Can you describe the largest data set you had to work with from a past project? How many rows/entries and columns/variables did the data set include, and what kind of data was included—financial, marketing, operational, etc.?

"The largest data set I worked with was built for a corporate strategy project that required the combined efforts of various departments. This data set had over a million records and 500-600 variables. Included in this data set were marketing and operational data that was eventually loaded into an analytical tool for exploratory analysis. Is this similar to the data sets I will be working with here at Morningstar?"

This question is relatively straightforward, and you should not feel compelled to review details about the background of the project and any processes you might have gone through. The Morningstar interviewer is interested in the size and type of data when asking questions like this. Your answer gives them an idea of the scope of projects you have experience with and are comfortable working on.