8 Tyson Foods SQL Interview Questions (Updated 2024)
At Tyson Foods, SQL is often used to analyze food production data, helping them monitor efficiency and quality throughout the manufacturing process. It is also used for optimizing supply chain efficiency, allowing them to manage inventory levels, track shipments, and ensure timely delivery of products, the reason why Tyson Foods uses SQL questions during interviews for Data Science, Analytics, and Data Engineering jobs.
So, to help you prep for the Tyson Foods SQL interview, we've curated 8 Tyson Foods SQL interview questions in this article.
8 Tyson Foods SQL Interview Questions
SQL Question 1: Identifying Tyson Foods' Frequent Orderers
Tyson Foods wants to identify its "whale users," or the customers who frequently order large quantities of food items. You have access to data from their and tables. The table records every item sold by the business, along with the customer who made the purchase and the quantity of items in the order. The table, on the other hand, contains detailed information about every customer, including their .
Your task is to write a SQL query that identifies the top 5 customers who have ordered the most number of items in total.
Example Input:
| order_id | customer_id | order_date | product_id | quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1254 | 892 | 06/08/2022 | 14002 | 50 |
| 4589 | 256 | 06/10/2022 | 25345 | 30 |
| 2583 | 892 | 06/18/2022 | 14002 | 100 |
| 2651 | 745 | 07/26/2022 | 54937 | 20 |
| 8795 | 892 | 07/05/2022 | 14002 | 50 |
Example Input:
| customer_id | first_name | last_name |
|---|---|---|
| 892 | John | Doe |
| 256 | Jane | Smith |
| 745 | Billy | Johnson |
Example Output:
| first_name | last_name | total_quantity |
|---|---|---|
| John | Doe | 200 |
| Jane | Smith | 30 |
| Billy | Johnson | 20 |
Answer:
In this SQL query, we join the table with the table based on the . We group the joined dataset by the and of the customers and calculate the total quantity of items each customer has ordered. The results are then ordered in descending order of total quantity to get the customers who have ordered the most items. We limit the results to the top 5 customers.
To practice a related super-user data analysis question on DataLemur's free interactive SQL code editor, try this recently asked Microsoft SQL interview question:
Check out Tyson Foods' news releases to learn about their latest initiatives and commitments to sustainability and innovation in food production! Keeping up with Tyson's efforts can provide a clearer picture of how the food industry is evolving to meet consumer expectations.
SQL Question 2: Second Highest Salary
Assume there was a table of Tyson Foods employee salary data. Write a SQL query to find the 2nd highest salary amongst all the .
Tyson Foods Example Input:
| employee_id | salary |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2500 |
| 2 | 800 |
| 3 | 1000 |
| 4 | 1200 |
Example Output:
| second_highest_salary |
|---|
| 1200 |
Try this interview question and run your code right in the browser:
Answer:
You can find a step-by-step solution here: 2nd Highest Salary.
SQL Question 3: In SQL, are NULLs treated the same as zero's and blank spaces?
NULLs are NOT the same as zero or blank spaces in SQL. NULLs are used to represent a missing value or the absence of a value, whereas zero and blank space are legitimate values.
It's important to handle NULLs carefully, because they can mess up your analysis very easily. For example, if you compare a NULL value using the = operator, the result will always be NULL (because just like Drake, nothing be dared compared to NULL). That's why many data analysis in SQL start with removing NULLs using the function.
SQL Question 4: Calculate Average Monthly Sales for Each Tyson's Food Product
You are given a database table containing all sales transactions of Tyson's Food products at various retailers. Each row represents a unique sale and contains the date of sale, the product id of the item sold, the retailer id where the item was sold and the quantity of the product sold.
Using SQL, write a query that calculates the average monthly sales of each product for the last full year. For simplification, consider each month to have exactly 30 days.
Example Input:
| sale_id | sale_date | product_id | retailer_id | quantity_sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 02/15/2021 | 50001 | 1 | 15 |
| 102 | 02/19/2021 | 69852 | 2 | 22 |
| 103 | 03/13/2021 | 50001 | 1 | 18 |
| 104 | 04/28/2021 | 50001 | 3 | 12 |
| 105 | 05/11/2021 | 69852 | 4 | 15 |
| 106 | 05/21/2021 | 50001 | 1 | 10 |
| 107 | 06/20/2021 | 69852 | 2 | 25 |
Example Output:
| month_year | product_id | avg_monthly_sales |
|---|---|---|
| 02_2021 | 50001 | 15.00 |
| 02_2021 | 69852 | 22.00 |
| 03_2021 | 50001 | 0.60 |
| 04_2021 | 50001 | 0.40 |
| 05_2021 | 69852 | 0.50 |
| 05_2021 | 50001 | 0.33 |
| 06_2021 | 69852 | 0.83 |
Answer:
This PostgreSQL query uses the built-in function to format the dates into format. It then uses a window function with the function to calculate average monthly sales for each product. The query partitions the data by and to calculate the average separately for these groups. It includes a clause to limit the data to the last full year and orders the result by and .
For more window function practice, try this Uber SQL Interview Question on DataLemur's interactive coding environment:
SQL Question 5: What's the difference between relational and NoSQL databases?
A non-relational (NoSQL) database is any database that does not use the typical tabular format of rows and columns like in relational databases.
While knowing the four different types of NoSQL databases is beyond the scope of most Data Analyst & Data Science interviews, Data Engineers at Tyson Foods should vaguely refresh these concepts:
-
Document Databases – this database is designed for storing and querying retrieving document data (where each key is associated with a flexible document)
-
Key-Value Stores – these databases uses keys where each key is associated with only one value in a collection (similar to a Python dictionary data structure!)
-
Wide-Column Stores – this database uses tables, rows, and columns, but unlike a relational database, the names and format of the columns can vary from row to row within the same table. Remember: "-With great flexibility comes great responsiblity-" – Batman if he was learning about NoSQL databases!
-
Graph Stores – represents data in terms of the graph data structure, with nodes and edges between entities
SQL Question 6: Filtering Tyson Foods Customers Based on Purchasing Habits and Location
For Tyson Foods, you may be asked to identify customers who purchased a specific product in large quantities (>100 units) and are located in a particular region (for instance, the "South").
Given the tables and , find the , , and of customers who purchased more than 100 units of product ID 'Tyson01' and reside in the 'South'.
Table:
| customer_id | name | home_state |
|---|---|---|
| C123 | William | South |
| C456 | Emma | West |
| C789 | Noah | South |
| C147 | Olivia | North |
| C258 | Liam | South |
Table:
| order_id | customer_id | product_id | units |
|---|---|---|---|
| O123 | C123 | Tyson01 | 200 |
| O456 | C456 | Tyson01 | 50 |
| O789 | C123 | Tyson02 | 120 |
| O147 | C789 | Tyson01 | 150 |
| O258 | C147 | Tyson01 | 50 |
| O369 | C258 | Tyson01 | 280 |
Answer:
This will fetch the desired customers' information, filtering customers who ordered the product 'Tyson01' in more than 100 units and are located in the 'South'. The SQL query uses to combine the and tables and to apply filter conditions on , , and . This is a typical example of complex SQL queries involving and clauses that would be asked in SQL interviews.
SQL Question 7: What's denormalization, and when does it make sense to do it?
Denormalization is the process of modifying a database schema in a way that deviates from the typical rules of normalization (1NF, 2NF, 3NF, etc.). There's a few reasons to denormalize a database:
Improved performance: Joins are slow AF, especially when dealing with the massive datasets that are typically used at Tyson Foods. Denormalization can improve the performance of a database by reducing the number of joins that are required to retrieve data. This can be particularly useful when the database is being used for querying and reporting purposes, as joins can be expensive and slow.
Scalability: By reducing the amount of data that needs to be read and processed to execute a query, denormalization can enhance the scalability of a database. This can be useful when the database is anticipated to handle a large number of read-only queries (such as in OLAP use cases).
Ease of use: Denormalization can also make it easier for users to work with a database by providing them with a more intuitive and straightforward data model.
Because denormalization can create more complex update and delete operations, and pose potential data integrity issues, consider denormalization only if joins are causing performance bottlenecks.
SQL Question 8: Analyzing Tyson Foods Product Sales
Given data about Tyson Foods' product sales, find the total quantity sold and the total sales (in dollars) of each product category for each month in the year 2021.
Assume you have the following two tables:
Table:
| product_id | product_name | category | price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicken | Poultry | $8.00 |
| 2 | Beef | Red Meat | $10.00 |
| 3 | Pork | Red Meat | $9.00 |
| 4 | Salmon | Seafood | $14.00 |
| 5 | Turkey | Poultry | $12.00 |
Table:
| sale_id | product_id | sale_date | quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 1 | 2021-01-15 | 20 |
| 102 | 5 | 2021-01-20 | 15 |
| 103 | 4 | 2021-02-05 | 10 |
| 104 | 2 | 2021-02-15 | 25 |
| 105 | 3 | 2021-03-01 | 30 |
We want the output in the following format:
Example Output:
| month | category | total_quantity | total_sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poultry | 35 | $340.00 |
| 2 | Seafood | 10 | $140.00 |
| 2 | Red Meat | 25 | $250.00 |
| 3 | Red Meat | 30 | $270.00 |
Answer:
This SQL query joins the and tables using , filters the sales data for the year of interest (2021), and then groups by and to calculate the total quantity sold and the total sales for each month and category. It uses the PostgreSQL function to get the month and year from the . The function is used to calculate the total quantities and sales.
Tyson Foods SQL Interview Tips
The key to acing a Tyson Foods SQL interview is to practice, practice, and then practice some more! Besides solving the above Tyson Foods SQL interview questions, you should also solve the 200+ SQL Interview Questions on DataLemur which come from companies like Meta, Google and food and facilities companies like Tyson Foods.
Each problem on DataLemur has multiple hints, fully explained answers along with a discussion board to see how others solved it and most importantly, there's an interactive SQL code editor so you can easily right in the browser your SQL query and have it executed.
To prep for the Tyson Foods SQL interview you can also be wise to solve SQL problems from other food and facilities companies like:
- Hormel Foods SQL questions
- Conagra SQL questions
- Brown-Forman SQL questions
- Lamb Weston Holdings SQL questions
But if your SQL coding skills are weak, don't worry about going right into solving questions – go learn SQL with this SQL tutorial for Data Analytics.
This tutorial covers SQL concepts such as handling timestamps and aggregate functions like SUM()/COUNT()/AVG() – both of which come up frequently during Tyson Foods SQL interviews.
Tyson Foods Data Science Interview Tips
What Do Tyson Foods Data Science Interviews Cover?
Besides SQL interview questions, the other types of problems to prepare for the Tyson Foods Data Science Interview include:
- Probability & Stats Questions
- Python or R Coding Questions
- Open-Ended Data Case Studies
- ML Modelling Questions
- Behavioral Questions based on Tyson Foods company values
How To Prepare for Tyson Foods Data Science Interviews?
To prepare for Tyson Foods Data Science interviews read the book Ace the Data Science Interview because it's got:
- 201 interview questions sourced from FAANG, tech startups, and Wall Street
- a refresher on SQL, AB Testing & ML
- over 1000+ reviews on Amazon & 4.5-star rating
Also focus on the behavioral interview – prepare for that using this guide on behavioral interview questions.