diff --git a/scio-examples/src/main/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExample.scala b/scio-examples/src/main/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExample.scala
index 4ea605a82a..5c000a3683 100644
--- a/scio-examples/src/main/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExample.scala
+++ b/scio-examples/src/main/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExample.scala
@@ -41,7 +41,13 @@ object ParquetExample {
    * These case classes represent both full and projected field mappings from the [[Account]] Avro
    * record.
    */
-  case class AccountFull(id: Int, `type`: String, name: Option[String], amount: Double)
+  case class AccountFull(
+    id: Int,
+    `type`: String,
+    name: Option[String],
+    amount: Double,
+    accountStatus: Option[AccountStatus]
+  )
   case class AccountProjection(id: Int, name: Option[String])
 
   /**
@@ -108,13 +114,11 @@ object ParquetExample {
 
   private def avroSpecificIn(sc: ScioContext, args: Args): ClosedTap[String] = {
     // Macros for generating column projections and row predicates
-    val projection = Projection[Account](_.getId, _.getName, _.getAmount)
+    // account_status is the only field with default value that can be left out the projection
+    val projection = Projection[Account](_.getId, _.getType, _.getName, _.getAmount)
     val predicate = Predicate[Account](x => x.getAmount > 0)
 
     sc.parquetAvroFile[Account](args("input"), projection, predicate)
-      // The result Account records are not complete Avro objects. Only the projected columns are present while the rest are null.
-      // These objects may fail serialization and it’s recommended that you map them out to tuples or case classes right after reading.
-      .map(x => AccountProjection(x.getId, Some(x.getName.toString)))
       .saveAsTextFile(args("output"))
   }
 
@@ -122,7 +126,7 @@ object ParquetExample {
     val schema = Account.getClassSchema
     implicit val genericRecordCoder: Coder[GenericRecord] = avroGenericRecordCoder(schema)
 
-    val parquetIn = sc.parquetAvroFile[GenericRecord](args("input"), schema)
+    val parquetIn = sc.parquetAvroGenericRecordFile(args("input"), schema)
 
     // Catches a specific bug with encoding GenericRecords read by parquet-avro
     parquetIn
@@ -146,12 +150,19 @@ object ParquetExample {
       // but close to `parquet.block.size`, i.e. 1 GiB. This guarantees that each file contains 1 row group only and reduces seeks.
       .saveAsParquetAvroFile(args("output"), numShards = 1, conf = fineTunedParquetWriterConfig)
 
+  private[extra] def toScalaFull(account: Account): AccountFull =
+    AccountFull(
+      account.getId,
+      account.getType.toString,
+      Some(account.getName.toString),
+      account.getAmount,
+      Some(account.getAccountStatus)
+    )
+
   private def typedOut(sc: ScioContext, args: Args): ClosedTap[AccountFull] =
     sc.parallelize(fakeData)
-      .map(x => AccountFull(x.getId, x.getType.toString, Some(x.getName.toString), x.getAmount))
-      .saveAsTypedParquetFile(
-        args("output")
-      )
+      .map(toScalaFull)
+      .saveAsTypedParquetFile(args("output"))
 
   private[extra] def toExample(account: Account): Example = {
     val amount = Feature
diff --git a/scio-examples/src/test/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExampleTest.scala b/scio-examples/src/test/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExampleTest.scala
index 554a3a0095..89cc90c21d 100644
--- a/scio-examples/src/test/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExampleTest.scala
+++ b/scio-examples/src/test/scala/com/spotify/scio/examples/extra/ParquetExampleTest.scala
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ class ParquetExampleTest extends PipelineSpec {
 
   "ParquetExample" should "work for SpecificRecord input" in {
     val expected = ParquetExample.fakeData
-      .map(x => AccountProjection(x.getId, Some(x.getName.toString)))
+      // set default value on field outside projection
+      .map(x => Account.newBuilder(x).setAccountStatus(null).build())
       .map(_.toString)
 
     JobTest[com.spotify.scio.examples.extra.ParquetExample.type]
@@ -79,8 +80,7 @@ class ParquetExampleTest extends PipelineSpec {
   }
 
   it should "work for typed output" in {
-    val expected = ParquetExample.fakeData
-      .map(a => AccountFull(a.getId, a.getType.toString, Some(a.getName.toString), a.getAmount))
+    val expected = ParquetExample.fakeData.map(ParquetExample.toScalaFull)
 
     JobTest[com.spotify.scio.examples.extra.ParquetExample.type]
       .args("--output=out.parquet", "--method=typedOut")