Mastering the Excel Intermediate Test: Levels, Skills, and Tips

Excel is a valuable yet complex Microsoft Office program. It performs organizational, mathematical, statistical, and graphical functions to databases and large pools of info.

Companies require employees to be proficient in Excel to finish their work responsibilities effectively and frequently include Excel tests as part of the employment process.

This article will explain everything you need to know about Excel and Excel testing. We will provide tips on passing your Excel Intermediate hiring exam and further reference you to the most extensive online library for Excel practice materials.

What Is The Excel Proficiency Test?

Excel exams are increasingly used by businesses to gauge your proficiency as they put Excel abilities as a requirement when choosing applicants for employment.

Some companies include Excel knowledge as a job requirement, while others are looking for other professional capabilities but will test Excel proficiency during the hiring process.

Prepare to complete an Excel competency exam if you’re enrolling in positions inside the financial industry or professions that call for mathematical calculation. Many businesses may use computerized examinations or multiple-choice exams, so participants must accomplish a certain number of assignments.

Excel proficiency tests can sometimes be rigorous examinations that might quickly catch you off guard if you are unready.

Job Test Prep provides a thorough Excel prep pack that contains the essentials to ensure that you are as prepared as you can be to pass your Excel exam. If you want to explore their preparation packs further, head to their Excel-related page.

Excel Tests – Different Levels

Since Excel is a complex program with hundreds of functions and data management options, three levels of Excel proficiency are measured by three different tests.

The Beginner (Basic) Test

Basic Excel tests are most frequently used for clerical job positions. Employees need to perform simple tasks like basic Excel functions, printing, formatting cells, or manipulating formats and layouts.

The Intermediate Test

The medium-level of Excel tests will get into more detail about the program and its functions. The test might include some basic-level questions, but it will also test for more advanced knowledge. The Intermediate level requires practice and brushing up on understanding.

The Advanced Test

The highest level, the Advanced Excel knowledge, revolves around complex functions like Vlookup, concatenate, SumIf, and knowledge of macro creation, filtering, and pivot table.

What Is An Intermediate Level In Excel?

It can be challenging to determine what a recruiter considers intermediate or advanced Excel skill sets. Since there aren’t any unified Excel proficiency tests, when preparing for an Excel examination for a particular job position, think about the functions you would need during your work.

Chances are, your potential employer will test for knowledge in the most frequently used operations for that particular job position or the nature of the company’s industry.

It is important to remember that the abilities that allow you to truly interact with statistics are intermediate Excel skills.

The Excel skill sets you possess could be useful for:

• Protecting the data on your charts and graphs
• Managing information into easily readable columns
• Creating graphical images of your records
• Saving time with shortcut keys and swift controls

What Are Some Intermediate Excel Skills?

It’s not common to find an employment position that doesn’t mention Microsoft Excel. It is a crucial component of daily business activities, so it will be helpful to understand what skills hiring managers are looking for beforehand.

Naturally, some job positions require only basic skills, while others need a complete understanding of all the options that Excel offers. Somewhere in between are the intermediate Excel skills. Here are some of them:

Sum Function

Value addition is possible with the SUM function. The completed total can be obtained, for instance, by adding the components of a section or a group of cells in a spending plan worksheet.

Text Function

The above makes complex and lengthy numbers easier to understand. There are various TEXT processes available to round figures to multiple fraction points or even to integrate them with icons and words, such as timestamps.

Average Function

It is extremely beneficial for someone handling a lot of information, like on a database. It will provide you with the average arithmetic value of the figures inside your chosen cell scope.

Concatenate Function

This function makes it easier to combine the text and information in several cells to form a paragraph. Whatever words are lacking from the thread of cells you need to enlist can be added.

Here’s the list of some other less-used intermediate Excels skills:

• Formula Functions
• Data Validation And Protection
• VLOOKUP
• Formatting
• Essential Macros
• MAX and MIN functions
• Charts And Graphs
• The IF Function

How Do I Pass An Excel Work Test?

There’s a high likelihood you’ll have to consider taking an Excel skills exam if you’re looking for a position that requires skills with Microsoft Excel. The pre-employment procedure includes taking an Excel test to ensure that only skilled applicants are employed.

Practice exams, such as those provided by Job Test Prep, can be beneficial since your performance on the skills exam may be the deciding criterion in determining whether or not a business provides you with employment.

So how to successfully pass your Excel test?

Understand The Job Requirements

As we previously mentioned, knowing what you need from Excel to do your job duties will help you determine the Excel test you will most likely take.

Give An Honest Evaluation Of Your Current Skills

Once you know what you should know, it’s essential to evaluate your current Excel knowledge and skills honestly. So, if you know basic Excel, it would be a waste of time to go for the Basic level practice. Conversely, if you don’t know the basics of Excel, practicing for the intermediate level won’t do you any good.

Understand How Will The Employment Excel Test Conducted

Different test formats have different pros and cons. Excel exams are usually interactive, with multiple-choice answers or a combination.

With multiple-choice answers, you have the benefit of selecting already proposed answers, but you do need to know in which tab each function is and how each is named. This format can be challenging for visual learners.

The interactive format is conducted in specially designed software for testing, where you will get the same outlook as Excel. The positive aspect of this kind of testing is that you can visually find your way around solving the questions.

The cons include the fact that the program will usually only accept one answer as the correct answer, even though there might be a few ways of executing the function. Furthermore, you’ll have to input all formulas correctly since the program won’t give you any proposals or program help.

Use The Help Of Job Test Prep and their Excel bundles

Practicing is the ideal way to prepare for an Excel exam, so utilize obTestPrep and their Excel practice materials on your job-seeking path. Since 1992, they have assisted thousands of job candidates in getting ready to pass multiple skill assessments.

Intermediate / Advanced Excel practice tests

Through its combination of basic, intermediate, and advanced Excel strength practice, Job Test Prep’s Excel readiness bundle gives you a thorough learning program.

Excel competence-based practice exams, guides by topic, and comprehensive rating statistics are available to help you prepare.

You will get comprehensive prep experience for the actual exam through the following exclusive package:

• Microsoft Excel training software
• Two full-length Excel assessment tests
• Additional Excel practice questions by topic
• Precise explanations for each question
• Intelligent score information
• Realistic and interactive simulations of the real exam
• Expert project training

Please note that due to the nature of the Excel program and the test format, Job Test Prep offers downloadable software made especially for Excel practice.

Currently, their Excel practice program is compatible with Windows only. It would require an Adobe Flash Player 10 or newer. You would also need to have installed Excel 2016 and have a stable internet connection.

The Excel Training Program Has Two Practice Modes.

The first mode is a “testing” mode, simulating the actual test. You’ll receive two full-length tests with time limits for completion and without the option to receive explanations. At the end of the test, you’ll receive a full report. This mode is perfect for training your abilities.

The other mode is the “practice and learn” method, where you also have two full-length tests that are not time-restricted, and you can see the explanations for each question to learn how to get to the answer. After each question, you will receive feedback for the accuracy of the answer.

This mode is suitable for early practice and learning when you are still getting your head around some Excel functions and formulas.

What Does Excel Do?

Excel is a program from the Microsoft Office bundle of business applications. It’s an arithmetic and data processing program with spreadsheets that allow users to organize, format, and calculate data in said spreadsheets.

Excel users can:

• Input information and data to create spreadsheets
• Analyze it and make it more organized
• Perform calculations and other functions

The base of the spreadsheets are cells ordered in rows and columns, and all data is placed in them.

Excel is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Today, Excel is widely used by companies in different markets and is a valuable tool for professionals.

Who Has To Take The Excel Test?

Excel is mainly used in businesses, even though millions of individuals use Excel for their own private data needs.
In a professional setting, Excel is used by business analytics, human resource teams, managemental teams for operations or performance, etc.

Excel cells are used for imputing data that can then be formatted, manipulated, or organized with the help of numerous functions. The data can be arranged with the help of graphing tools, formulas, mathematical or statistical functions, and pivot tables.

These are some of the job positions that can’t be fulfilled without the use of Excel:

Accountant

Corporate accountants keep records of economic activities, make equilibrium reports, keep records of revenue and tax reports, check data for inconsistencies, trends, or future outcomes and provide advice based on educated mathematical and statistical info.

All of the job requirements of an accountant can be, at least partially, done with the help of Excel. So, the program is essential for accountants and their job responsibilities.

Actuary

Actuaries use sophisticated analytical techniques to determine the likelihood of various outcomes regarding events like sickness, tragedies, purchases, and customer needs.

Excel proficiency is required for this type of interpretive evaluation and individualized reports for various business stakeholders.

Financial Strategist

Financial experts approach problems from a solutions-focused perspective, analyzing and evaluating the worth of certain corporate processes and solutions to maximize business value.

Advanced information analytics and diagramming abilities help to report supervisors and persuade employees, customers, and potential buyers with their data presentations.

Data Analyst

Data analysts, more than any other professionals, need Excel. They must be familiar with a wide range of sophisticated analytical techniques and development toolkits to maximize productivity and deliver accurate reports.

Financial Analyst

Financial analysts, like information analysts, are frequently expected to be knowledgeable about many economic development technologies.

Charts and graphs are still quite helpful for gathering data and identifying trends, so Exel is a valuable tool to get them to collect and represent data.

Manager

HR department managers must handle a significant amount of personnel data despite not being as statistically focused as most positions on this list.

Proficiency with spreadsheet tools allows managers to input and create meaning from data and support their HR goals and recommendations.

Marketing Specialist

Online digital marketing is taking businesses to a whole different level. Modern marketing specialists work with thousands of data details, from leads and algorithms to spending and incomes.

Excel certifications can help marketing specialists in audience targeting, lead collection, financial reports, statistical success, and numerous other tasks.

Teacher

Teachers may benefit from Excel as well. Charts and graphs can make it simple to keep track of students’ participation and academic progress across numerous courses. Spreadsheets could also be useful in creating classroom plans.

Conclusion

The Excel program is often used by numerous industries, companies, sectors, and individuals for financial, technical, managemental, clerical, and analytical purposes.

Understandably, many job positions require entry, intermediate or advanced knowledge of Excel and usually give Excel tests during employment.

The best way to ace the test is to practice it beforehand. This article covered some of the basics of the Excel tests and offered you the Job Test Prep’s practice materials as the best way to get ready and ace the Excel test.

​Written by Victoria Todorovska

Victoria (or Viki) is a Freelance Writer, Psychologist, and Gestalt Therapy Consultant. With years of experience in higher education as well as counselling others, she is well-placed to offer expert advice on guiding others up the career ladder.