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MS SQL Server Online Test

The MS SQL Server Online Test uses scenario-based MCQs to evaluate candidates on their proficiency in working with Microsoft SQL Server, a popular relational database management system. The test assesses candidates' ability to design and manage SQL databases, write SQL queries and stored procedures, and perform data modeling and optimization.

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Screen candidates with a 40 mins test

Test duration:  ~ 40 mins
Difficulty level:  Moderate
Availability:  Available as custom test
Questions:
  • 7 SQL Server MCQs
  • 5 MS SQL MCQs
  • 5 SQL MCQs
Covered skills:
MS SQL Server
SQL Querying
Database Management
Indexes
Normalization
Database Constraints
Transactions
Stored Procedures
Triggers
Views
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Use the MS SQL Server Test to shortlist qualified candidates

The MS SQL Server Online Test helps recruiters and hiring managers identify qualified candidates from a pool of resumes, and helps in taking objective hiring decisions. It reduces the administrative overhead of interviewing too many candidates and saves time by filtering out unqualified candidates at the first step of the hiring process.

The test screens for the following skills that hiring managers look for in candidates:

  • Proficient in MS SQL Server database management
  • Expertise in SQL Querying and optimization
  • Knowledge of Indexes and their impact on query performance
  • Understanding of Normalization principles in database design
  • Familiarity with Database Constraints and their enforcement
  • Ability to work with Transactions for data integrity
  • Experience in creating and managing Stored Procedures
  • Proficient in creating and utilizing Triggers for data manipulation
  • Understanding of Views and their role in database querying
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Screen candidates with the highest quality questions

We have a very high focus on the quality of questions that test for on-the-job skills. Every question is non-googleable and we have a very high bar for the level of subject matter experts we onboard to create these questions. We have crawlers to check if any of the questions are leaked online. If/ when a question gets leaked, we get an alert. We change the question for you & let you know.

How we design questions

These are just a small sample from our library of 15,000+ questions. The actual questions on this MS SQL Server 2005/2008 Assessment Test will be non-googleable.

🧐 Question

Medium

Backup Strategy
Backups
Troubleshooting
Solve
As a DBA, you receive an alert notifying you that the production database has gone offline due to a severe issue. Fortunately, you have a proper backup strategy in place. The backups are performed as follows:

1. Full database backup every Sunday at 2:00 AM.
2. Differential backup every day at 2:00 AM, except Sunday.
3. Transaction log backup every hour.
Today is Wednesday, and the failure occurred at 10:15 AM. You have the following backup files available:

1. Full backup: Full_Backup_Sun.bak taken on Sunday 2:00 AM.
2. Differential backups: Diff_Backup_Mon.bak, Diff_Backup_Tue.bak, Diff_Backup_Wed.bak taken at 2:00 AM on their respective days.
3. Transaction log backups: Hourly backups from Sunday 3:00 AM until Wednesday 10:00 AM, like TLog_Backup_Wed_09.bak, TLog_Backup_Wed_10.bak.
Given the RPO (Recovery Point Objective) of 15 minutes, which of the following sequences of restore operations would ensure minimal data loss?
A: Full_Backup_Sun.bak, Diff_Backup_Wed.bak, then all Transaction Log backups from Wednesday.

B: Full_Backup_Sun.bak, Diff_Backup_Tue.bak, then all Transaction Log backups from Tuesday and Wednesday.

C: Full_Backup_Sun.bak, Diff_Backup_Wed.bak, then Transaction Log backups from Wednesday 2:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

D: Full_Backup_Sun.bak, then all Transaction Log backups from Sunday to Wednesday 10:00 AM.

E: Full_Backup_Sun.bak, Diff_Backup_Mon.bak, Diff_Backup_Tue.bak, Diff_Backup_Wed.bak, then Transaction Log backups from Wednesday 2:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

Medium

Optimizing Query Performance
Indexing
Join Optimization
Execution Plans
Solve
You are managing a SQL Server database for a large e-commerce platform. The database contains the following tables:
 image
Users often run a query to retrieve all orders from a specific date along with customer details and a breakdown of each order. Lately, this query has been performing poorly, especially on days with a high volume of orders.

Given this schema, which of the following changes would MOST LIKELY enhance the performance of this query?
A: Create a non-clustered index on Orders(OrderDate, OrderID) and a clustered index on OrderDetails(OrderID).
B: Create a clustered index on Orders(CustomerID, OrderDate) and a non-clustered index on OrderDetails(ProductName).
C: Increase the size of the OrderDetails(ProductName) column and add more RAM to the SQL Server machine.
D: Create a clustered index on Orders(OrderDate) and a non-clustered index on OrderDetails(OrderID, Quantity).
E: Partition the Orders table on OrderDate and create a non-clustered index on OrderDetails(DetailID, Price).

Medium

Transaction Isolation
Transaction Isolation Levels
Snapshot Isolation
Solve
You are managing a SQL Server instance that is experiencing performance degradation. After some analysis, you realize that the TempDB is under heavy stress due to numerous long-running transactions. Users have reported that some SELECT queries on a large table, named SalesData, are slower than expected.

You consider implementing Snapshot Isolation to mitigate blocking issues. You're aware that Snapshot Isolation uses TempDB to store row versions.

Given the situation, which combination of actions will help alleviate the stress on TempDB and enhance the performance of SELECT queries on SalesData?
A: Move TempDB to a faster storage subsystem and enable Snapshot Isolation for SalesData.
B: Increase the number of TempDB data files, shrink TempDB size, and enable Snapshot Isolation for the database.
C: Implement Read Committed Snapshot Isolation (RCSI) for the database and partition the SalesData table.
D: Reduce the TempDB size, implement table partitioning on SalesData, and enable Read Uncommitted isolation level for the SELECT queries.
E: Create a non-clustered index on frequently queried columns of SalesData and enable row versioning for the entire database.

Medium

Transaction Log Management
Performance Tuning
Log Management
Solve
You are a DBA at a large company managing an SQL Server database which is crucial for daily operations. The database is configured with the Full recovery model. The database is experiencing considerable transaction log growth during business hours, which is impacting the disk space and performance.

The following operations are performed on this database:

1. A large ETL process that runs every night, which transforms and loads data into several tables.
2. A data archiving job that runs every night, which removes old data from several tables.
3. Frequent read/write operations during the day as part of normal business operations.

Given this scenario, which of the following strategies could help manage the transaction log growth effectively?
A: Switch to the Simple recovery model.
B: Schedule frequent log backup and cleanups during business hours.
C: Shrink the transaction log file size during business hours.
D: Increase the database file size.

Medium

MS SQL: enterpriseDB, GROUP BY
Solve
The following T-SQL statements are run on enterpriseDB database:
 image
uamMembers with MemberPaid as 1 implies that the member payment is complete. We want to find number of paid users for each uamGroup. (If a uamGroup does not have any paid members, we want to have 0 as paid members count). Of the following T-SQL statements, what should we run to achieve this?
 image

Medium

MS SQL: Most recurring errors
Solve
Check out following MS SQL tables:
 image
We have a status monitoring page to display most recurring errors for each user. Here's the T-SQL statement to achieve this:
 image
How would you fill the empty blocks to finish the T-SQL statement from following options?
 image

Medium

Multi Select
JOIN
GROUP BY
Solve
Consider the following SQL table:
 image
How many rows does the following SQL query return?
 image

Medium

nth highest sales
Nested queries
User Defined Functions
Solve
Consider the following SQL table:
 image
Which of the following SQL commands will find the ‘nth highest Sales’ if it exists (returns null otherwise)?
 image

Medium

Select & IN
Nested queries
Solve
Consider the following SQL table:
 image
Which of the following SQL queries would return the year when neither a football or cricket winner was chosen?
 image

Medium

Sorting Ubers
Nested queries
Join
Comparison operators
Solve
Consider the following SQL table:
 image
What will be the first two tuples resulting from the following SQL command?
 image

Hard

With, AVG & SUM
MAX() MIN()
Aggregate functions
Solve
Consider the following SQL table:
 image
How many tuples does the following query return?
 image
🧐 Question🔧 Skill

Medium

Backup Strategy
Backups
Troubleshooting

3 mins

SQL Server
Solve

Medium

Optimizing Query Performance
Indexing
Join Optimization
Execution Plans

3 mins

SQL Server
Solve

Medium

Transaction Isolation
Transaction Isolation Levels
Snapshot Isolation

3 mins

SQL Server
Solve

Medium

Transaction Log Management
Performance Tuning
Log Management

3 mins

SQL Server
Solve

Medium

MS SQL: enterpriseDB, GROUP BY

4 mins

MS SQL
Solve

Medium

MS SQL: Most recurring errors

4 mins

MS SQL
Solve

Medium

Multi Select
JOIN
GROUP BY

2 mins

SQL
Solve

Medium

nth highest sales
Nested queries
User Defined Functions

3 mins

SQL
Solve

Medium

Select & IN
Nested queries

3 mins

SQL
Solve

Medium

Sorting Ubers
Nested queries
Join
Comparison operators

3 mins

SQL
Solve

Hard

With, AVG & SUM
MAX() MIN()
Aggregate functions

2 mins

SQL
Solve
🧐 Question🔧 Skill💪 Difficulty⌛ Time
Backup Strategy
Backups
Troubleshooting
SQL Server
Medium3 mins
Solve
Optimizing Query Performance
Indexing
Join Optimization
Execution Plans
SQL Server
Medium3 mins
Solve
Transaction Isolation
Transaction Isolation Levels
Snapshot Isolation
SQL Server
Medium3 mins
Solve
Transaction Log Management
Performance Tuning
Log Management
SQL Server
Medium3 mins
Solve
MS SQL: enterpriseDB, GROUP BY
MS SQL
Medium4 mins
Solve
MS SQL: Most recurring errors
MS SQL
Medium4 mins
Solve
Multi Select
JOIN
GROUP BY
SQL
Medium2 mins
Solve
nth highest sales
Nested queries
User Defined Functions
SQL
Medium3 mins
Solve
Select & IN
Nested queries
SQL
Medium3 mins
Solve
Sorting Ubers
Nested queries
Join
Comparison operators
SQL
Medium3 mins
Solve
With, AVG & SUM
MAX() MIN()
Aggregate functions
SQL
Hard2 mins
Solve

Test candidates on core MS SQL Server Hiring Test topics

MS SQL Server: MS SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. It is used to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications. This skill is measured in the test to assess candidates' proficiency in working with MS SQL Server, as it is a widely used database technology.

SQL Querying: SQL Querying involves writing and executing queries to retrieve, manipulate, and manage data stored in a SQL database. It is an essential skill to measure in the test as it determines a candidate's ability to extract information efficiently from databases using structured query language.

Database Management: Database Management involves administering, organizing, and controlling the various aspects of a database system. This skill is measured in the test to evaluate candidates' knowledge and competence in managing database components such as data storage, user access management, backup and recovery procedures, and performance optimization.

Indexes: Indexes are data structures that improve the speed of data retrieval operations on database tables. Measuring a candidate's understanding of indexes in the test helps assess their ability to design and implement efficient database structures, ensuring faster data access for applications.

Normalization: Normalization is the process of organizing data in a database to reduce duplication, increase data integrity, and improve overall efficiency. This skill is measured in the test to evaluate candidates' knowledge of database design principles and their ability to create well-structured, normalized databases.

Database Constraints: Database Constraints are rules and restrictions applied to data in a database to maintain data integrity and consistency. Measuring this skill in the test helps assess candidates' familiarity with various types of constraints and their ability to enforce data validation rules within a database.

Transactions: Transactions are sets of database operations that are treated as a single unit of work, ensuring data consistency and integrity. This skill is measured in the test to evaluate candidates' understanding of transaction control concepts, such as ensuring atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability in database operations.

Stored Procedures: Stored Procedures are precompiled sets of SQL statements stored in a database and executed as a single unit. This skill is measured in the test to assess candidates' proficiency in creating, managing, and executing stored procedures for efficient and secure database operations.

Triggers: Triggers are database objects that are automatically executed in response to specific data manipulation events. Measuring this skill in the test helps evaluate candidates' knowledge and ability to create triggers to enforce business rules, maintain data integrity, and automate tasks in a database system.

Views: Views are virtual tables generated by queries that simplify data access by providing a logical representation of the underlying database tables. This skill is measured in the test to assess candidates' understanding of creating and utilizing views to simplify complex queries, improve performance, and enhance data security.

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Have questions about the MS SQL Server Hiring Test?

How does pricing work?

You can check out our pricing plans.

Can I customize the test?

Yes, absolutely. Custom assessments are set up within 48 hours based on your job description, and will include questions on all must-have skills you specify. Here's a quick guide on how you can request a custom test. You can also customize a test by uploading your own questions.

Can I combine multiple skills into one test?

Yes, absolutely. Custom assessments are set up based on your job description, and will include questions on all must-have skills you specify. Here's a quick guide on how you can request a custom test.

What roles can I use the MS SQL Server Test for?

Here are few roles for which we recommend this test:

  • Database Administrator
  • SQL Developer
  • Data Analyst
  • Data Engineer
  • Database Tester
Can I see a sample test, or do you have a free trial?

Yes!

The free trial includes one sample technical test (Java/ JavaScript) and one sample aptitude test that you will find in your dashboard when you sign up. You can use it to review the quality of questions and the candidate experience of giving a test on Adaface.

You can preview any of the 500+ tests and see the sample questions to decide if it would be a good fit for your requirements.

How do I interpret test scores?

The primary thing to keep in mind is that an assessment is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. A skills assessment is optimized to help you eliminate candidates who are not technically qualified for the role, it is not optimized to help you find the best candidate for the role. So the ideal way to use an assessment is to decide a threshold score (typically 55%, we help you benchmark) and invite all candidates who score above the threshold for the next rounds of interview.

I'm a candidate. Can I try a practice test?

No. Unfortunately, we do not support practice tests at the moment. However, you can use our sample questions for practice.

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