Top Microsoft Office 365 Interview Questions and Answers

Microsoft Office 365 is a widely used service containing some essential applications for businesses to work efficiently. If you are preparing for a Microsoft Office 365 job, you need to be aware of the basic Microsoft Office 365 Interview Questions and Answers. 

According to Statista, 145,844 companies use Office 365 in the US alone, and 330,084 companies in the UK. From small companies to large enterprises, everyone uses Microsoft 365, and this blog will give you the most common Microsoft Office 365 Interview Questions and Answers in 2023 to prepare yourself and crack your interview to get hired on the first attempt. 

Table of Content 

1) Important Microsoft Office 365 Interview Questions and Answers   

2) Microsoft 365 Interview Questions and Answers - Beginners Level  

3) Microsoft 365 Interview Questions and Answers - Intermediate Level

4) Microsoft 365 Interview questions and answers - Advanced Level  

5) Conclusion

Important Microsoft Office 365 Interview Questions and Answers 

Microsoft 365 has many applications and services, making it difficult to remember every other small detail of how it works. If you are looking for a job where your Office knowledge is essential, then the following are some commonly asked interview questions and their answers. 

The Interview Questions can be of three significant levels. They are:

1) Beginners level

2) Intermediate level

3) Advanced Level

Let’s explore them further.

Microsoft 365 Interview Questions and Answers - Beginners Level

The beginner level questions are often simple, with its main purpose being to gain perspective of you and your application knowledge. Here are a few examples of such questions with their answers:

1) How do you use Office 365 for your daily tasks?

This is to see how you generally practice the use of your knowledge, here is an example of how you can answer the question:

“Well, between busy schedules, I use it for easy access to my outlook, plan my day with to do lists on the go under the My Day option. It helps me keep track of my daily schedule as well as my monthly calendar.”

2) What do you believe are the benefits of using Office 365 in an organisation?

This question aims to understand how you’d apply Office 365 for a specific purpose. Here’s is how you can answer a question like this:

“As we discussed it helps manage daily tasks and keep track of events and at the same time allows me to check my emails and even gives me access to my one drive.”

3) Describe a challenging issue you resolved with Office 365

The interviewers seek to know how you would use Office 365 in times of adversity, to solve a problem. Answer it tactfully, it helps to have a few such instances in mind before the interview to avoid taking too much time thinking of such instances. 

4) How do you keep updated with the latest developments in Office 365?

This question is aimed to understand how UpToDate you stay with updates and how you choose to do so. Talk about being subscribed to a newsletter or a YouTube channel that gives you informative content discussing every new update. Here is an example of how you could potentially answer such a question:

“I like to watch a lot of YouTube videos on topics that interest me and keep me updated with the latest trends in the field and related field, *xyz* is my favourite content creator as their videos are to the point and well informed.”

5) What is the difference between Outlook and Office 365 groups?

The interviewer wants to put you to the test with a trick question, listening to the question mindfully will help you to identify such questions. Here is one way you could answer this question:

“Oh, that’s simple, Office 365 is a service that allows you to access all your Microsoft applications in one place. One of the applications it gives you easy access to is Outlook, which is Microsoft’s email platform.”

6) How does cell referencing help the user of Microsoft Excel?

This question may be asked by the interviewer to understand your knowledge of Excel, as Excel is an important Microsoft application. Here is how you can answer it:

“When you use the formula in Excel, cell referencing wiil enable an auto update to the formula when any cell value is changed, moved, or updated.”

7) How do you save a PowerPoint presentation as a video?  

The feature to convert a presentation into a video is very helpful and offers many customisations to suit your need. To save a PowerPoint as a video, go to the File tab and click on Export. Selecting Export will show a list of formats to save the presentation.  

Select Create a Video option and then choose the quality you want. There are three qualities: Presentation, internet, and low. You can also choose to use or not use the Recorded Timings and Narrations. Finally, you can save the video file in MPEG-4 or WMV format. Select the format and save the video.  

Learn how to create powerful and visually engaging presentations and acquire essential skills in PowerPoint with our Microsoft PowerPoint Masterclass.

8) What is the pricing for the new Office 365 For Business offerings?  

The interviewer wants to know if you are aware of the economic elements at play and are aware of the pricing of the products you are working with. This is less about the job more about your general knowledge in general. Here is how you can answer it:

“I am unaware about the exact pricing; however, I am aware of the multiple plans and subscriptions for business Office 365 offers. The Basic Business plan is the cheapest and offers almost all the applications but only the web version. Two more plans offer more applications and better features.”

9) Is Blackberry Cloud Services are accessible with the new MS Office 365? 

This might sound silly but it’s the basic questions like this that tell the interviewer how well informed you are about the Product. Here is a simple answer to that question:

“Yes, the Blackberry Cloud Services are now accessible through Microsoft Office 365.”

10) What are two key features of Microsoft 365?  

The interviewer wants to understand your basic knowledge of Office 365, and may ask you to list two or more of its key features. Here is how you can answer it:

“Microsoft Office 365 offers a lot of features and benefits; its real-time collaboration and remote access are the two key features that play an essential role in making it so popular and easy to use. However, there are other features that someone may find more helpful and the reason to choose Microsoft Office 365.”

11) What is the amount of storage accessible in OneDrive on a per-user basis?

Knowledge of the products under Office 365 is just as important to have. The interviewer may ask you questions of specific applications that are provided by 365. Here is how you can answer this one:

“Any plan or subscription in business or home plan gives access to a minimum of1TB of OneDrive storage per user.”

Microsoft 365 Interview Questions and Answers - Intermediate Level  

Now that we’ve tackled those, the interviewer may like to take it up a notch and ask questions that are a little harder to answer. Lets explore some of the potential questions:

12) What is Microsoft Graph?  

The interviewer will put your product knowledge to the test with questions like this, it helps to be well aware of all the possible feature such as Graph. Here is how you can answer this question:

“Microsoft Graph is an API used to connect to all other Microsoft Office 365 applications, tools, and services. It is a unified model that can be used to access data from Windows, Office applications and Enterprise Mobility and security. This data in Graph is used to build apps for organisations and customers.”

13) How do you manage user licenses and permissions in Office 365? 

The interviewer would like to see how aware you are of the responsibilities or related jobs like administrative professionals that would be responsible for managing the set-up of Office 365. Your awareness of their job roles will work to your advantage here. Here is how you can answer this question:

“Managing the Office 365 licences is done through the admin centre; it involves assigning and revoking access based on roles. Role-based Access Control (RBAC) allows the admin to control who can and cannot do what with their access to Office 365.”

14) Explain the differences between Office 365 and Office 2016.  

The interviewer wishes to gauge your knowledge of the product history with a question like this. It is helpful to brush up on a little history as you want the interviewer to see you as a well-informed individual. Here is how you can answer this question:

“Microsoft Office 2016 offers various Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. They are purchased upfront with a one-time license and don't get updates. It can only be installed on one computer and cannot be accessed on other devices. It offers different variations or editions, like Home and Student, Home and Business, and Professional. Based on the customer’s requirements, it might contain other applications like Outlook, Publishers, Access, etc. 

In contrast, Office 365 is a subscription-based service offering several plans. Some of these plans are identical to the Office 2016 suite, but the subscribers can pay either monthly or annually for the software license. Some Office 365 subscriptions are aimed at consumers or professionals and feature several Office applications. But the other subscriptions are targeted at IT departments, and they feature server-side applications, like Exchange or SharePoint Online.”

15) What is the process for adding data from Excel to PowerPoint?  

It is important for the interviewer to see that you understand various processes you will have to perform and hence will ask you questions regarding so. Here is how you can answer this question:

“There are two ways to do this. The first way is to copy the Excel data selection and then directly paste it into the PowerPoint. You can choose different pasting styles depending on what is needed. To select pasting options, right-click when pasting and choose from different paste options.  

The second way is to add selection data with the Object tool. To do this, go to the Insert tab on PowerPoint and select the Object tool. Select the file with the Browse option to insert the data. You can also link the Excel sheet, which contains the data. By connecting the file on the drive, the PowerPoint data automatically gets updated if there is any change in source data.”

16) How to create visual graphs from the existing data in Excel?  

Another important question that involves practical on the job knowledge. Here is how you can answer this one:

“You can select the data you want to create a graph and go to the Insert tab. Under the Insert tab, you will see various charts and graphs. Select the one you want, and the chart will be inserted with the data in the selection.  

You can customise the chart further by changing font sizes, colours, legends, etc. You can also insert the data with the cell range of data you want to include in the chart.”

17) Explain what Quick Parts is and how it works. 

The interviewer again would like to see how weel you understand the features you will be working with. Here is how you can answer this question:

“Quick Part is a handy feature that helps create and store content used repetitively. There are three types of Quick Parts: AutoText, Document Property and Fields.  

AutoText is a simple block of text that you can reuse. Typing the initial letters of the word or text block will prompt you to complete it by clicking on the Tab button. Document Property is a template that can be used from one Word document to another. Fields store specific information like the author's name, title, date, etc. You can use Quick Parts to auto-complete text, sentences or certain sections that you use repeatedly.”

18) How to create an AutoText on Word?  

If there is a piece of content that will need to be repeated, you can add it to auto text to make the process easier, the interviewer wants to check how well versed you are with this feature. Here is how you can answer the question:

“AutoText is a type of Quick Parts that allow you to create and reuse a block of text that you might use regularly. To create an AutoText, go to the Insert tab and click on Quick Parts. Select the text you want to use in AutoText and click on OK. Or you can select the text and use the shortcut "Alt+F3."

19) What is the Autodiscover service in Office 365?  

Autodiscover is a specific feature of Office 365, and the interviewer wants to check how much you know about it. The interviewer may similarly ask you of any feature other Office 365 has to offer as well. It is recommended to be well versed with all the important features to avoid coming off as ill experienced. Here is how you can answer this one:

“It is a feature that minimises the need for user configuration, by reducing the deployment steps making it easy to install for a customer or client.”

20) Can you explain how Office 365’s Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) enhances security?  

The interviewer wants to get an understanding of how well you know the security systems of Office 365 like Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), which is a very important for the job. It is a feature you will need to be well versed with. Here is how you could answer this question:

“Oh, this is a fun one! It is a cloud-based solution that is designed to protects peoples work and data from getting corrupted by sophisticated threats. These treats could be hidden in emails, attachments and links, like trojan viruses. It uses Machine Learning (ML) to analyse and detect new malware strains.” 

21) What is FastTrack deployment? 

This question may be asked to gauge you familiarity with the FastTrack deployment services. The FastTrack deployment assists organisations to migrate and adapt to Office 365. Here is how you can assure your interviewer of your knowledge on it:

“FastTrack deployment is a Microsoft service designed to help organisations onboard to Office 365 quickly and smoothly. It provides guidance, best practices, and resources to assist with migration, configuration, and adoption of Office 365 services. By leveraging FastTrack, organisations can accelerate their deployment process, underrate disruptions, and ensure a successful transition to Office 365.”

Microsoft 365 Interview Questions and Answers - Advanced Level

Here comes the hard ones! Don't worry as long as you prepare well you can answer any question. Here are some of the advanced level questions your interviewer may ask:

22) Describe the process of implementing a hybrid deployment with Office 365

The interviewer wants to see how well you understand the complex processes of Office 365. Answer these well would impress the interviewer greatly. Here is how you can answer this:

“The hybrid deployment integrates Office 365 with other services on premises like Exchange, SharePoint or Skype. It would require you to set up directory sync and configure server-side components to make sure the authentication is seamless.”

23) Explain what SharePoint Document Library is  

SharePoint is a feature that help collaborate share and track documents. An important feature you are likely to be asked about. Here is how you can answer the question:

“It is a feature that allows users to store, upload, collaborate, share, and track documents and files at one centralised location. Users can also create columns to represent the respective document's metadata.”  

Learn all the essential skills and understand how you can use them effectively in a practical manner with our Microsoft SharePoint Masterclass.

24) What is DirSync, and what is it used for?

The interviewer needs to assess if you are aware of the identity and authentication services of Office, and may ask you questions regarding Azure Active Directory. Here is how you can answer this question:

“DirSync is used to sync your on-premises Active Directory users to Office 365. It is also known as the Azure Active Directory Sync tool.”  

25) Define the role of Service Admin of Microsoft Office 365 

Knowing the roles and responsibilities of your peers in the workplace is important, the interviewer, would like to know if you are aware of the role of a service admin. Here is how you can answer the question:

“Service admins play an important role, they are the ones that provide us the support we need by creating support requests for Azure, Microsoft 365, and Office 365 services etc.”   

Understand all the essential applications in Microsoft Office 365 and learn how to use applications like Word, Teams, and Excel with our Microsoft Office 365 Masterclass.   

26) How can you balance the organic growth of Office 365 groups and governance? 

This question is asked to assess your understanding of managing Office 365 groups while maintaining governance and control over the environment. Here is how you can answer it: 

“To balance the organic growth with governance, I would implement a clear governance strategy that outlines the creation and management of Office 365 groups. This strategy will include guidelines for group creation, naming conventions, permissions, and lifecycle management. Additionally, regular audits and monitoring tools would be used to ensure compliance with governance policies while allowing for organic growth and collaboration.”

27) Can you integrate Office 365 with Active Directory?

This question is meant to test your knowledge of integrating Office 365 with on-premises Active Directory for seamless user management and authentication. Here is how you can answer this question:

“Yes, Office 365 can be integrated with Active Directory using Azure Active Directory Connect (AAD Connect). AAD Connect synchronises user accounts, groups, and attributes between on-premises Active Directory and Azure Active Directory, ensuring a unified identity management experience for users across both environments. This integration allows for single sign-on (SSO) and enables centralised user provisioning and management.”

Conclusion  

In this blog, we’ve discussed some commonly asked Microsoft Office 365 Interview Questions and Answers you can expect in an interview. You must understand the basics of Office applications and thoroughly understand the most used applications like Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. Additionally expect questions on more advance services that Microsoft provides like Azure and Active Directory. You can also expect a few security-related interview questions, as understanding security is an essential factor in getting hired.   

Get better at using the Microsoft Office applications like Word, Access, Visio, and more with our host of Microsoft Office Training courses.