20 Interview Questions About MS Access (With Example Answers)
If you are applying for a job in data management or business analysis, you will probably be asked about your experience with different software. This is because employers may use programs like Microsoft Access and other tools to collect, organize, and use important information. You can show off your skills better if you practice ahead of time for questions about how well you know the program and how to use its features. This article talks about 20 interview questions about MS Access and gives you some sample answers to help you get ready.
14 MS Access questions to help you prepare for an interview
Here are 14 examples of interview questions that can be used to see how well you know MS Access:
- How do you set up tasks for managing data?
- When do you use primary keys to organize information?
- How can you be sure that data exporting works well?
- What do you do to keep your Access servers inside your company safe?
- How do you get ready to import files from servers outside of Access?
- How do you make sure that teams that need access to internal data can get it?
- How have you changed your database to make it easier to use and more helpful?
- How do you set up new queries for a database that needs to be updated?
- How do you know if you can trust a publisher before giving them access to a database?
- How would you enter numbers to make a list of sales figures?
- How would you group prices and number of items in stock from different data sources?
- How do you plan to make automatic database selections?
- Show how you keep track of documentation when using MS Access to make reports.
- When would you add records to the tables of data that are already in a database?
6 examples of job interview questions and answers about MS Access
Here are some questions and answers that will help you prepare for your interview:
1. What steps do you need to take to bring data from outside sources into Access?
With this question, the interviewer might want to see how well you can organize files from their organization’s many different sources and put them all in one place. You can talk about similar projects you’ve worked on in the past that required you to think critically, plan ahead, and stay organized in your answer.
Example: “After working on projects for a few years that needed data from more than one source, I found that bringing up the command module made it faster to import data from outside sources. From there, all I need to do is link to the outside sources and import them all at once into Access.”
2. What kinds of data relationships do you set up when you build databases?
This question can help employers figure out how you find information and link important files that teams use every day. Think about giving one or two examples to show that you can figure out what a business needs and help it become more efficient and make better use of its resources.
Example: “What kind of data relationship I make depends on the kind of information I’m trying to organize. Most of the time, I create one-to-one relationships between single data tables within a larger hierarchical category, such as customer demographics. To link two or more data tables, I would use one-to-many and many-to-many relationships, which let you build multiple relationships between data values. Once I know what kind of data table it is, I can set a primary key in the first field and set foreign keys for other tables.”
3. Explain how you make a simple query.
Most of the projects you work on may require you to sort and group company data according to rules. Use examples from your own life to talk about how you would help the organization set up and maintain a simple database for business processes like accounting, inventory management, or customer service.
Example: “Access makes it easy to make new queries with its “Create” button. I use the query wizard on the “Create” tab and pick the type based on what the user wants and what the project needs. Then, in the table where I want to use the query, I set up the fields for the query ID and the results.
I might add more tables to tell the difference between paid and unpaid transactions for things like sales figures for accounting periods. After I set up the tables, I can choose whether to show text or numbers as the results. Staff members in all parts of the department will find it easier to find the information they need.”
How do you make a database with more than one form?
The interviewer may also ask you how well you know how to set up access points in different Access databases. Think about how you could use this feature to make forms for things like customer contact information, employee access, or system updates when answering this question.
Example: “Even though there are different ways to make forms, I like to use the program’s wizard module because I can make changes later using the design view. In the past, I’ve used the command wizard to make multiple forms for internal access control and external communication for many of my projects. For internal permissions, I put query fields in each layout where employees could enter specific criteria that gave them access to different levels of information.”
When is it better to use Access rather than SQL?
Employers may sometimes want to know if you can evaluate a project’s needs and make decisions that help the company reach its goals as a whole. Think of a time when you had to change the way a project was set up and add better ways to reach the goals.
Example: “Smaller teams that only use a few types of data, like financial numbers, customer data, and employee information, are usually better off using MS Access instead of SQL. This is because Access doesn’t need the same level of database management as SQL. This can make it easier for businesses that don’t have the IT infrastructure for SQL.”
What should you keep in mind when making lookup fields in a database?
The interviewer can find out how you plan and carry out projects by asking you this question. Talk about how you and your team set up database parameters that make it easier for staff to access and use internal data.
Example: “The first thing I look at is how the query values are displayed in the data tables. If the tables are not linked, the look-up values might not be shown correctly. This happens sometimes when the lookup IDs show up instead of the lookup values. This makes it hard to change linked data tables. I make sure that each lookup value is shown correctly by making sure that each related table has a link to each destination field.”
