Excel Testing For Companies
We also provide company reports where the results of multiple participants from the same company are analysed together.
This is useful for any company that:
- Wants to understand the Excel skill levels in their organisation
- Needs a benchmark of Excel skill levels when hiring new people
- Wants to send staff on the correct courses
Purchase An Excel Test
There are companies that will allow you to purchase an Excel test, along with an answer page. You can either purchase a specific test you download and send to applicants, or you can purchase access to a link that you can email to applicants. Of these options, sending a link is the most efficient for you since you simply get the results back and do not have to grade the test yourself.
Some are integrated into more comprehensive HR software and others are standalone tests. However, depending on your business needs and how frequently you plan to hire, purchasing Excel tests can get expensive. Several options include:
- TestGorilla Starting at free for five tests, with custom plans available
- TestDome Starting at $100 for five tests
- EmployTest Starting at $149 for five tests
- ESkill Starting at $1,200 for 100 tests
New: Free Excel Interview Mini
Make sure youre prepared for the day that could change your career. Sign up for five free must-learn lessons before your Excel interview!
Microsoft Excel was released over thirty years ago, but its still one of the most useful applications on the market. It owes its enduring popularity to a huge number of features that allow users to analyze data quickly and easily. Since Excels launch, many competitors have unsuccessfully tried to displace it as the tool of choice for data analysis. Nevertheless, Excel still reigns supreme.
Because spreadsheets are so popular and useful many companies conduct Excel interviews before extending job offers. This helps ensure that job applicants are qualified and comfortable using Excel on the job.
If youve got an upcoming Excel interview, youre probably wondering what sorts of questions you might get. Recruiters are generally vague on details, and it can be scary to walk into a conversation like this one blind.
So, weve provided our list of the 10 most common Excel interview questions so that you can get some practice in before you exam. With a little bit of advance preparation, youll feel prepared and confident on interview day.
1. What are the most important data formats seen in Excel, and how are they used?
2. What is the order of operations used when evaluating formulas in Excel?
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What Is The Difference Between Count Counta And Countblank
The count function is very often used in Excel. Here, lets look at the difference between count, and its variants – counta and countblank.
1. COUNT
It counts the number of cells that contain numeric values only. Cells that have string values, special characters, and blank cells will not be counted. Shown below is an example of the count function.
2. COUNTA
It counts the number of cells that contain any form of content. Cells that have string values, special characters, and numeric values will be counted. However, a blank cell will not be counted. Shown below is an example of the counta function.
3. COUNTBLANK
As the name suggests, it counts the number of blank cells only. Cells that have content will not be taken into consideration. Shown below is an example of the countblank function.
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Microsoft Excel Skills Detail Report
The Detail Report for the Excel skills test shows you how the test taker answered each question:
- Section 1 â incorrectly answered questions
- Section 2 â correctly answered questions
Grouping the candidate’s test answers in this way not only provides you with an easy way to gauge where the candidate made mistakes but also helps you get an idea of the candidateâs areas of strength or weakness. You may want to follow up on some concepts in an interview if the candidate is selected for the next step in the hiring process.
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Jobs That Might Require Excel Assessment Test
We have compiled a list of jobs that most likely will require Excel Assessment Test as part of Interview and hiring process. Career fields that may require the Excel skills test are listed below:
- other test providers
Because Microsoft Excel is so popular and useful, companies are trying to evaluate candidates by conducting pre-employment assessment test. An Excel Interview Test is a screening process employers use as part of the candidate employment interview to test a potential candidate on their knowledge and proficiency of Microsoft Excel.
Each employer might use a slightly different variation of the Excel test. The Excel Assessment Test typically broken down into a multiple-choice section and an interactive portion. Some tests are timed but some of them do not have a limit on how long applicant can take to answer the questions, but there might be exceptions.
Microsoft Excel Skills To Look For
Like other software, Microsoft Excel has varying degrees of difficulty. The softwares skills proficiencies increase from more generalized spreadsheet and table management and interpretation to expert-level calculation and formulation skills. This means that when youre hiring, the skill level youre recruiting for varies depending on the role and the level of data interpretation the position needs.
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Tips For Passing Your Excel Job Test
TIP #1 What are the Smartest Ways to Prepare for Assessment Test:
- Use outlines from Test provider and review their sample questions
- Take Online Training Courses, if available
TIP #2 What to do during the test:
- Try to schedule test in the morning, when you have high levels of energy
- Get a good sleep before the test.
- Do not take a test if you are tired
- Read Question carefully
- Answer easy questions first
- This would allow you to leave harder questions for the end, but you will get easy answers in
- Validate your answer with more than one method
TIP #3 How to Pass Assessment Test Today:
- Be prepared for Assessment Test at Home
- You might be monitored and timed
How To Use Microsoft Excel Tests In The Hiring Process
For candidates who are interviewing for positions that donât use Excel regularly, it may not be as essential to assess their skill level in Excel. If they only need to read an occasional spreadsheet, other skills may be more critical in the hiring process.
For other positions, where simple Excel tasks are needed periodically, it is possible to train employees and teach them the essential Excel skills they will need. If a candidate fits all of the other job requirements, it may be worthwhile to train them in the simple Excel tasks they may need to perform.
However, if the position youâre looking to fill requires proficiency in Microsoft Excel, job candidates should ideally possess the skills and knowledge needed for their role. If they get hired, they should be able to fulfill all their job responsibilities without first learning how to use Excel.
To evaluate each job candidateâs skill level in Excel, test all prospective hires with a Microsoft Excel assessment test.
Depending on their role, employees may need different levels of expertise. You may choose to give different tests depending on each job’s skills.
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What To Expect From Excel Interview Questions
Excel interview questions provide the opportunity to show you’re highly knowledgeable about the common spreadsheet software implemented in offices around the world. Because Excel features and benefits are desirable, it’s a widely used program. As a result, Excel interview questions could be present in a number of interviews, for positions from to accounting.
There are many important functions in Excel and you should be prepared to answer technical questions about Excel versus behavioral ones. Excel interview questions are only likely to make up only a small part of a larger interview strategy, so they will likely focus intensely on the most essential features of the software like formulas, functions and data formats.
You should strive to answer as many Excel interview questions as possible by tying in a personal experience. In the following text, well use the STAR method of answering interview questions, where applicable, to demonstrate how this formulaic approach can be beneficial.
The asks you to consider the following strategy when answering interview questions:
-
Situation: Describe a challenging situation that relates to the question.
-
Task: Explain your role in the solution, demonstrating tasks you deployed to complete it.
-
Action: What action were you responsible for?
-
Resolution: How did your solution lead to a satisfactory outcome?
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Excel Skills Required Depend On What You Do In Excel
MS Excel is so comprehensive that it is impossible to be an expert in everything, all the time. What you need to know depends on your role, and what you will be doing with Excel.
So being an Excel data analysis whiz kid wont help that much if you require Excel financial modelling skills, but you may be able to transition quickly. Building great Excel dashboards is different from cleaning data and preparing them for dashboards.
We have segmented Excel job needs into:
- backwards looking , and
- forward looking .
The main areas we report on are:
- Data Cleanup and Scrubbing ,
- Data Analysis/ Manipulation
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The Complete Microsoft Office Excel Preparation Pack
Invited to take an Excel assessment test as part of your job application process? JobTestPrep can help you prepare for your assessment test with free sample questions, Excel practice tests, tips, and advice, now available for Excel 2010, Excel 2013, Excel 2016, Excel 2019 and Office 365. Start practicing and preparing with JobTestPrep today.
How To Assess Excel And Data Management Skills In A Job Interview
Excel and data management skills are often assumed upon finance and accounting professionals. However, some positions are better served by those who are exceptionally strong in this area. How does a hiring manager assess Excel and data management
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- Its hard to assess Excel skills in interviews
- Ask what functions theyve used, such as sumif,vlookups, and if
- Ask what their favorite advanced funciton is
- Ask about classes, certifications, and online training
- Before the interview, ask them to bring an Excel analysis theyve done to discuss
- Present an Excel file and ask them to complete it, fix it, interpret it, etc
- Ask about what the conadidate believes are his/her potential Excel weaknesses
- Ask them to create a pivot table or other advnaced function
- Attempt to understand their willingness and ability to learn new things
- Plus much more below!
Heres another take on how to get to the bottom of an applicants Excel skills:
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What Is Data Validation Illustrate With An Example
Data Validation restricts the type of values that a user can enter into a particular cell or a range of cells.
In the Data tab, select the Data Validation option present under Data Tools.
Select the kind of data validation you want to apply.
In the following example, we have applied data validation to the Name column to accept only text values. If you enter something other than a text, it will throw an error.
How Can You Remove Duplicate Values In A Range Of Cells
1. To delete duplicate values in a column, select the highlighted cells, and press the delete button. After deleting the values, go to the Conditional Formatting option present in the Home tab. Choose Clear Rules to remove the rules from the sheet.
2. You can also delete duplicate values by selecting the Remove Duplicates option under Data Tools present in the Data tab.
Moving forward, lets have a look at the intermediate level of Excel interview questions.
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Typical Format Of An Excel Test
The Excel test may be presented as a series of multiple-choicequestions or it may use interactive software to simulate the use of Excels interface.
Some companies will set a test they have built themselves. This would usually be an interactive test and will often involve working with Excel software itself. In the majority of cases, companies will use specifically designed software from a test provider.
Multiple-choice tests will include questions covering every area of the software, so candidates will need to be very familiar with key functions and layout. The multiple-choice questions are pulled at random from a large pool of possible questions, so no test is the same.
The simulation format is more common for Excel tests. Here candidates must complete a series of tasks on an Excel spreadsheet, according to their skill level.
Candidates will be asked to sit a basic, intermediate or advanced level test, depending on the position they are applying for. We’ll cover each in turn.
What Is The What If Condition In Excel Formulas
The What If condition is used to change the data in Microsoft Excel formulas to give different answers.
Example: You are buying a new car and want to calculate the exact amount of tax that will be levied on it then you can use the What If function. For instance, there are three cells A4,B4, and C4. First cell says about the amount, the second cell will tell about the percentage of tax and the final cell will calculate the exact amount of tax.
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What Is Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is an electronic spreadsheet application that enables users to store, organize, calculate and manipulate the data with formulas using a spreadsheet system broken up by rows and columns. It also provides the flexibility to use an external database to do analysis, make reports, etc. thus saving lots of time.
What Is A Spreadsheet
Heres a basic question that might segue into a more complex line of Excel questions. Since not all positions that are required to use spreadsheets are technicalsome may be financial or administrative, for examplea question like this lets you demonstrate functional technical competence in a short answer.
Example:A spreadsheet is a digital ledger for storing values. It contains rows and columns that make up cells where information can be held.
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Sample Interactive Test Questions
Copy the table below into a new Excel spreadsheet, making sure that the cell marked with is pasted in cell A1 in the spreadsheet. Once the table is in place, move on to the questions below.
|
Category |
|---|
2. Which of the following formulas has a syntax error / is incorrect:
a) =IFSb) =IF)c) =IFSd) =IF))
3. When a cell is cut and pasted into a new cell, what will be pasted in the destination cell?
a) Any content of the original cell.b) Any content and formatting of the original cell.c) Only text or number content of the original cell.d) Only formatting of the original cell.e) Only conditional formatting rules of the original cell.
Understand The Job Requirements
It’s important to understand what sort of excel skills are required by your potential employer. Are they expecting advanced analytical capabilities or very basic excel abilities? This information can help remove some anxiety around the assessment, and you’ll know exactly what to practice. Read the job description closely and don’t hesitate to ask the hiring manager for a detailed job description if it’s not available.
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How To Identify Candidates With Advanced Microsoft Excel Skills
Professionals skilled in Microsoft Excels advanced features remain sought after, with the program still widely used today. However, with many people using Excel, it’s hard to figure out how skilled job applicants are at using the program’s advanced features. So how can you find the right candidate with the adequate skills for the position?
Recruiting With An Advanced Excel Skills Test
Once you’ve determined that you need candidates with more advanced skills, you may wonder how you can evaluate their skills using an advanced Excel skills test.
With an advanced Excel skills test in your recruitment process, you can assess all your job applicants and catalog their results by performance. TestGorilla’s advanced Excel skills test evaluates candidates abilities to organize data, use advanced formulas, and create reports and visualizations. It also assesses how well they can use other advanced software features.
Using the data gathered from their answers, you can identify the best candidates to move to the interview process. And the best part of using an advanced Excel skills test is that you don’t have to look at a single CV.
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What Is The Kenexa Prove It Excel Test
One of the more popular Excel exams that many big companies use if the Kenexa Prove It Excel Test. Kenexas Prove It Excel test evaluates your skills in performing tasks in Microsofts Excel software. Many companies will send an email during the interview process, which includes a link to the Excel test. The test may include Microsoft Office subtests.
Who This Course Is For:
- Course is designed as a series of tutorials, quizzes and supplemental materials related to Excel Test
- Course is the most helpful for people looking to pass Excel interview or land a job
- 4.6 Instructor Rating
- 29,759 Students
Hi there, my name is Vadim Mikhailenko and I am founder of Online Training for Everyone
I am very passionate about technology . I worked in different roles on information technology projects and love using technology and enjoy helping others to learn it as well.
In addition to consulting career I teach Information Technology courses at community college. My experience working with people gives me opportunity to share with you what works in the business world to help you get ahead, collaborate, build relationships and driver results.
I believe everybody has untapped potential inside of them and is destined for great things. My mission is to help as many people as possible learn new skills and get on with living their best possible life. And I believe it can be done through learning new skills and using them to make your life better.
I try to help improve Milwaukee community by sharing my knowledge and teaching IT courses at local community college. My goal is to help underprivileged and disadvantaged folks to learn Information Technology and get employed. I enjoy to hear back from them when they find jobs or get promoted: this gives me the most meaning from what I do.
Thanks for your support, good luck learning and wish you all the best!
Vadim
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