Top 57 MIS Executive Interview Questions and Answers

Here are the 57 most important MIS interview questions with comprehensive answers for each.

What is MIS?

An MIS (Management Information System) is a system that is used to collect, process, store, and disseminate data or information to support the management. An MIS Executive is a professional responsible for maintaining an organisation’s existing MIS. With experience and skills, you can further your career path to becoming a Data Analyst Business Analyst, or Research Analyst.

The most important skills associated with an MIS Executive are MS Excel , SQL , and VBA . The interview questions here will cover these skills. MIS executives also need to possess strong foundational, teamwork as well as leadership skills. Some of the top MIS Executive Interview Questions & Answers are the following.

General MIS Executive Interview Questions

Q1. What is the purpose of an MIS?

Ans. The primary purpose of an MIS is to assist the management in making strategic, tactical, and operational decisions. It offers up-to-date information on the company’s assets and helps various departments like – Marketing, finance, R&D, manufacturing, etc. From storing data to making it accessible, MIS is a crucial aspect of every business today. Other primary objectives are:

• Data storage
• Data retrieval
• Data propagation
• Planning
• Graphical report making

This is one of the most important interview questions for MIS executives. So prepare this well and try elaborating your answer with examples.

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Q2. What are the different types of MIS?

Ans. This interview question for an MIS Executive shows the recruiter how familiar you are with the fundamental concepts. Below are the different types of MIS that you can mention.

• Databank Information System – This form of information system helps in observing, classifying, and storing data items which helps the decision-maker in taking data-driving decisions.
• Predictive Information System – This form of information system is used to draw presumptions and predictions that are relevant to decision making.
• Decision Support System – DSS is used to gather, analyze, and synthesize data for producing comprehensive information reports.

Q3. What is the core principle of MIS?

Ans. The core principle of MIS is to facilitate decision-making by supplying up-to-date and accurate information to people who need it on time in a usable form. Apart from this, MIS also helps in:

• Offering the right facts
• Supporting pre-defined internal control
• Dealing with operating procedures
• Preparing for company audit
• Creating desired reports

MIS executive interview questions like this one require in-depth preparation so that you can explain better.

Q4. What are the levels of information requirements in an MIS?

Ans. The levels of information requirements in an MIS are:

• Organization level
• Application-level
• Technical level
• Database level

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Q5. What are the levels of decision making in MIS?

Ans. Most managers use information systems to improve their decision-making capabilities. MIS helps the different levels of managers in taking different levels of decisions (whether decisions for an individual or on behalf of a group). Having a dependable MIS system helps the following levels of decision making:

• Senior management
• Strategic level management
• Technical experts
• Middle management and project teams
• Operations management
• Individual employees

Read about the levels of management as a related concept.

Q6. What are the elements of decision making in MIS?

Ans. This is a follow-up MIS interview question to measure your technical expertise in the field. The elements of decision making in MIS are:

• Model
• Constraint
• Optimization

Q7. What are the advantages of MIS in a business?

Ans. In business, MIS offers the following types of advantages:

• Single database access to all stakeholders
• Saves time of managers from operational work which can be utilized in other productive tasks
• Enhance the power of data and helps in decision making
• Ensures a high degree of accuracy
• Reduces the paperwork
• Helps in making easy to digest reports
• States the current financial position of the company to business leaders
• Offers competitive advantage

Do support the answer to this MIS interview question with examples.

Q8. What are the different approaches used in designing an MIS?

Ans. The different approaches used in designing an MIS are:

• Organisation-chart approach
• Integrate-later approach
• Data-collection approach
• Database approach
• Top-down approach

Q9. What strategies do you follow to successfully apply management information systems to a business?

Ans. Before applying a fully-functional MIS, an MIS executive should keep the following tips in mind:

• Understand the primary need of having an MIS
• Outline the goals of a company before deciding on the type of MIS
• Reach out to multiple vendors and decide the best one based on their offerings, cost, benefits, updates, training support, technical support, etc.
• Train the existing employees to successfully run and track large size data

While answering this MIS interview question, elaborate on the points.

Q10. Describe some common challenges in the MIS implementation.

Ans. MIS implementation has these challenges.

1. Technological Barrier – One major challenge is the staff who is not trained to use new technologies. Naturally, there is some resistance from staff.
2. Time – This comes down to the overall organisational structure. Large enterprises may require two to three years to implement and fine-tune a new system. And after that, they have to train employees to use the system.

Q11. Mention some popular methodologies necessary for implementing MIS in a company.

Ans. If you are preparing for MIS questions and answers as an intermediate, you must have a good familiarity with the popular methodologies. This MIS interview question is an example, but can be asked in a variety of ways. So mention the popular ones below.

1. Business Systems Planning (BSP) – This was developed by IBM in the early 1980s. It analyses and describes the architecture of the information system
2. Critical Success Factor (CSF) – This framework determines the core objectives of each team and top management and how they align with the business goals. Then it looks into success factors, commonly defined by teamwork, individual competencies, planning strategies, etc.

MS Excel Questions for an MIS Executive Interview Questions Round

Q12. How can you protect your worksheet from anyone editing the data?

Ans. There are two ways in order to prevent anyone from editing the data:

1. You can password protect the worksheet so that only those who have the password can open the sheet. To do this go to Menu bar >Review > Protect Sheet > Password.
2. Lock the range. First, select the range that you want to lock, then right-click anywhere. Then go to the ‘Format Cells’ option from the drop-down menu and go to the ‘Protection’ tab. There tick the ‘Locked’ option if it isn’t ticked, then press OK.

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Q13. How to create a drop-down list so that users cannot enter unwanted data?

Ans. We can create a drop-down list to limit data entry using ‘Data Validation’. First of all, create a list that you want to use as a drop-down list. Then go to Menu bar>Data>Data Validation. From the drop-down click ‘data validation’ and in settings select Allow: list. A source area will appear. Clicking on the source area, select the list of data you created at first and press OK.

Q14. Why is data validation important?

Ans. Data validation is essential for removing errors in any type of data handling task. Try to explain what happens when you don’t consider data validation. An example answer can be explained like this.

Without data validation, MIS systems may provide misleading or incorrect information, which can lead to poor decision-making. This can result in significant financial losses, inefficient operations, and damaged reputation. Validating data in MIS systems ensures that the data is of high quality and can be trusted to make informed decisions.

Q15. Is it possible to make a pivot table using data from multiple sources?

Ans. Yes, it is possible to make a pivot table from multiple worksheets if it is located in the same workbook.

Q16. How do you freeze rows and columns simultaneously?

Ans. Click the cell from where you want to freeze the required columns and rows. Then go to Menu bar > View > Freeze panes > the first option (‘Freeze panes’).

Q17. What is the constraint of a VLOOKUP function?

Ans. The one constraint with VLOOKUP is that the Lookup Value must be in the leftmost column of the Table Range.

Q18. How many report formats are available in MS Excel?

Ans. There are three report formats in MS Excel – compact, report, and tabular.

Q19. What logical condition will you use when there are two different criteria?

Ans. Use the ‘AND” logical condition when there are two different criteria.

Q20. How do you prepare an MIS report in Excel?

Ans. Follow the below steps:

• Collect raw data from a different department
• Combine data in MS Excel
• Link your data to your MIS template by using formulas like Vlookup, Hlookup, Sumifs, Sumif, INDEX & MATCH, Charts, etc. based on the needs
• Check for any #N/A, any #values, etc.

Q21. What is the use of a COUNTIF formula in Excel?

Ans. The COUNTIF formula is used for counting cells in a specified range that meet a specific criterion. The cells may contain dates, text, or numbers.

Q22. What do you know about VLOOKUP?

Ans. VLOOKUP is an Excel function that is used to lookup and retrieves data from a specific column in an excel table. VLOOKUP supports approximate and exact matching. In VLookup, the “V” stands for “vertical”. Also, the lookup values must appear in the first column of the table, with lookup columns to the right.

Purpose: Lookup a value in a table by matching it on the first column

Return Value: Matched value from a table

Syntax: =VLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array, col_index, [range_lookup])

Q23. What is the need of INDEX & MATCH in Excel?

Ans. For this MIS executive interview question based on Excel functions, you can mention that INDEX & MATCH is an alternative to VLOOKUP. VLOOKUP works only as a static column reference, while INDEX & MATCH is much more dynamic and faster. INDEX & MATCH is ideal for handling larger datasets where you do not have to specify table array as VLOOKUP.

Q24. What is the Logical Function?

Ans. There are 4 logical functions – AND, OR, XOR, and NOT. A Logical function helps in:

• Checking if a condition is true or false
• Combine two or more conditions together

Q25. How to format an open MIS Report (.csv to .xlsx)Excel?

Ans. An MIS executive must follow the below steps using MIS Report Format Add-in:

• Open the MIS Report file (.csv) in Excel (2016)
• Select the ISO-NE MIS Viewer tab in Microsoft Excel
• Select Format Report

This will format the MIS report and will leave the original MIS Report unaffected.

Q26. Explain 2 advanced Pivot Table techniques on Excel.

Ans. Slicer is a helpful tool in linking multiple pivot tables. You can even mention that it will help in filtering data for all the pivot tables. It saves plenty of time.

Another good time-saving technique is to create a calculated field. This is how it can be set up:

• Visit ‘Pivot Table Analyse’
• Select ‘Fields, Items and Sets
• Click on the ‘Calculated Field’ option
• Enter the name of the new calculated field

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Q27. What is a condition and why does it matter?

Ans. In Excel, a condition determines the expression of the values stating either it is true or false. The expression could be a function that determines if the value entered in a cell is of numeric or text data type, if a value is greater than, equal to or less than a specified value, etc.

Syntax:

• =IF(logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])
• =OR(logical1, [logical2], …)

Q28. What is the difference between relative and absolute cell referencing?

Ans. When you copy a formula to another cell and it repeats, it is relative referencing. It exists by default in MS Excel. Absolute cell reference does not change when the formula is copied from one cell to the next.

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Q29. Explain the RANK function in Excel.

Ans. The RANK function is a statistical one. It returns the rank of a specific value within an array of values. Its formula is =RANK(number,ref,[order])

VBA Questions Asked During MIS Executive Interview Round

Q30. What is the difference between DIM and SET?

Ans. DIM declares the variable. E.g. Dim r As Range. On the other hand, SET sets the variable to an object reference. E.g. Set r = Range(“A1”).

Q31. Write a VBA program to copy data from a worksheet to another?

Ans. Sub CopyData()

Dim lastrow, lastcol as Integer

lastrow = Worksheets(“name_of_the_worksheet”).rows.usedrange.count

lastcol = Worksheets(“name_of_the_worksheet”).columns.usedrange.count

Worksheets(“name_of_the_worksheet”).Range(lastrow, lastcol).Copy Worksheets(“name_of_the_worksheet_to_be_copied”).Range(“cell_name_where_you_want_to_copy”)

()

Q32. What is Option Explicit and Option Base?

Ans. Answering this MIS interview question briefly will help the recruiter find your technical skills. You can just differentiate between the two as pointers below.
1. Option Explicit makes the declaration of the variables mandatory.
2. Option Base is used at the module level to declare the default lower bound for array subscripts.

Q33. What is the difference between ActiveWorkbook and ThisWorkbook?

Ans. ActiveWorkbook is the workbook that is open and active while the VBA code is running while ThisWorkbook refers to the workbook where the code is present.

Q34. How can you stop VBScript when it goes into the infinite loop?

Ans. Ctrl + Pause/Break is used to stop VBScript if it goes into an infinite loop.

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Q35. How can you pass arguments to VBA functions?

Ans. If the arguments are approved to VBA function, the following two ways will help in passing the arguments to VBA functions:

• ByRef – The called procedure may change the value of the argument passed
• ByVal – The called procedure does not want to change the value of the argument passed

Q36. Which are some of the different types of error handling techniques?

Ans. This is common MIS executive interview question.

The following are three different types of error handling techniques:

• On Error Goto 0
• On Error Goto Err_Lbl
• On Error Resume Next

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Q37. Give the shortcuts for the following Excel VBA:

Ans. This is a technical MIS interview question that you should prepare.

Action	Shortcut
Open the VB Editor	Alt+F11
Step through each line of code	F8
open the Immediate Window	Ctrl+G
Delete a Line of Code	Ctrl+Y
Check parameters in a property, method, or function	Ctrl+i
Step out of code	Ctrl+Shift+F8
Resume execution through the error handler	Alt + F5
Show the call stack	Ctrl+L

Q38. How do you count a string in MS Excel?

Ans. By using Count A we can count a string in MS Excel.

Q39. Highlight the main differences among VB6, VBA, VBScript and VB.Net.

Ans. VBA stands for Visual Basic for Applications. It is a Macro language across all Microsoft Office tools.

VBScript is similar to JavaScript and is developed for Internet Explorer. It stands for Visual Basic Script.

VB6 is a Windows Application Development Programming Language. Developed by Microsoft, it stands for Visual Basic.

VB.NET is one of the .NET programming languages of Microsoft.

Q40. Name some of the categories of two data types?

Ans. Numeric data and non-numeric data are the two categories of data types.

Numeric Data type	Non-numeric Data type
Byte	String (Fixed length)
Integer	String (Variable length)
Decimal	Date

Q41. Can you elaborate on ADO, ODBC and OLEDB?

Ans. ADO is short for ActiveX Data Objects. It helps in manipulating the database structure.

ODBC stands for Open Database Connectivity. This technology is responsible for connecting a database client application to an external database.

OLEDDB stands for Object Linking and Embedding, Database. It allows accessing of data uniformly through several sources.

Q42. How do you pass arguments to VBA functions other than ByVal and ByRef?

Ans. Here the recruiter is looking for additional VBA knowledge that MIS executives must possess. To answer this MIS job interview question, you can mention that there are a few other ways to pass arguments.

• Optional arguments: The Optional keyword specifies arguments as Optional. An Optional argument should be declared as a Variant data type. This enables the use of IsMissing function.
• Parameter Arrays: Other than the three fixed arguments mentioned above, one can also pass a number of random arguments. This is done by using the ParamArray keyword.

SQL Questions for MIS Executive Interview

Q43. What are the three main types of statements in SQL?

Ans. This is one of the common MIS job interview questions. You can just mention that there are three main types of statements in SQL.

• Data Definition Language (DDL)
• Data Manipulation Language (DML)
• Data Control Language (DCL)

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Q44. What is a Primary Key?

Ans. The Primary Key is a special type of Unique Key, which uniquely identifies each record in a database, and has a NOT NULL constraint.

Q45. How do you combine records from different tables based on related columns?

Ans. We can combine records from different tables based on related columns using a JOIN statement.

Q46. What are the different types of JOINs?

Ans. There are four types of JOINs:

• Inner – returns records that have matching values in both tables.
• Right – returns matching records from the left table and all records from the right table.
• Left – returns matching records from the right table and all records from the left.
• Full – return all records when there is a match in either of two tables.

Q47. How do ensure that your subquery is working fine?

Ans. Run the subquery independently to see if it gives the desired result. If it is running properly then, you should have no problem.

Q48. What do mean by XML Datatype?

Ans. XML datatype helps in storing XML documents in the SQL Server database.

Q49. Which command will you use to recompile the stored procedure at run time?

Ans. To recompile the stored procedure at run time, we use the RECOMPILE command.

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Q50. What is @@SPID in SQL?

Ans. @@SPID returns the session ID of the current user process.

For example:

SELECT @@SPID AS ‘ID’, SYSTEM_USER AS ‘Login Name’, USER AS ‘User Name’;

Result:

ID Login Name User Name

—— —————————— ——————————

11 ABCxyz who

Q51. What is @@Version?

Ans. The @@VERSION results are presented as one nvarchar string. The SERVERPROPERTY (Transact-SQL) function helps in retrieving the individual property values.

Example:

SELECT @@VERSION AS ‘SQL Server Version’;

Result:

SELECT @@VERSION AS ‘SQL Server PDW Version’;

Q52. What are the Triggers?

Ans. In SQL, a Trigger refers to a special type of pre-stored procedure. They run after the occurrence of an event in the database server in automatic behaviour. There are four types of triggers in SQL:

• Insert
• Delete
• Update
• Instead of

Q53. What should you do when a data disk gets overloaded?

Ans. This MIS executive interview question is gauge your problem-solving with strong technical familiarity skills. Just mention, to resolve this issue, one has to follow four different steps.

• Assess: There are several reasons why it can occur. You can mention that it is first important to identify whether the problem is caused by CPU usage, exceeding network capacity, less memory and increased data cache. For these, running the ‘top’ program is essential.
• Stabilise: It is also essential to stabilise the server by managing rate-limiting, applying concepts such as graceful degradation.
• Improve: Setting up a CDN (content delivery network) and optimising it helps.
• Monitor: The use of server monitoring tools will further help in detecting future issues.

Q54. What is your understanding of DBMS?

Ans. It stands for Database Management System. This software stores, retrieves, manipulates and/or deletes users’ data. There are two types of DBMS:

• Relational Database Management System is where data is stored in a table and then used in relation to differently stored datasets. MySQL is one example.
• Non-relational Database Management System is used for storing only that type of data that can be altered on a frequent basis. Some common examples of it include MongoDB, Cassandra, etc.

Q55. Briefly explain the 3 types of index in SQL.

Ans. For this MIS executive interview question, just mention the following briefly.

• Unique Index is one that does not allow the data field to have duplicate values.
• Clustered Index is responsible for reordering the physical order of the data table.
• A non-clustered Index is responsible for maintaining a logical order of data and does not change the physical order.

Q56. What do you understand by ACID property in a database?

Ans. ACID is short for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability. These four pillars ensure the efficiency of data transactions in a database and are essential for MIS executives to follow.

Atomicity means that if one part of the transaction is faulty, the entire transaction will fail. Consistency, on the other hand, entails that all data should meet the common rules of validity. Concurrency control is done through Isolation, while Durability ensures that no error can come in between transactions.

Q57. What are the advantages of using a database that adheres to the ACID properties?

Ans. For this follow-up MIS Executive interview question, mention these advantages.

• ACID properties maintain the integrity of the data by ensuring that transactions are processed accurately and reliably. They can easily prevent data corruption and maintain the consistency of the database.
• They provide mechanisms for managing concurrent access to the database. So this allows multiple users or processes to work simultaneously without interfering with each other.
• They help ensure durability by persistently storing committed data, even during system failures. In the event of a failure, the database can recover the data to its last consistent state, ensuring data reliability.

Conclusion

The above MIS interview questions and answers will help you prepare and frame your responses in the best way. The advanced SQL, MS Excel and VBA interview questions for MIS Executives will also ground your technical knowledge that is applicable in many other management roles.