How a Microsoft Excel Competency Test Reveals Applicant Skills
Ken Crowell
Ken Crowell
What is an Excel Competency Test?
An Excel competency test measures an applicant’s skills and knowledge in using Microsoft Excel. These assessments evaluate abilities like data entry, formulas, functions, pivot tables, charts, and other Excel tools through practical exercises. Excel proficiency tests objectively validate Excel proficiency levels for hiring or training.
Microsoft Excel is the industry standard for spreadsheet applications, with 54% of companies using it for business analysis. This powerful program can provide a variety of valuable functions that can help employees quickly track, sort, and analyze data.
If specific members within work groups don’t know how to use it, your company could be at a serious disadvantage.
Which Excel skills do employees need to have in order to be productive in their roles? Let’s dive into the top five valuable Excel skills that can give workers a competitive edge.
Data Entry and Formatting
Effective data management in Excel begins with entering information accurately. Workers should know how to organize information logically in cells, rows, and columns. To improve data readability, skills in applying formatting techniques such as colors, borders, and text wrapping should be tested.
To make data easy to read and understand, it’s important to adjust cell sizes to fit the contents. With clean, readable data, more advanced Excel functions are possible.
Using Formulas and Functions
Formulas and functions are at the heart of Excel’s data processing capabilities. This skill allows analysts to extract meaningful insights from data quickly. It’s critically important for employees to know how to create formulas using cell references and math symbols.
That high school math teacher was actually right about using algebra, after all!
Functions like SUM, COUNT, and AVERAGE are basic tools that allow users to perform calculations with ease and accuracy. But to become skilled in Excel, one needs to be familiar with nested formulas, data sourcing, and troubleshooting formula errors. Algebra II, anyone?
If you are searching for applicants to fill a role where they will be required to prepare reports, don’t take chances. Test those formula and function skills!
Protecting Spreadsheets
If a new employee will be working with sensitive or proprietary data, it needs to be protected. Employees should be familiar with Excel’s wide range of security options and how to collaborate without risk.
Ask questions and test candidates for everything from encryption to using validation controls and more. Confirmation that your new hire can use these protections may prevent future business insight losses and painful reputation damage.
Sorting and Filtering Data
Departments working with large amounts of data, such as Accounting and Finance, need to be able to sort and filter information to find what they need quickly. If you’re an HR manager sourcing an analyst for the Business Development Director or CFO, you can ask the candidate to show you how to sort a large data set by date and then filter it to show only certain transactions.
You can always create this type of test manually, but using a dedicated Microsoft Excel Competency Test will save you precious time.
Charts and Graphs
Presenting data visually through charts and graphs is a powerful way to communicate information. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
Using charts, graphs, and other visual aids can quickly convey key insights and help an audience understand what the data represents more easily. 
This can be especially valuable during meetings and presentations, where time is limited and it’s important to get the message across efficiently.
What is a Microsoft Excel Competency Test?
Microsoft Excel Competency Test is an assessment employers use to evaluate applicants’ skills in using Microsoft Excel. It’s designed to test skills from basic to advanced, including creating Pivot Tables, using Autosum, creating charts, and other functions.
This test also includes interactive questions and tasks that simulate real-world scenarios within Excel. Employers use these Microsoft excel tests to ensure employees have the right skills for roles requiring Excel proficiency.
How Microsoft Excel Competency Tests Enhance Hiring Decisions
If your ideal candidate needs advanced knowledge of spreadsheet programs, a Microsoft Excel Test can help you identify qualified applicants. Using a dedicated Excel proficiency test in pre-employment delivers the following recruitment advantages:
Accurate skills validation: Resumes can be misleading. Pre-employment testing accurately validates applicants’ true Excel competencies. This minimizes moving people who lack the required skills further in the hiring process.
Objective insights: Standardized Excel skills testing provides unbiased insights into applicants’ abilities so you can make skill-based hiring decisions.
Matching with role needs: Customizable Excel competency tests allow you to tailor assessments to your unique role requirements. This ensures you are interviewing and hiring best-fit candidates.
Efficient screening: With skills-based assessments, you can filter for the most qualified applicants efficiently. No more time-consuming manual screening. With validated Microsoft Excel competency tests from a trusted company you can expect standardized benchmarking of applicants for consistent comparisons.
With the power to transform hiring decisions and enhance overall business efficiency, using Excel competency tests is an investment in the success of your future team members and company.
Take the first step towards excellence –book a consultation with our expert team!
