The MS Excel (Office 365, Adaptive) assessment is designed to measure the knowledge and skills of job candidates and employees in using Microsoft Excel (Office 365) to perform common work-related tasks. It is intended for use in pre-hire selection, employee development, and promotion selection decisions, and falls within the category of software skills. The assessment employs adaptive testing to enhance test security and reduce testing time, and includes a combination of multiple choice and multiple correct answer questions, some of which are timed to help prevent cheating and improve predictive accuracy.

Evaluates the knowledge necessary to perform common work-related tasks using MS Excel (Office 365). Measures skills across a broad range of fundamental areas, including data entry and cell formatting, formulas and basic functions, and cell references including relative, absolute, and mixed types. Tests the ability to sort and filter data, work with tables, and create charts and data visualizations. Gauges understanding of conditional formatting, lookup functions such as VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP, PivotTables, and printing and page layout settings.

Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) represents the state-of-the-art in knowledge, skills, and ability testing. In a CAT test, the next question is selected based on the previous responses during the test to maximize the 'information value' of each question. Additionally, the test will stop once the total information available is enough to generate a reliable score. This approach is more secure, since the questions are selected from a large pool of over 100 questions. Additionally, CAT tests are usually much shorter than traditional tests, which eases the burden on the candidate.

If the overall score is most important for evaluation purposes, and if you wish to maximize the candidate experience, then a CAT test is the right way to go. However, if you want a structured, comprehensive review of key topics for every test, then a traditional format is the best choice, though this will take longer than a CAT test.

The specific attributes measured include:

Following completion, the test produces a Candidate Selection Report that includes an overall score and detailed scores for each attribute.

The Candidate Selection Report also provides expert interview questions that help you probe critical or low-scoring areas, along with a guide for noting your evaluation of the candidate's responses. Consistent use of an interview guide is an important part of gaining better candidate insights and making better hiring decisions.

Note that while the MS Excel (Office 365) assessment is a useful and efficient instrument for confirming a base level of skill or knowledge about this important topic, it is not intended to pinpoint the exact level of candidate or skill. We recommend that skills tests, like this one, be used in parallel with other measurements, such as cognitive ability, job fit, and behavioral history. Each different type of test provides a valuable piece of information you can use when evaluating potential job performance.