8 Boyd Gaming SQL Interview Questions (Updated 2024)
At Boyd Gaming, SQL is used for analyzing customer gaming behaviors, allowing them to create marketing strategies that align with their players' preferences. They also use SQL to manage large transactional databases, ensuring that operations run smoothly and efficiently across their gaming properties, this is why Boyd Gaming includes SQL questions in their interviews for Data Science and Data Engineering jobs.
So, to help you prep, we've collected 8 Boyd Gaming SQL interview questions – can you answer each one?
8 Boyd Gaming SQL Interview Questions
SQL Question 1: Calculate the Monthly Average Revenue By Game
As a data analyst at Boyd Gaming, your manager wants you to analyze the monthly average revenue generated by each game. The company wants to know if some games are performing better than others.
You are given a table called with columns:
- - the unique id of each transaction
- - the unique id of each game
- - the unique id of each player
- - the date when transaction occurred
- - the amount of money spent by player
Write a SQL query that calculates the monthly average revenue per game.
Example Input:
| transaction_id | game_id | player_id | transaction_date | amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1325 | 256 | 454 | 2022-03-11 | 50 |
| 5874 | 385 | 154 | 2022-03-18 | 60 |
| 8754 | 521 | 897 | 2022-03-25 | 70 |
| 2413 | 256 | 340 | 2022-04-02 | 100 |
| 3562 | 385 | 454 | 2022-04-18 | 200 |
Example Output:
| monthly_period | game_id | avg_revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-03 | 256 | 50 |
| 2022-03 | 385 | 60 |
| 2022-03 | 521 | 70 |
| 2022-04 | 256 | 100 |
| 2022-04 | 385 | 200 |
Answer:
This AS statement creates an alias for as . We group by and to calculate the average revenue for each game each month. The ORDER BY statement sorts the result by and then by for easier readability.
p.s. Window functions show up super often during SQL interviews, so practice the 27+ window function questions on DataLemur
Stay updated with Boyd Gaming's press releases and see how they are reshaping the gaming and hospitality landscape with new initiatives and community-focused events! This information can help you grasp the strategies that successful companies use to connect with their audiences.
SQL Question 2: Well Paid Employees
Given a table of Boyd Gaming employee salary data, write a SQL query to find employees who make more than their own boss.
Boyd Gaming Example Input:
| employee_id | name | salary | department_id | manager_id |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emma Thompson | 3800 | 1 | |
| 2 | Daniel Rodriguez | 2230 | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | Olivia Smith | 8000 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Noah Johnson | 6800 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Sophia Martinez | 1750 | 1 | 10 |
| 8 | William Davis | 7000 | 2 | NULL |
| 10 | James Anderson | 4000 | 1 | NULL |
Example Output:
| employee_id | employee_name |
|---|---|
| 3 | Olivia Smith |
This is the output because Olivia Smith earns $8,000, surpassing her manager, William Davis who earns 7,800.
Check your SQL query for this question and run your code right in DataLemur's online SQL environment:
Answer:
First, we perform a SELF-JOIN where we treat the first table () as the managers' table and the second table () as the employees' table. Then we use a clause to filter the results, ensuring we only get employees whose salaries are higher than their manager's salary.
If the solution above is tough, you can find a detailed solution here: Highly-Paid Employees.
SQL Question 3: What do the SQL commands / do?
The / operator is used to return all rows from the first statement that are not returned by the second statement.
Note that is available in PostgreSQL and SQL Server, while is available in MySQL and Oracle (but don't stress about knowing which DBMS supports what exact commands since the interviewers at Boyd Gaming should be lenient!).
Here's a PostgreSQL example of using to find all of Boyd Gaming's Facebook video ads with more than 10k views that aren't also being run on YouTube:
If you want to retain duplicates, you can use the operator instead of . The operator will return all rows, including duplicates.
SQL Question 4: Average Monthly Revenue of Each Boyd Gaming Casino
We want to understand the performance of each casino in our portfolio. Write an SQL query to find out the average monthly revenue of each Boyd Gaming casino.
Example Input:
| casino_id | casino_name |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Orleans |
| 2 | Gold Coast |
| 3 | Sam's Town |
Example Input:
| casino_id | month | revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01/2022 | $10,000,000 |
| 1 | 02/2022 | $9,000,000 |
| 2 | 01/2022 | $8,000,000 |
| 2 | 02/2022 | $7,000,000 |
| 3 | 01/2022 | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | 02/2022 | $5,000,000 |
Example Output:
| casino_name | average_monthly_revenue |
|---|---|
| The Orleans | $9,500,000 |
| Gold Coast | $7,500,000 |
| Sam's Town | $5,500,000 |
Answer:
This query joins the and tables on . It then groups the result by and calculates the average , providing the average monthly revenue of each casino.
SQL Question 5: What does it mean to use a UNIQUE constraint in a database?
The constraint is used to ensure the uniqueness of the data in a column or set of columns in a table. It prevents the insertion of duplicate values in the specified column or columns and helps to ensure the integrity and reliability of the data in the database.
For example, say you were on the Marketing Analytics team at Boyd Gaming and were doing some automated keyword research:
Your keyword database might store SEO data like this:
In this example, the constraint is applied to the field to ensure that each keyword is unique. This helps to ensure the integrity of the data in the database and prevents errors that could occur if two rows had the same keyword.
SQL Question 6: Find Customers with Specific Gambling Activity
As a part of the business analytics team at Boyd Gaming, your task is to analyze the customer activity patterns to target them with personalized promotions. Write an SQL query to find all the customers whose gamble name start with 'Black' from the table.
Example Input:
| customer_id | customer_name | gamble_game |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | John Doe | Blackjack |
| 102 | Jane Smith | Poker |
| 103 | Brian Johnson | Black Roulette |
| 104 | Samantha Davis | Slots |
| 105 | Daniel Thompson | Black Poker |
Example Output:
| customer_id | customer_name | gamble_game |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | John Doe | Blackjack |
| 103 | Brian Johnson | Black Roulette |
| 105 | Daniel Thompson | Black Poker |
Answer:
This SQL query filters the data in the table to only include customers who played games that start with 'Black'. The SQL operator is used here with the wildcard character to find matches in the column where the game name starts with 'Black'. It returns the , , and the they participated in from the table.
SQL Question 7: What do primary keys do?
A primary key is a column or group of columns that uniquely identifies a row in a table. For example, say you had a database of Boyd Gaming marketing campaigns data:
In this Boyd Gaming example, the CampaignID column is the primary key of the MarketingCampaigns table. The constraint ensures that no two rows have the same CampaignID. This helps to maintain the integrity of the data in the table by preventing duplicate rows.
SQL Question 8: Analyze the Effect of Casino Financing on Customer Visits
Boyd Gaming, a successful gaming and hospitality company, maintains two databases:
- which includes customer details and their household income, and
- that stores the financing options provided at different casinos.
Write a SQL query to join these tables and calculate the average household income of customers from each financing category.
Please be sure to consider only customers who have visited a casino at least twice.
Example Input:
| customer_id | name | household_income | casino_visits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Doe | 80000 | 4 |
| 2 | Jane Smith | 60000 | 8 |
| 3 | Mary Johnson | 95000 | 1 |
| 4 | James Brown | 75000 | 3 |
Example Input:
| finance_id | customer_id | financing_category | casino_id |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 1 | Gold | 201 |
| 102 | 2 | Platinum | 202 |
| 103 | 1 | Gold | 201 |
| 104 | 4 | Silver | 202 |
Answer:
This query starts by joining the table to the table on the column. It then filters to only include customers who have visited a casino at least twice (as indicated by ).
The clause groups the remaining rows by the financing category they belong to. The function then calculates the average household income for each of these categories. The result is a list of financing categories along with the average household income of customers who belong to them.
Since join questions come up frequently during SQL interviews, take a stab at this Spotify JOIN SQL question:
How To Prepare for the Boyd Gaming SQL Interview
The best way to prepare for a Boyd Gaming SQL interview is to practice, practice, practice. In addition to solving the earlier Boyd Gaming SQL interview questions, you should also solve the 200+ SQL exercises on DataLemur which come from companies like FAANG tech companies and tech startups.
Each DataLemur SQL question has hints to guide you, detailed solutions and crucially, there is an interactive coding environment so you can instantly run your SQL query and have it executed.
To prep for the Boyd Gaming SQL interview you can also be a great idea to practice interview questions from other hospitality and restaurant companies like:
- Wynn Resorts SQL questions
- Darden Restaurants SQL questions
- Marriott SQL questions
- Cracker Barrel SQL questions
However, if your SQL coding skills are weak, don't worry about jumping right into solving questions – refresh your SQL knowledge with this DataLemur SQL Tutorial.
This tutorial covers SQL concepts such as sorting data with ORDER BY and CASE/WHEN/ELSE statements – both of which show up routinely during Boyd Gaming SQL assessments.
Boyd Gaming Data Science Interview Tips
What Do Boyd Gaming Data Science Interviews Cover?
In addition to SQL interview questions, the other types of questions tested in the Boyd Gaming Data Science Interview include:
- Probability & Stats Questions
- Python Pandas or R Coding Questions
- Open-Ended Data Case Studies
- ML Modelling Questions
- Behavioral & Resume-Based Questions
How To Prepare for Boyd Gaming Data Science Interviews?
I think the best way to study for Boyd Gaming Data Science interviews is to read the book Ace the Data Science Interview.
It covers 201 interview questions taken from Google, Microsoft & tech startups. The book's also got a refresher on Stats, ML, & Data Case Studies. And finally it's helped thousands of people land their dream job in data, which is why it's got over 1000+ 5-star reviews on Amazon.
While the book is more technical, it's also important to prepare for the Boyd Gaming behavioral interview. Start by reading the company's values and mission.