9 Aramark SQL Interview Questions (Updated 2024)

Data Analytics, Data Science, and Data Engineering employees at Aramark rely on SQL queries to clean data in food service operations, making sure it is accurate and reliable for decision-making. They also use SQL for sales forecasting based on past purchasing trends, helping the company predict customer needs and optimize inventory, the reason why Aramark usually asks SQL questions during interviews.

Thus, to help you prep, here’s 9 Aramark SQL interview questions – can you answer each one?

9 Aramark SQL Interview Questions

SQL Question 1: Find Aramark's VIP Users

Aramark strives to understand its customers' habits better so it can offer more targeted and beneficial services. Your task is to help Aramark identify who their "VIP users" are.

VIP users are defined as customers who have made more than 100 orders in the past year. Please write a SQL query that returns a list of all "VIP users". The output should include their user_id and total number of orders from the most to the least.

We have a and table:

Example Input:

Example Input:

Answer:

SQL Query:

In the given query, we first join the and table on . We then filter out orders that were made between '2021-01-01' and '2021-12-31', calculating the total orders for each user in this period. Lastly, we filter out users who made more than 100 orders, hence identifying our "VIP users". The results are ordered in descending order, showing the user with the highest number of orders first.

To work on another SQL customer analytics question where you can code right in the browser and have your SQL query instantly executed, try this Walmart Labs SQL Interview Question:

Discover how Aramark is leveraging innovative AI-powered applications to enhance hospitality services and improve guest experiences! Understanding these advancements can provide valuable insights into how technology is transforming the hospitality industry and setting new standards for service excellence.

SQL Question 2: Second Highest Salary

Suppose there was a table of Aramark employee salary data. Write a SQL query to find the 2nd highest salary among all employees.

Aramark Example Input:

Example Output:

Solve this problem interactively on DataLemur:

Answer:

You can find a step-by-step solution with hints here: 2nd Highest Salary.

SQL Question 3: What is denormalization, and in what situations might it be a useful?

Imagine you've got giant AF jigsaw puzzle with thousands of pieces, and each piece represents a piece of data in your database. You've spent hours organizing the puzzle into neat little piles, with each pile representing a table in your database. This process is called normalization, and it's a great way to make your database efficient, flexible, and easy to maintain.

But what if you want to solve the puzzle faster (aka make your queries run faster?)?

That's where denormalization comes in – Denormalization is like the puzzle-solving equivalent of taking a shortcut!

Instead of putting all the pieces in separate piles, you might decide to clone some of the pieces, and then have that one puzzle piece be put into multiple piles. Clearly, we are breaking the rules of physics, but that's just like de-normalization because it breaks the normal rules of normalization (1st, 2nd, 3rd normal forms).

By adding redundant puzzle pieces, it can be easier to find the pieces you need, but it also means that you have to be extra careful when you're moving pieces around or adding new ones (aka INSERT/UPDATE commands become more complex).

On the plus side, denormalization can improve the performance of your database and make it easier to use. On the downside, it can make your database more prone to errors and inconsistencies, and it can be harder to update and maintain. In short, denormalization can be a helpful tool, but it's important to use it wisely!

SQL Question 4: Analyzing Food Items Sales

Aramark is known for providing food services, facilities, and uniform services to education, healthcare, and business institutions. For this question, let's consider two tables and . The table contains records of all the sales made by Aramark and the table contains data about all the food items offered by the company.

The table has the following columns: , , and where is the number of items of a specific food item sold on a particular date. Column is a foreign key linking to the table.

The table has the following columns: , (contains the name of food item), and (type of food like 'fast food', 'dessert', etc.).

:

:

Your task is to write a SQL query to calculate the total quantity of each type of food item sold every month. The output table should have the columns: , , , and .

Answer:

Here is PostgreSQL SQL query using window functions to answer the problem.

This query first performs a JOIN operation between and on . The window function is applied on where the window is defined by the , and of the food items from the joined tables. The function then calculates the total quantity for each partition. The result is sorted by , , and .

Pro Tip: Window functions are a popular SQL interview topic, so practice every window function problem on DataLemur

SQL Question 5: Are the results of a UNION ALL and a FULL OUTER JOIN usually the same?

No, in 99% of normal cases a and do NOT produce the same result.

You can think of more as set addition when it combines the results of two tables.

You can think of a more as set multiplication, producing all combos of table 1 with combos of table 2.

SQL Question 6: Aramark Food and Service Analysis

Aramark is a company that provides food service, facilities and uniform services. Let's say Aramark would like to analyze popularity and profit on food and Services for each events they host. They have one table named that stores event details (, , , ) and another table which stores details of food and services provided in each event (, , , , ). They want to know for a given date range which food or service has brought the maximum total revenue.

In this scenario, the key question is to design database tables and , and then write a SQL query to show for a given date range which food or service has brought the maximum total revenue.

Sample Data:

Example Table:

Example Table:

Answer:

Query to find out which food or service has brought the maximum total revenue for a given date range from '02/01/2022' to '04/30/2022':

This query first joins the table with the table on . It then selects and sums the of each food or service, group by within a specific date range. The clause sorts the total revenue in descending order and will return the food/service with the highest total revenue.

SQL Question 7: What's the difference between a clustered and non-clustered index?

Here is an example of a clustered index on the column of a table of Aramark customer transactions:

This creates a clustered index on the column, which will determine the physical order of the data rows in the table.

Here is an example of a non-clustered index on the column of the same table:

This will create a non-clustered index on the column, which will not affect the physical order of the data rows in the table.

In terms of query performance, a clustered index is usually faster for searches that return a large number of records, while a non-clustered index is faster for searches that return a small number of records. However, updates to a clustered index are slower, as they require the data rows to be physically rearranged, while updates to a non-clustered index are faster, as they only require the index data structure to be updated.

SQL Question 8: Average Revenue Per Service Type

As a company, Aramark specializes in food, facilities, and uniform services. You've been asked to analyze the average revenue generated for each service type at the end of the year. Write a query that returns the service type and its corresponding year-end average revenue.

Example Input:

Example Output:

Answer:

This query works by grouping the data based on in the orders table and then calculating the average revenue for each service type using the function. The result of this query gives us the average revenue for each service type.

SQL Question 9: Fetch Customer Records with Certain Pattern

Aramark has a vast database of their customers, featuring their names and email addresses. However, they are specifically interested in a subset of customers: those with a company email address (an email that contains ). They want you to create a SQL query that can find and display all records with customer email addresses that match this pattern.

Below is a mock-up of customer records as reference:

Example Input:

Expected output from the SQL query:

Example Output:

Answer:

In PostgreSQL syntax, the SQL query to achieve this is:

Whenever SQL searches for a pattern in a column, it uses the keyword , with acting as a wildcard that can stand for any string. Thus, in this query, '%@aramark.com' searches for any string (including an empty string) followed by "@aramark.com", effectively identifying every record with a company email address.

How To Prepare for the Aramark SQL Interview

The key to acing a Aramark SQL interview is to practice, practice, and then practice some more! Beyond just solving the above Aramark SQL interview questions, you should also solve the 200+ SQL Interview Questions on DataLemur which come from companies like FAANG tech companies and tech startups.

Each problem on DataLemur has hints to guide you, full answers and most importantly, there's an interactive coding environment so you can easily right in the browser your query and have it graded.

To prep for the Aramark SQL interview it is also useful to practice interview questions from other food and facilities companies like:

• ABM Industries SQL questions
• Republic Services SQL questions
• Sysco SQL questions
• ManpowerGroup SQL questions

But if your SQL skills are weak, don't worry about jumping right into solving questions – strengthen your SQL foundations with this SQL tutorial for Data Analytics.

This tutorial covers SQL topics like using LIKE and CASE/WHEN statements – both of these come up routinely during Aramark SQL interviews.

Aramark Data Science Interview Tips

What Do Aramark Data Science Interviews Cover?

Besides SQL interview questions, the other types of questions to prepare for the Aramark Data Science Interview include:

• Probability & Stats Questions
• Python or R Coding Questions
• Product-Sense Questions
• ML Modelling Questions
• Behavioral Interview Questions

How To Prepare for Aramark Data Science Interviews?

I think the best way to prepare for Aramark Data Science interviews is to read the book I wrote: Ace the Data Science Interview.

It covers 201 interview questions taken from Facebook, Google & startups. The book's also got a refresher on SQL, AB Testing & ML. And finally it's helped thousands of people land their dream job in data, which is why it's earned 1000+ reviews on Amazon and a 4.5-star rating.

While the book is more technical, it's also crucial to prepare for the Aramark behavioral interview. A good place to start is by reading the company's values and company principles.