Data Scientists, Analysts, and Data Engineers at Avnet use SQL to analyze sales data, helping them make informed strategic decisions about product offerings and pricing strategies. They also use SQL to manage a large supplier database, ensuring that procurement processes run smoothly and efficiently by tracking supplier performance and inventory levels, this is the reason why Avnet evaluates jobseekers on SQL coding interview questions.
So, to help you prep, here's 11 Avnet SQL interview questions – able to solve them?
Avnet, as a technology solutions provider, may be interested in understanding how their products are performing over time. One of the ways to ascertain this is by analyzing customer ratings on the products. We are going to analyze a dataset that tracks the reviews given to various products for the last couple of months.
You have access to a table with the following schema:
Column Name | Type |
---|---|
review_id | Integer |
user_id | Integer |
submit_date | Date |
product_id | Integer |
stars | Integer |
review_id | user_id | submit_date | product_id | stars |
---|---|---|---|---|
6171 | 123 | 06/08/2022 | 50001 | 4 |
7802 | 265 | 06/10/2022 | 69852 | 4 |
5293 | 362 | 06/18/2022 | 50001 | 3 |
6352 | 192 | 07/26/2022 | 69852 | 3 |
4517 | 981 | 07/05/2022 | 69852 | 2 |
Write an SQL query to find the average rating () each received per month. Order the result by month then product id. The resulting table should be formatted as follows:
mth | product | avg_stars |
---|---|---|
6 | 50001 | 3.50 |
6 | 69852 | 4.00 |
7 | 69852 | 2.50 |
In this query, function extracts the month number from the field as . The returns the average rating of the product in the respective month. The groups the result by the month and product. The orders the result by month first and by product id next in ascending order.
Pro Tip: Window functions are a frequent SQL interview topic, so practice every window function problem on DataLemur
Explore Avnet's press releases to uncover their latest innovations and contributions to the technology sector! Learning about Avnet's initiatives can give you a clearer picture of how they are influencing the market and supporting their partners.
Imagine there was a table of Avnet employee salary data. Write a SQL query to find the top three highest paid employees in each department.
employee_id | name | salary | department_id |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Emma Thompson | 3800 | 1 |
2 | Daniel Rodriguez | 2230 | 1 |
3 | Olivia Smith | 2000 | 1 |
4 | Noah Johnson | 6800 | 2 |
5 | Sophia Martinez | 1750 | 1 |
8 | William Davis | 6800 | 2 |
10 | James Anderson | 4000 | 1 |
department_id | department_name |
---|---|
1 | Data Analytics |
2 | Data Science |
department_name | name | salary |
---|---|---|
Data Analytics | James Anderson | 4000 |
Data Analytics | Emma Thompson | 3800 |
Data Analytics | Daniel Rodriguez | 2230 |
Data Science | Noah Johnson | 6800 |
Data Science | William Davis | 6800 |
Write a SQL query for this problem and run your code right in DataLemur's online SQL environment:
We use the DENSE_RANK() window function to generate unique ranks for each employee's salary within their department, with higher salaries receiving lower ranks. Then, we wrap this up in a CTE and filter the employees with a ranking of 3 or lower.
If the solution above is tough, you can find a step-by-step solution with hints here: Top 3 Department Salaries.
A database view is a virtual table that is created based on the results of a statement, and provides you a customized, read-only version of your data that you can query just like a regular table.
You'd want to use a view for a few reasons:
Avnet, a large electronics supply company, wants to analyze their sales by products, departments, and employees. They want to know which department sells the most of each product and which employee has the highest sales in each department. Also, they want to know the trend of the total sales amount month over month.
Assuming we have 3 tables: , , and .
product_id | product_name | department |
---|---|---|
101 | Resistor | Electronics |
102 | Capacitor | Electronics |
103 | Display | Computer Hardware |
employee_id | employee_name | department |
---|---|---|
1 | John Doe | Electronics |
2 | Jane Smith | Electronics |
3 | Peter Parker | Computer Hardware |
sale_id | employee_id | product_id | quantity | sale_date |
---|---|---|---|---|
11001 | 1 | 101 | 100 | 09/10/2022 |
11002 | 2 | 102 | 150 | 09/14/2022 |
11003 | 3 | 103 | 200 | 09/15/2022 |
11004 | 2 | 101 | 300 | 09/16/2022 |
11005 | 1 | 101 | 150 | 09/17/2022 |
To answer this multi-part question, we'd first need to generate views or subqueries for each component of the question.
This SQL block will give Avnet the ability to analyze sales by products, departments, and employees as per their requirements.
The clause serves as a filter for the groups created by the clause, similar to how the clause filters rows. However, is applied to groups rather than individual rows.
For example, say you were a data analyst at Avnet trying to understand how sales differed by region:
This query retrieves the total sales for all products in each region, and uses the clause to only sales made after January 1, 2023. The rows are then grouped by region and the clause filters the groups to include only those with total sales greater than $400,000.
Avnet, one of the world's largest distributors of electronic components and solutions, would like to improve their client relations and inventory management. They would like to know on average, how many units does each client order in a month.
Below are the sample input and output tables for the problem.
order_id | client_id | order_date | product_id | quantity |
---|---|---|---|---|
1025 | 317 | 06/03/2022 00:00:00 | 2001 | 500 |
1548 | 412 | 06/12/2022 00:00:00 | 3562 | 200 |
1792 | 317 | 06/20/2022 00:00:00 | 2001 | 300 |
2045 | 856 | 07/01/2022 00:00:00 | 3562 | 400 |
2411 | 317 | 07/20/2022 00:00:00 | 2001 | 600 |
month | client_id | avg_quantity |
---|---|---|
6 | 317 | 400 |
6 | 412 | 200 |
7 | 317 | 600 |
7 | 856 | 400 |
The PostgreSQL query shared above will carry out the operation. Here we group the orders by the month of their and , then use the function to determine the average order quantity per client each month. The function is used to retrieve the month from the field. The result is then sorted with the clause by month and client ID to improve readability.
To practice a very similar question try this interactive Alibaba Compressed Mean Question which is similar for requiring average quantity calculation or this Walmart Histogram of Users and Purchases Question which is similar for tracking product quantity per user.
A cross join is a JOIN operation in SQL that creates a new table by pairing each row from the first table with every row from the second table. It is also referred to as a cartesian join. In contrast, a natural join combines rows from two or more tables based on their common columns, forming a new table. Natural joins are called "natural" because they rely on the natural relationship between the common columns in the joined tables.
Here's an example of a cross join:
Here's a natural join example using two tables, Avnet employees and Avnet managers:
This natural join returns all rows from Avnet employees where there is no matching row in managers based on the column.
One significant difference between cross joins and natural joins is that the former do not require common columns between the tables being joined, while the latter do. Another distinction is that cross joins can generate very large tables if the input tables have a large number of rows, while natural joins only produce a table with the number of rows equal to the number of matching rows in the input tables.
Avnet is a company that provides services and solutions related to the life cycle of electronics, including marketing and product design. Suppose Avnet wants to analyze the click-through rates of its digital ads and the click-through conversion rates from viewing an item to adding it to the cart.
Specifically, Avnet wants you to calculate the click-through rate (CTR) for each ad campaign and the conversion rate from clicks to adding products to the cart. The CTR is defined as the number of clicks that an ad receives divided by the number of times the ad is shown (impressions), expressed as a percentage. The conversion rate is defined as the number of users that added the product to their cart after a click divided by the total number of clicks, also expressed as a percentage.
Consider the following two tables for Avnet:
click_id | campaign_id | user_id | click_date | product_id |
---|---|---|---|---|
2158 | 101 | 123 | 2022-06-08 | 50001 |
3561 | 102 | 265 | 2022-06-10 | 69852 |
2790 | 101 | 362 | 2022-06-18 | 50001 |
2718 | 103 | 192 | 2022-07-26 | 69852 |
6982 | 102 | 981 | 2022-07-05 | 69852 |
impression_id | campaign_id | impression_date |
---|---|---|
1059 | 101 | 2022-06-08 |
3016 | 102 | 2022-06-10 |
2045 | 101 | 2022-06-18 |
3270 | 103 | 2022-07-26 |
2951 | 102 | 2022-07-05 |
Now, to solve this problem, you would need to join and tables, group by the and calculate the CTR and conversion rate. A SQL query might look something like this:
In the output, each row represents a unique ad campaign, along with the total clicks, total impressions, click-through rate, and conversion rate. The output gives Avnet insights into the performance of their ad campaigns and their conversion rates, which they can use for future marketing and product strategy.
To practice a similar problem about calculating rates, try this TikTok SQL question on DataLemur's online SQL coding environment:
Given a database of sales transactions at Avnet, which is one of the world's largest distributors of electronic components and embedded solutions, can you determine the total revenue and number of sales per product category within the most recent year?
Avnet operates in various technology sectors such as semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical (IP&E), and computer products and embedded systems, so we have categorized our products accordingly in our table.
sales_id | product_id | date_of_sale | sale_price |
---|---|---|---|
2456 | 3245 | 06/01/2022 | 5000 |
2873 | 6854 | 06/20/2022 | 3700 |
3764 | 3245 | 07/15/2022 | 5000 |
4529 | 9001 | 08/04/2022 | 7200 |
5283 | 9001 | 08/20/2022 | 7200 |
product_id | product_category |
---|---|
3245 | Semiconductors |
6854 | Interconnect |
9001 | Embedded Systems |
This query joins the and tables on , filters for transactions within the last year, and then groups the data by . It sums up to get and counts all entries per group to get for each product category.
product_category | total_revenue | number_of_sales |
---|---|---|
Semiconductors | 10000 | 2 |
Interconnect | 3700 | 1 |
Embedded Systems | 14400 | 2 |
The clause is used to remove all duplicate records from a query.
For example, if you had a table of open jobs Avnet was hiring for, and wanted to see what are all the unique job titles that were currently available at the company, you could write the following query:
In Avnet, a technology solutions company, you are requested to gather customer data for marketing purposes. Can you write an SQL query that selects all customers in the customer records database whose names start with "J" and live in the city of "Phoenix"?
id | name | city | state | country |
---|---|---|---|---|
6171 | James Smith | Phoenix | AZ | USA |
7802 | John Doe | Chicago | IL | USA |
5293 | Jane Doe | Phoenix | AZ | USA |
6352 | Jackson Turner | Phoenix | AZ | USA |
4517 | Julia Roberts | San Francisco | CA | USA |
id | name | city |
---|---|---|
6171 | James Smith | Phoenix |
5293 | Jane Doe | Phoenix |
6352 | Jackson Turner | Phoenix |
This query uses the keyword of SQL to filter customers whose name starts with 'J'. The 'J%' is a pattern that matches any string starting with 'J'. The query also filters on the city column to find customers residing in 'Phoenix'. The operator is used to ensure both conditions must be true.
The key to acing a Avnet SQL interview is to practice, practice, and then practice some more! Besides solving the above Avnet SQL interview questions, you should also solve the 200+ SQL coding questions which come from companies like Google, Uber, and Microsoft.
Each interview question has hints to guide you, full answers and most importantly, there is an online SQL code editor so you can easily right in the browser your query and have it checked.
To prep for the Avnet SQL interview you can also be a great idea to practice interview questions from other industrial and electrical distribution companies like:
However, if your SQL query skills are weak, don't worry about jumping right into solving questions – refresh your SQL knowledge with this free SQL for Data Analytics course.
This tutorial covers SQL concepts such as handling strings and RANK() window functions – both of which pop up frequently in SQL interviews at Avnet.
Beyond writing SQL queries, the other types of questions covered in the Avnet Data Science Interview include:
To prepare for Avnet Data Science interviews read the book Ace the Data Science Interview because it's got:
Don't ignore the behavioral interview – prep for that using this list of common Data Scientist behavioral interview questions.