Digitalization has touched every industry, and computer proficiency is now a must-have skill for many jobs. In 2002, 44% of U.S. jobs required medium- to high-level digital skills. By 2016, that number had increased to 70%. A 2023 National Skills Coalition study shows that 92% of jobs now require computer skills.
Microsoft Office® is acknowledged as the most popular computer application for business, personal, and educational use. If you survey global job postings, you will find that almost all require MS Office skills. This is no surprise because virtually every business uses MS Word® and MS Excel®. This is especially true for Excel. All MS Office applications are popular, but Excel is easily the most popular since 99.99% of businesses worldwide use it.
People entering the workforce are told Excel skills qualify them for more jobs and careers, even without a college degree. They are also told they can increase their earning power by around 12% if they have proven Excel proficiency.
Why Excel Skills Are in Demand
Excel is popular because everyone in an organization—from data entry clerks to senior executives—is required to compile, manage, and store information, which can be done easily with spreadsheets that also offer an easy way to present data so colleagues and stakeholders can easily understand it.
Since hiring has gone digital, business leaders often ask, “Is there an online Excel test?” so they can recruit employees who can:
To satisfy this need, organizations worldwide across all industries use Excel skills tests to screen and hire employees. By reviewing Excel skills assessment test results, they can ensure candidates have good computer proficiency and critical data management skills and experience.
What is the MS Excel Skills Assessment?
HR professionals often ask, “What is the Excel test for employment?” We tell them a basic Excel assessment test enables recruiters to evaluate candidates’ ability to perform basic Excel functions such as creating reports, using formulas, performing math calculations, and formatting cells (e.g., changing a font, modifying cell and border alignment, and changing a decimal to a percent).
HR teams also use Excel skills tests to assess applicants’ knowledge of advanced features, such as using statistical modeling functions to perform regression analyses and create histograms.
What is a Basic Excel Skills Assessment?
Employers can use Excel skills assessment tests to evaluate a candidate’s ability to set up and use spreadsheets. Businesses use assessment solutions to create Excel skills assessment tests that verify applicants’ knowledge and experience. These are some reasons many choose the industry-leading eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM:
You also have the option to build assessments by selecting questions from multiple skills tests. For example, if you work for a hospital and are hiring data entry operators, you can create an assessment using questions from the Data Entry Operator Skills Test and add questions from the MS Excel Skills, Medical Terminology, and Medical Typing assessments.
When HR professionals ask if there is an Excel proficiency test, we tell them simulations are the “ultimate” MS Excel proficiency test because they can be used to evaluate candidates’ ability to perform basic tasks such as using formulas and functions and adding and deleting rows and columns. They can also be used to evaluate advanced MS Excel skills such as setting up macros, using pivot tables, and VLOOKUP.
How Excel Skills Tests Help Organizations Improve Hiring
When you hire the right people, everything works as it should, and things get done. A McKinsey study showed that hiring superior talent can increase productivity by up to eight times, and in some cases, high performers are 800% more productive than average performers. The following scenario shows how one bad hire can disrupt operations and negatively affect productivity.
Frederick, the HR manager for an electronics distributor, needed to fill a data entry operator position. The person would be responsible for entering sales orders, purchase orders for raw materials and parts, and shipping documents.
The person would work in an extremely busy department. So, Fred was looking for candidates with good Excel proficiency and fast, accurate typing skills who had experience working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. Just as importantly, they would need to know how to use Excel to organize and report data, and be able to do so accurately even when sales volumes were up.
He posted the job, and many promising applicants responded. He reviewed resumes, created a shortlist, and scheduled interviews with several promising applicants. Brooke emerged as the top candidate because her resume indicated she had Excel and data entry experience, had worked for several large companies, and could handle busy workloads.
Gage, the department supervisor, interviewed Brooke and agreed she was the best choice. He called her references, and they gave her rave reviews. So, Frederick offered Brooke the job, and she accepted. Then the problems began.
It was soon apparent that Brooke did not have the experience she listed on her resume. She could enter data into Excel quickly but not accurately. She was also not good at checking her work. As a result, many sales and purchase orders were sent back to be redone. This caused order and shipping delays, which affected productivity and created problems for vendors and customers.
Brooke’s inaccuracy caused mistakes in shipping documents, which meant deliveries remained at freight terminals and customs until the company sent the corrected documents. Gage and Frederick met with Brooke and tried to help her improve her Excel data entry accuracy and data-checking abilities. However, nothing seemed to help.
The problem finally reached the boiling point when one of the company’s biggest clients complained about a late shipment. The VP of Sales had to intervene so the company wouldn’t lose the customer. Gage had no choice but to terminate Brooke.
This company did not use pre-employment assessments and relied on resumes and interviews to make hiring decisions. Unfortunately, these traditional methods are no longer reliable because over 77% of applicants embellish their qualifications on their resumes and during interviews.
If the company had required applicants to complete a pre-employment assessment that covered Excel proficiency, typing speed and accuracy, attention to detail, and data checking, Brooke would not have been hired. Her skills assessment results would have shown that she did not have the abilities required for the job.
How Businesses Use Excel Skills Tests to Improve Employee Development
Many training and employee development managers ask, “What is a basic Excel training test?” and whether it can be used to improve training and employee development. We tell them it is possible and explain that training and employee development leaders cite these benefits when we ask how they use Excel skills assessment tests to improve training:
Organizations such as Google, Wal-Mart, Verizon, McDonald’s, and Marriott International have invested billions in upskilling programs to enable employees to improve existing skills, pursue a college degree, and learn new skills. Amazon offers training programs as part of its Upskilling 2025 initiative that supports employees as they gain the expertise they need to move into more highly skilled roles.
How Employers Use Excel Skills Assessment Tests to Improve Hiring
Companies in every industry use skills tests to simplify hiring, reduce time-to-hire, and minimize turnover. These are some eSkill clients that use Excel skills tests to improve hiring outcomes:
Get Started with Excel Skills Tests for Hiring and Training
Organizations use Excel skills assessment tests to hire and retain top talent and identify outstanding employees they can upskill and reskill. They can also improve hiring quality, reduce hiring costs, and decrease time-to-hire. Many eSkill clients have cut hiring costs by around 70% and time-to-hire by about 60%.
Do you want to learn how Excel Skills Tests can help you improve hiring and training outcomes? Contact us to request a demo.