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Including Excel testing for employees among your pre-employment tests ensures that candidates not only have Excel skills, but it allows you to measure their proficiency with key capabilities of this complex and powerful application. The benefits of using an Excel proficiency test include:
An Excel pre-employment test is an assessment given to job candidates to determine their current grasp of the spreadsheet software. When used during the hiring process, this test can help you narrow down your pool of candidates by weeding out applicants who don't have the software knowledge needed.
Accurately recording, manipulating and leveraging data is important in business. Bookkeepers, researchers, customer relationship managers, and more use spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel every day. To ensure candidates have the Excel proficiency needed, consider adding an Excel test for job interviews. You can avoid these problems:
By requiring an Excel skills test, you can ensure candidates you bring in have the spreadsheet knowledge needed for a particular role at your company. You can also create custom aptitude and skills tests that include questions tailored to the open position.
Occupational roles that might benefit from an Excel test for a job interview include:
Hire Success® offers assessments of Microsoft Excel proficiency in two difficulty levels: basic and intermediate. Both tests are multiple choice and have a time limit of 30 minutes to complete.
Topics covered in the Basic Microsoft Excel Proficiency Test include:
Number of questions in basic test: 25
Test type: Skills test
Time limit: 30 minutes
Topics covered in the Intermediate Microsoft Excel Proficiency Test include:
Number of questions in intermediate test: 28
Test type: Skills test
Time limit: 30 minutes
The Hire Success® Summary Report for every Excel skills text is broken down into sections.
The Detail Report for an Excel skills test shows you how the test taker answered each question:
Grouping the candidate's test answers not only provides you with an easy way to gauge mistakes but also an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. You may want to follow up on some concepts in an interview if the candidate advances in the hiring process.
If you activate the cheating mitigation feature for your Excel skills test, you'll receive the Hire Success® Audit Report revealing:
The report also shows whether the test was automatically submitted because the candidate left the testing window for too long or ran out of time.
This feature doesn't just help you find out whether applicants know the test answers, but also uncovers how well they know them. With the Audit Report, you'll have added confidence in your hiring decisions.
Tests vary by job type. A bookkeeper, auditor or financial analyst constructing models will need different skills from a list manager or business analyst. Basic Excel testing covers working knowledge topics like formatting, finding, sorting and converting data. Formatting and creating charts and reports are also commonly covered skills in an Excel test for hiring.
To avoid wasting time with subpar candidates, offer Excel testing for employees early in the process. You can even consider two levels. One quick online Excel test can screen out most candidates, and then a second in-depth Excel proficiency test and measure candidate mastery of detailed and job-specific skills.
Each time you administer and submit an Excel pre-employment test, you'll receive two or possibly three reports. You'll receive instant results via email with your Hire Success® account. You can view, print, or share results securely from any connected device.
With the Custom Test Builder, you can use questions from a pre-designed Excel test in combination with any questions, creating an exam that's specific to any open position. You can also include questions in other areas such as Microsoft Word, accounting or finance.
Learn about the Hire Success® Custom Test BuilderHire Success® offers a complete online hiring system that helps you improve your recruiting, interviewing and hiring process. The pricing model is based on factors specific to your company, industry, and team size, so the best way to get accurate pricing information is to contact the team for a tailored quote.
Request a customized quote from Hire Success®Take a free test run of our whole system — from Microsoft Excel to personality and integrity testing — and find out why thousands of companies have turned to Hire Success® to build stronger, more organized, and more consistent hiring systems.
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