All 90 questions
How would you transfer orchestration experience from Azure Data Factory to Airflow, identify learning gaps, and become productive safely?
Asked in 2 of 307 interviews · last asked Sep 22 · Scenario · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “Which data orchestration skills transfer from Azure Data Factory to Airflow and Spark, where would you expect learning gaps, and how would you become productive without creating delivery risk?”
How do you securely manage credentials when connecting data pipelines to Salesforce and databases?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Scenario · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “How would you implement secure credential management for data pipelines connecting to Salesforce and databases?”
What authorization mechanisms are commonly used to secure data pipelines?
Asked once · last asked Jan 29 · Concept · Mid-level
Using Azure DevOps or GitHub, how would you set up a CI/CD pipeline for database scripts and ETL workflows, from source control through deployment to development and production?
Asked once · last asked Feb 24 · Tooling · Senior
How do you choose unit tests and scenarios to cover when developing a data solution?
Asked once · last asked Mar 3 · Scenario · Mid-level
How would you handle data from different sources or regions, and how would you orchestrate that processing?
Asked once · last asked Mar 3 · Scenario · Senior
How would you design encryption for a data pipeline, including client-side or server-side encryption and key management?
Asked once · last asked Mar 3 · Design · Senior
How would you deploy and operate data pipelines beyond the notebook stage, and what infrastructure would you use?
Asked once · last asked Mar 7 · Design · Mid-level
After the code is merged, how would you automate delivering it to the Airflow cluster or other hosts where the application will run?
Asked once · last asked Mar 20 · Scenario · Mid-level
How do you write an Apache Airflow DAG?
Asked once · last asked Apr 24 · Tooling · Mid-level
How do you structure your Python exceptions or error taxonomy so the orchestrator, for example Airflow, can distinguish retryable from non-retryable failures and alert appropriately?
Asked once · last asked Apr 25 · Tooling · Senior
How would you trigger Spark on Kubernetes to process PostgreSQL staging tables populated by Flink without relying on scheduled orchestration?
Asked once · last asked May 18 · Design · Senior
How do you manage Informatica environments?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Tooling · Senior
How can Windows scripts be used to deploy Informatica objects between environments?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Tooling · Mid-level
How do you handle configuration management and version control for Informatica applications?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Tooling · Senior
What is a runtime environment in IICS, and how do you configure one?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Concept · Mid-level
How do you create a repository service in PowerCenter?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Tooling · Mid-level
During a patching activity that includes a server reboot, what pre- and post-patching validation checks would you perform as an Informatica administrator?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Scenario · Senior
How do you migrate objects in IICS?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Tooling · Mid-level
Which command-line utility would you use to move Informatica objects from a lower environment to a higher environment?
Asked once · last asked Nov 10 · Tooling · Mid-level
Can you explain the scheduler and executor in Airflow?
Asked once · last asked May 27 · Concept · Mid-level
In SSIS, what is the difference between control flow and data flow?
Asked once · last asked May 27 · Concept · Junior
How would you manage security and authorization when integrating data?
Asked once · last asked Jun 21 · Scenario · Mid-level
How would you manage changes and updates to a data integration over time?
Asked once · last asked Jun 21 · Scenario · Mid-level
As you start this role, how would you prepare for your first 30 to 60 days so you can understand which systems the data comes from, using modern tools rather than relying only on traditional knowledge transfer?
Asked once · last asked Jun 22 · Scenario · Senior
How would you define dependencies and conditions in an Apache Airflow DAG so that a second pipeline starts only if the first succeeds?
Asked once · last asked Jun 23 · Tooling · Mid-level
How are environment variables configured and used in Amazon MWAA?
Asked once · last asked Jun 23 · Tooling · Mid-level
How do you use parameters in AWS Glue jobs?
Asked once · last asked Jun 23 · Tooling · Mid-level
How do you incorporate unit tests and lint checks into data pipeline development before pushing code?
Asked once · last asked Jun 23 · Scenario · Mid-level
How can you run unit tests for data pipeline code without a CI/CD tool?
Asked once · last asked Jun 23 · Tooling · Mid-level
How would you handle orchestration and scheduling for data pipelines, including managing when different pipeline steps run?
Asked once · last asked Jun 24 · Scenario · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “How did you handle orchestration and scheduling for your data pipelines, including managing when different pipeline steps ran?”
How would you create and maintain documentation for data pipelines, data models, or data contracts, including runbooks, schema documentation, pipeline diagrams, quality rules, and information needed to operate and maintain the systems?
Asked once · last asked Jun 24 · Scenario · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “How did you create and maintain documentation for your data pipelines, data models, or data contracts? What information did you include, such as runbooks, schema documentation, pipeline diagrams, quality rules, or details to help your team operate and maintain the systems?”
How can a metadata-driven approach select and run jobs based on their dependencies?
Asked once · last asked Jul 16 · Concept · Senior
What cloud services or deployment setup would you use to make a data ingestion pipeline scalable?
Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Design · Senior
Would you deploy the pipeline components to a Kubernetes cluster and run them as long-lived services?
Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Design · Senior
How would you control how frequently different platforms are polled?
Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Design · Mid-level
Where do you include human review or intervention in PySpark code execution?
Asked once · last asked Jul 29 · Scenario · Senior
How do you approach analyzing and documenting end-to-end data flows, including data sourcing, transformation, enrichment, reconciliation, and reporting across multiple interconnected systems?
Asked once · last asked Aug 6 · Behavioral · Senior
What is Apache NiFi Registry, and what is it used for?
Asked once · last asked Aug 7 · Concept · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “What is an Apache NiFi Registry, and what is it used for?”
How can Databricks and Airflow be integrated with Azure data services?
Asked once · last asked Aug 7 · Design · Mid-level
Why might you use Azure Data Factory instead of implementing data processing in Databricks or data lake jobs?
Asked once · last asked Aug 14 · Scenario · Mid-level
How should PII be handled in a data pipeline before data is stored in Snowflake, and where should normalization and redaction occur?
Asked once · last asked Aug 14 · Design · Senior
How should responsibility for PII removal and redaction be assigned across services in a data-processing system?
Asked once · last asked Aug 14 · Design · Senior
How would you assess an agentic AI solution before and after deployment, including its evaluation harness, data integration challenges, metrics, and alignment with business goals?
Asked once · last asked Aug 19 · Design · Senior
How do you orchestrate data pipeline jobs, and what tools do you use?
Asked once · last asked Aug 26 · Tooling · Mid-level
How do you determine a dashboard's reload time and refresh frequency, and connect it to Excel or a database?
Asked once · last asked Aug 29 · Tooling · Mid-level
How would you coordinate a change to ETL refresh logic when another person owns part of it?
Asked once · last asked Aug 29 · Behavioral · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “How did you coordinate a change to ETL refresh logic when another person owned part of it?”
How would you make ETL refresh changes trustworthy for reviewers, and what would you document?
Asked once · last asked Aug 29 · Behavioral · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “How did you make ETL refresh changes trustworthy for reviewers, and what did you document?”
What makes a good unit test, and what parts of a data pipeline system are most important to unit and integration test?
Asked once · last asked Sep 2 · Concept · Mid-level
How would you determine when all child jobs in a CSV import have completed and mark the overall import as complete?
Asked once · last asked Sep 2 · Design · Senior
How should the sub-jobs be structured to handle processing, validation, and insertion for different file types?
Asked once · last asked Sep 2 · Design · Senior
In a batched CSV import, should the batch worker insert records before dispatching row-level jobs, or should it delegate insertion and hydration to the final worker layer?
Asked once · last asked Sep 2 · Design · Senior
When might inserting records in the batch worker before dispatching row-level jobs be a poor choice or fail?
Asked once · last asked Sep 2 · Scenario · Senior
If you were implementing DataOps from scratch, what would your approach look like?
Asked once · last asked Sep 3 · Design · Senior
What is the maturity model for DataOps where each developer gets their own dataset so deployments don’t need coordination?
Asked once · last asked Sep 3 · Concept · Senior
Would you use parent and child pipelines in Microsoft Fabric, and how would you implement them?
Asked once · last asked Sep 9 · Design · Mid-level
How would you configure an Airflow DAG to run every 15 minutes?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Tooling · Junior
Other ways it was asked
- “How would you configure an Airflow DAG to run at 5 AM every day?”
What is XCom in Airflow, and what is it used for?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Concept · Junior
Why do we need XCom instead of just using Python global variables in Airflow?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Concept · Mid-level
What is the difference between Cloud Composer 1 and Cloud Composer 2?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Concept · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “What is the difference between Composer 1 and Composer 2?”
How would you design a DAG for a data pipeline?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Behavioral · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “Can you walk me through an example of a data pipeline DAG you designed?”
How would you configure an Airflow task to skip processing when the source has no data?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Tooling · Mid-level
What are Airflow sensors, and when would you use them?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Concept · Mid-level
How do you approach testing in your data pipelines?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Scenario · Senior
How would you automate a monthly usage report using database data, visuals, and delivery to managers?
Asked once · last asked Sep 14 · Scenario · Mid-level
How do you manage security for SFTP-based batch file ingestion?
Asked once · last asked Sep 16 · Scenario · Senior
How do you design and maintain an Airflow DAG?
Asked once · last asked Dec 15 · Tooling · Mid-level
How do you handle failures in Airflow?
Asked once · last asked Sep 17 · Scenario · Mid-level
How would you add one more column to a production pipeline and backfill the data?
Asked once · last asked Sep 18 · Scenario · Mid-level
What would you put in place to make sure documentation stays accurate as a pipeline changes?
Asked once · last asked Sep 20 · Scenario · Mid-level
How do you secure data flows and handle errors in the integration systems you build?
Asked once · last asked Sep 20 · Scenario · Senior
If asked to redesign an Azure Data Factory pipeline as an Airflow DAG, what would you examine before translating it, and what would you avoid copying directly?
Asked once · last asked Sep 21 · Scenario · Senior
How would you reduce delivery and operational risk if a critical data pipeline were understood by only one engineer?
Asked once · last asked Sep 21 · Scenario · Senior
When reviewing another data engineer’s SQL, Python, or pipeline change, what do you look for beyond whether the code produces the expected output?
Asked once · last asked Sep 22 · Scenario · Senior
How would you develop a custom Python component for Airflow beyond DAG definitions, and handle errors and retries in that component?
Asked once · last asked Sep 23 · Tooling · Senior
Other ways it was asked
- “What Python component did you personally develop in Airflow beyond DAG definitions, what did it do, and how did you handle errors and retries?”
How do you pass data between tasks in Airflow?
Asked once · last asked Oct 2 · Tooling · Mid-level
When should you not use XComs in Airflow?
Asked once · last asked Oct 2 · Concept · Mid-level
How can you detect that a file has arrived in Amazon S3 before publishing an event to Kafka?
Asked once · last asked Oct 7 · Scenario · Senior
How does Azure Data Factory (ADF) work?
Asked once · last asked Aug 10 · Concept · Junior
How would you enforce code-quality gates for an Apache NiFi project?
Asked once · last asked Feb 9 · Scenario · Mid-level
If you don’t use AWS Step Functions, what other orchestration option could you use?
Asked once · last asked May 19 · Concept · Mid-level
What are the end-to-end steps for building a pipeline in Azure Data Factory?
Asked once · last asked Aug 10 · Tooling · Mid-level
Other ways it was asked
- “Explain the end to end step to build a pipeline in Azure Data Factory.”
How do you build a deployment process for data engineering workflows?
Asked once · last asked Aug 20 · Scenario · Mid-level
How do you document changes to a data pipeline?
Asked once · last asked Aug 29 · Scenario · Mid-level
Tell me what data ops means to you.
Asked once · last asked Sep 3 · Concept · Mid-level
How would you make a data pipeline accessible to internal analysts?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Design · Mid-level
Which Airflow operator would you use to check whether data is available?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Tooling · Mid-level
What are Airflow pools?
Asked once · last asked Sep 10 · Concept · Mid-level
Which Microsoft Fabric capability can schedule data ingestion workflows?
Asked once · last asked Sep 16 · Concept · Junior
What would you use Prefect for in a data workflow?
Asked once · last asked Oct 18 · Tooling · Mid-level
More ETL and Data Pipelines interview questions
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- Incremental Loading, CDC, and Streaming Interview Questions
- ETL Data Quality and Validation Interview Questions
- Data Pipeline Performance Optimization Interview Questions
- Data Pipeline Monitoring and Troubleshooting Interview Questions
- Data Migration Interview Questions
How this list is made
Every question here was asked by a real interviewer in a real job interview that a candidate ran MeetAssist in. After the call, the interviewer's questions are pulled from the transcript. Practice sessions, tests, exams and anything that was not a job interview are dropped.
Questions are rewritten so they make sense on their own: names of people, employers and clients are removed, and speech-to-text mistakes are fixed. Small talk, logistics and questions about one candidate's own résumé are left out. Rephrasings of the same question are merged, and the count is the number of different interviews it came up in.
The interviews come from candidates who use MeetAssist, so they lean towards software, data and AI roles: the shares describe these interviews, not every ETL and Data Pipelines interview. Answers to the most asked questions are written and checked by an editor; a "common mistake" is shown only when reviews of real answers in these interviews show it, with the count.
307 interviews, 169 candidates, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026. Updated every month with new interviews.
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