Excel Test for Interview Candidates

[Ian4212]

Hi … I am looking for a suitable Excel test to screen candidates applying for a role I have. The Excel skills need to be at an intermediate level. If anyone can point me to any free online resources? I want to sit the candidate at a PC to work through the test for circa 30 mins or so.

Much appreciated,

Ian

 

[Joe4]

The big problem with that is that there is a lot to Excel, and that can cover a lot of different things. Typically, you would want to cover things that the candidate would need to do in their daily job tasks. So it should be "tailored" to the job. Sure, you will want to cover some basic things, such as writing formulas, formatting cells, etc. But what about things like Pivot Tables, Charts, importing/exporting data, etc? Some jobs may have a need for things like that and others may not.

Note that if you Google "Free Online Excel Tests", you will find a whole host of things that may or may not be what you are looking for. If nothing else, they may give you some ideas, and help you on your path to developing your own custom test.

Good luck!

 

[Ian4212]

thanks

 

[Trevor_S]

There are significant variations in what users regard as "intermediate" - your candidate's interpretation may not match yours!

Normally when I've set these for interviews, I've just wanted to look for (what I consider to be) a basic understanding. I've tended to go for an apportionment exercise - e.g. split various overhead costs between a number of departments on a suitable basis, using data provided about those departments. I've not specified what type of formulas, formats, etc. should be used, so candidates are able to show what they can do by what approach they choose to take.

If you're looking to compare candidates abilities, you might want to deliberately set more than you would expect to be done in the time. You will be able to compare how far each candidate gets, and (if parts aren't dependent on each other) whether they chose to take on the more basic or more advanced tasks first.

Bear in mind that any free Excel test you find on the internet may have already been found by your candidates. So I'd suggest producing your own, even if you use others for inspiration.

 

[Trevor_S]

Edit: deleted as posted twice.

 

[Ian4212]

Thanks Trevor