Question bank

Interview questions, with guidance on how to answer

834 questions across 64 roles. Open one to see what a strong answer includes and common slips, then drill it out loud with Ava. New to answer structure? Start with the learning hub.

834 questions.

TechnicalAny levelDatabase Administrator
Storage on the main database is growing faster than expected. How would you plan for the next year?
Tests: Monitoring & capacity planning
TechnicalEntry levelSolutions Architect
A customer says they want to modernise their system. What questions would you ask before suggesting anything?
Tests: Requirements discovery
TechnicalEntry levelSolutions Architect
What is the difference between a monolith and microservices, and when would you advise a client to stay with a monolith?
Tests: Solution design & trade-offs
TechnicalEntry levelSolutions Architect
How would you explain what an API is to a business stakeholder with no technical background?
Tests: Technical presentation
TechnicalMid levelSolutions Architect
A client needs their new online store to sync orders with an old inventory system that only exports nightly files. How would you design that?
Tests: Cloud & integration architecture
TechnicalMid levelSolutions Architect
How do you bring security and compliance requirements, like data privacy rules, into a design from the start rather than at the end?
Tests: Security & compliance by design
CaseMid levelSolutions Architect
How do you estimate the running cost of a solution you are proposing, and how do you present it to a customer?
Tests: Cost & commercial awareness
BehaviouralMid levelSolutions Architect
Tell me about a time a customer asked for something that was not the right solution for them. What did you do?
Tests: Customer focus
System designSeniorSolutions Architect
Walk me through an architecture you designed that you are proud of. What were the biggest trade-offs, and what would you change now?
Tests: Solution design & trade-offs
CaseSeniorSolutions Architect
A customer wants a system that handles sudden spikes of ten times normal traffic and stays available across regions. How would you approach the design?
Tests: Cloud & integration architecture
BehaviouralSeniorSolutions Architect
The client's engineering lead strongly disagrees with your recommended approach in front of their executives. How do you handle that moment and afterwards?
Tests: Influence & stakeholder management
TechnicalAny levelSolutions Architect
Tell me about a technical demo or proposal that did not go well. What happened, and what did you change?
Tests: Technical presentation
TechnicalAny levelSolutions Architect
Halfway through a project, the customer reveals a requirement that breaks your design. How do you respond?
Tests: Requirements discovery
TechnicalEntry levelFinancial Analyst
Can you walk me through how the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement connect to each other?
Tests: Financial statement analysis
CaseEntry levelFinancial Analyst
How would you build a simple spreadsheet to track a small team's monthly spending against its budget?
Tests: Excel & data tools
BehaviouralEntry levelFinancial Analyst
An hour before a report is due, you notice a number doesn't match the source system. What do you do?
Tests: Attention to detail
TechnicalMid levelFinancial Analyst
Walk me through how you would build a three statement model, and how you keep it easy for someone else to review.
Tests: Financial modelling
TechnicalMid levelFinancial Analyst
Revenue came in eight percent below forecast last quarter. How would you figure out why and explain it to the business?
Tests: Variance analysis
TechnicalMid levelFinancial Analyst
Tell me about a forecast you built that turned out to be noticeably wrong. What did you learn and change?
Tests: Budgeting & forecasting
BehaviouralMid levelFinancial Analyst
Tell me about a time you helped a manager outside finance make a better decision using numbers.
Tests: Business partnering