Interview Questions For Excel Skills

How Would You Remove All Of The Formatting Without Losing The Contents Of The Cells

How To Pass Advanced Excel Test For Job Interview

Sometimes you just want plain old data without any formatting . You may accomplish this by removing all formatting from Excel.

To accomplish this, use the Clear Formats option from the Home tab of the editing group. When you click the Clear drop-down, it becomes visible. There are more choices, such as clear content, clear comments, and clear Hyperlinks. If you wish to clear everything, click the Clear All button. The interviewer can ask you these Excel Interview Questions to check your knowledge of removing all formatting without losing the contents of the cells.

Mention The Order Of Operations Used In Excel While Evaluating Formulas

The order of operations in Excel is referred to as PEDMAS. Shown below is the order of precedence while performing an Excel operation.

Parentheses
Subtraction

As seen above, first, the data in the parentheses is operated, followed by the exponentiation operation. After that, it can be either the division or multiplication operations. The result is then added and finally subtracted to give the final result.

Lets look at an example of the PEMDAS precedence in the next question on our Excel interview questions list.

Excel Templates For Business Analysts

Flowcharts can be a handy way to demonstrate your analyses. Someka Automatic Flowchart Maker has incredible customization features. You can change the shapes, colors, categories and decision labels with only the click of a few buttons! You can also use the drag-and-drop tool if you want to stay with the basics. But if you want to dive into the deep customization options, there are also clear, on sheet instructions for you!

Also, conducting SWOT analysis for the company you are working for can lead to more profit and less problems. If a business analysts job is to analyze, then analyzing the companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats it is facing are also the job of a business analyst. And you can conduct this analysis easily by entering the data into Somekas free SWOT Analysis Template!

Somekas BCG Matrix Template creates a framework in which you can assess the value of your investments. With the four different sections titled Stars, Question Marks, Cash Cow and Poor Dog you can analyze the market growth rate and relative market share in the Excel template. You would be up-to-date by looking at the different sections and updating the data. As a business analyst who wants to help its company to grow, this free template will be one of the tools to achieve that goal.

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Question 1: What Are The Most Important Functions Of Excel To You As A Business Analyst

The functions you will list as an answer to this question will show the interviewer what you do in Microsoft Excel. You might me more ready for the interview, if you have at least 5 functions ready for this question. You do not have to memorize every formula and list the most complicated ones. Ask yourself this question about the function you want to list: What are my most used functions?

A sample answer for the functions that a business analyst most use can be: I most often use the LOOKUP function followed by COUNT and COUNTA functions. The IF and MAX and MIN functions are also one of the ones I usually use.

In Excel How Do You Freeze Panes

MS Excel allows you to freeze panes, which allows you to view the row and column titles even if you scroll down a long way on the page. Follow these procedures to Freeze Panes in Excel:

First, choose which rows and columns you want to freeze.
Then, under the View tab, choose Freeze Pane.
As seen in the graphic below, you have three choices for selecting freezing the rows and columns:

The interviewer can ask you these Excel Interview Questions to check your knowledge of how to freeze panes in Excel. These are also among Excel Interview Questions and Answers for Intermediate.

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Are You More Comfortable With Mac Or Pcs

This question helps employers learn about your preferred operating system. Prior to your interview, try to find out which one the company uses. This way, you can tailor your answer to what they are looking for. Even if you prefer one over the other, try to show that you have experience using both if this is true. This can indicate that you are a technically savvy candidate.

Example:”As a graphic designer, I prefer to use a Mac computer. I find that it has better visual capabilities and programs for those in my field. I already noticed your workplace uses Mac, so I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, as a computer gamer, I certainly appreciate using a PC too. I find that I can easily switch between the two operating systems if I need to.”

How Do You Lock A Worksheet To Prevent People From Editing It

Its possible to password protect worksheets in Excel. This is useful if you have a table of data that, if changed, would impact other dependencies, and for other reasons like user hierarchy authorizations. To demonstrate understanding, provide a simple explanation of how to complete this process.

Example:An easy way to do this is using the menu bar. Go to Review, select Protect Sheet and enter a password when prompted.

How Can You Restrict Someone From Copying A Cell From Your Worksheet

1. First, choose the data you want to protect.

2. Hit Ctrl + Shift + F. The Format Cells tab appears. Go to the Protection tab. Check Locked and click OK.

3. Next, go to the Review tab and select Protect Sheet. Enter the password to protect the sheet.

Lets now move onto our next question on our list of Excel interview questions.

Free Course: Introduction to MS Excel

What Is A Dashboard In Excel

5 Excel INTERVIEW Questions You NEED to Get RIGHT

Dashboards are a feature of Excel used to simplify and condense the presentation of data. Their purpose is to display large amounts of data on one page in a format that is easy to view and comprehend, so multiple factors can be quickly considered during the decision-making process.

Dashboards achieve this by making use of various charts, graphs, gauges, and figures that display data in an intuitive way to facilitate the thorough analysis of large sets of data.

As an example, a dashboard could use a variety of charts and graphs to display the overall sales, money spent per sale, type of customer, and most popular product for a department store. Having all of this information in one place would allow the store executives to easily correlate the data and pick the most opportune times to run limited sales on certain items.

How Does The If Function In Excel Work

In Excel, the IF function performs a logical test. It returns a value if the test evaluates to true and another value if the test result is false. It returns the value depending on whether the condition is valid for the entire selected range.

Lets look at the below example:

As seen above, the IF function returns Record is Valid if age is greater than 20, and the salary should be greater than $40000. Else, it will return Record is Invalid. Here the final answer will be Record is Valid as the entire selected range qualifies both the conditions.

What Is The Use Of The Vlookup Function

Questions that are directed toward a formula or function help the interviewer understand your proficiency with Excel. VLOOKUP is an important Excel function and is widely used across different job roles.

When answering such advanced concepts, always use your personal experience to showcase your knowledge and familiarity with the concept.

Example:VLOOKUP helps find data in a large spreadsheet using the lookup value in another spreadsheet. It is an essential function because it provides valuable insights and relationships between the data set.

As a purchasing and inventory supervisor, I worked with Excel to optimise inventory quantities and levels to meet customer demand. After each month, I had to go through the on-hand inventory and inventory usage data and separate it using the product’s code. This helped me develop creative solutions for slow-moving inventory and ensured that I could manage the faster-moving inventory without facing issues.

Using VLOOKUP, I could achieve the goal successfully without wasting too much time. It helped me save so much time that I could calculate the months on hand for each product. This gave me insights into the number of months required for the on-hand inventory to finish. This was something not expected from me and I could provide valuable insights to the management.

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What Is Macro In Microsoft Excel

Hiring managers typically ask this question if their role requires using Excel for repetitive tasks. When answering this question, emphasize your understanding of when to use a macro.

Example answer:A macro is used for automating tasks in Excel. The benefit of the function is that it allows users to automate customized repetitive instructions and functions to make work faster and easier.

How To Respond To The Interview Question How Would You Describe Your Excel Abilities

Free Excel Sample Questions: Practise for Interview Excel Test

Interviewers commonly ask How would you describe your Excel ability or How much experience do you have in Excel? Taking a quick informal survey, I found most people answered, generically intermediate. This makes sense, no one wants to claim to be a beginner, but no one wants to claim to be advanced and be asked questions to verify. You wont stand out using this approach.

Instead, we suggest the following response:

1. Qualify your response by indicating that while you think youre good at Excel, that you want to become much better.

It really depends on who you compare me to. Compared to my classmates I think Im very advanced, but being a student theres only so much experience with Excel I can have. Im happy with where Im at, but I know I have much to learn.

2. Name drop some Excel features.

I know vlookups, PivotTables, text functions, and I have a little experience with macros.

3. Mention areas that you are working to improve.

Recently, Ive really been concentrating on keyboard shortcuts and not using the mouse. Ive seen people work ridiculously fast with just the keyboard and want to get to that level.

4. Going along with item #3, mention how youre working to improve.

Ive actually been working through this Excel Tutorial < Insert Name here> and Ive really been learning a lot.

Rememeber Spreadsheet Boot Camp has a free Efficiency Trainer that you can download. Try referencing that!

common Excel interview questions

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What Is A Secondary Axis In A Chart

A chart has a Y-axis that shows the scale on which the chart may be measured . You can utilize the secondary axis when you have two distinct types of data sets with a considerable variation in value.

To illustrate, if you wish to display revenue and net income margins in the same chart, you must use two distinct axes. Its because sales figures might be in the hundreds of millions, while net income margins are always in percentages and are always less than 100%. In this situation, youll need two axes: one for revenue scale and one for net income margin scale.

When you add more axes, they are referred to as secondary axes.

The interviewer can ask you these Excel Interview Questions to check your knowledge regarding the Secondary Axis in a chart in Excel. These are also among Excel Interview Questions and Answers for Advanced level.

Question : What Are The Cell References

Cell references should be one of the most useful tools an analyst can utilize. The different cell references and their uses can sometimes be seen as trivial details however, they are absolutely not. They are actually incredible time savers, especially for an always busy business analyst.

A sample answer on the definition of cell references: Cell references are used to refer to data located in the same Excel spreadsheet but to data in a different cell. There are three different cell reference types: Absolute, relative and mixed cell references.

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In Excel How Do You Make Dropdown Lists

Follow the instructions below to build dropdown lists:

Create a new worksheet and fill it with the entries you wish to appear in your drop-down list. Your list elements should ideally be in an Excel table. If you dont, you can convert your list to a table fast by choosing any cell in the range and pressing Ctrl+T.
In the worksheet, choose the cell where you want the drop-down list to appear.
On the Ribbon, select the Data tab, then Data Validation.

Pick your list range by clicking in the Source box.
Select the In-cell checkbox.

The interviewer can ask you these Excel Interview Questions to check your knowledge of making dropdown lists in Excel. These are also among Excel Interview Questions and Answers for Intermediate.

Question 1: What Does The Counta Function Execute In An Excel Spreadsheet

Excel Interview Questions For Data Analyst

Now, you have listed your favorite and most used functions. Regardless of the functions you list, the interviewer can ask any functions purpose or use. That is why it is important for you to generally know the most important functions. You can find the functions and formulas every business analyst needs to know later in the chapters below in this blog post.

A sample answer on the COUNTA function can be: The COUNTA can scan all the rows and columns that contain data, identify them and ignore the empty cells.

Is There A Way To Secure Your Excel Workbook

Excel files can be password protected to secure the data within them. To do this, click the Protect Workbook box and select Encrypt with Password.

A password of any length or style can then be entered to protect your workbook. Once a file is password protected, further security can be added by using the Locked and Hidden features to disable the editing of cells and hide formulas.

What To Expect From Questions About Microsoft Excel In An Interview

If you’re applying for a position that requires advanced knowledge of spreadsheets, a more in-depth familiarization with Excel may be necessary. A few examples of jobs that require a high level of Excel experience include accounting, data entry, and retail managers.

Questions About Excel In An Interview

Many companies rely on Microsoft Excel to help them manage and organize various aspects of their business. As a result, it’s common for companies to ask you interview questions that relate to how familiar you are with the program. By preparing for potential interview questions regarding Microsoft Excel, you can improve your chances of impressing the hiring manager and getting the job. In this article, we discuss what you can expect from Microsoft Excel questions in an interview and provide you with a variety of different interview questions and answers you can use to prepare.

Introduction To Excel Interview Questions & Answers

In Excel Interview Questions & Answers, the Excel spreadsheets have been around for more than 3 decades. Excel has a nicer interface and many more current capabilities than its first edition. Spreadsheets are indispensable and a fantastic data-learning tool. Excel is not the sole or best fit for all data applications, but it is a dependable and inexpensive analytical tool. Because it enhances knowledge of the analytical process, it is a crucial framework for smart data. Many industries and companies continue to emphasize the importance of Excel skills since they are an intelligent technique for gaining organizational insights.

The preceding are some of the most common Excel interview questions, as well as probable reasons why these questions are asked and the responses that interviewers are searching for. Lets check out the most frequently asked Excel Interview Questions.

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Basic Excel Interview Questions About Pivot Tables

The following 10 basic Excel interview questions are all about pivot tables. Find out more about your candidates knowledge in this area by asking them some of the questions in this section.

Can you explain what pivot tables are?

In which situations would you use a pivot table?

Can you explain which sections are found in a pivot table?

Explain what pivot charts are.

Can you describe the benefits of a pivot chart?

What does refreshing a pivot table do?

How would you refresh your pivot table?

Can you explain what pivot caches are?

Is it possible to use several tables to create a pivot table? How would you achieve this?

Can you explain what is meant by calculated fields?

What Is The Difference Between A Function And A Subroutine In Vba

Functions
A function is responsible for returning the value of the task it is performing.	Meanwhile, subroutines dont return the value of the task it is performing.
They are called by a variable.	They can be recalled from anywhere in the program, in multiple types.
Functions are used as it is in spreadsheets as formulas.	Subroutines are not used directly in spreadsheets as formulas.
Functions are used to carry out repetitive tasks, and it, in turn, returns a value.	Users are required to insert a value in the desired cell before fetching the result of the subroutine.

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