SQL Interview Questions for Freshers

SQL appears in interviews for many roles, not only database jobs. The good news is that the same few ideas come up again and again.

Be clear on the basics: SELECT, WHERE, ORDER BY, GROUP BY and HAVING. Know the difference between WHERE and HAVING: WHERE filters rows, and HAVING filters groups.

Joins are asked often. Be able to explain inner and left joins, and draw a small example on paper with two tables.

Expect common problems such as the second highest salary, finding duplicates and counting orders per customer. Practise writing these without looking them up.

Understand keys and normalisation well enough to explain them simply. Say your thinking aloud as you answer, because interviewers want to see how you reason as well.