Normalization organizes data to reduce redundancy and improve integrity.
1NF: Atomic values.
2NF: No partial dependencies.
3NF: No transitive dependencies.
Answer:
SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE DepartmentID IS NULL;
Excel remains a go-to tool for data analysis and reporting. Expect practical and scenario-based questions to test your understanding of formulas, functions, and dashboards.
Answer:
VLOOKUP / XLOOKUP – For fetching related data.
INDEX-MATCH – For flexible lookups.
IF / IFS / IFERROR – For conditional logic.
SUMIF / COUNTIF / AVERAGEIF – For conditional aggregation.
TEXT / CONCAT / LEFT / RIGHT – For formatting.
Pivot Tables – For summarizing and analyzing data.
Why it’s asked: Pivot Tables are central to business analysis.
Answer:
You can create Pivot Tables to summarize large datasets quickly — e.g., showing total sales by region or employee. You can then use slicers or filters for interactive analysis.
Answer:
Relative (A1): Adjusts when copied.
Absolute ($A$1): Fixed reference.
Mixed (A$1 or $A1): Partially fixed.
Answer:
Use Power Query for importing and cleaning data.
Convert ranges to Tables for structured referencing.
Use INDEX-MATCH instead of volatile formulas.
Limit conditional formatting to improve performance.
Answer:
VLOOKUP: Easy to use but breaks if columns move.
INDEX-MATCH: More dynamic and faster for large data.
Answer:
Use Data → Remove Duplicates or apply formulas like:
=COUNTIF(A:A, A2)>1
to flag duplicate values.
Answer:
Conditional formatting highlights cells based on defined rules — e.g., marking values above targets in green or below targets in red for quick insights.
Answer:
You can record Macros (VBA) or use Power Automate to schedule repetitive actions like report updates or data imports.
Answer:
Use Data Validation rules to restrict input types, apply dropdown lists, and add error messages for invalid entries.
Answer:
Combine Pivot Tables, Charts, Slicers, and Conditional Formatting to visualize KPIs and trends on a single sheet. Keep layouts clean and color-coded for easy readability.
Practice with real data: Use Kaggle datasets to simulate business analysis scenarios.
Combine both skills: Extract data using SQL and analyze it in Excel to build end-to-end problem-solving workflows.
Understand the logic: Don’t just memorize formulas — know why and when to use them.
Use mock interviews: Platforms like Talent Titan help you practice Genpact Business Analyst interview questions in real-time.
Whether it’s calculating KPIs, analyzing performance, or generating client reports — SQL and Excel are at the heart of every Genpact Business Analyst role.
By mastering the SQL and Excel questions discussed here and understanding how they apply to real business cases, you’ll be well-prepared to face even the toughest Genpact Business Analyst interview questions with confidence.