•1 min read•from Microsoft Excel | Help & Support with your Formula, Macro, and VBA problems | A Reddit Community
First Excel technical for a consulting new-grad role — how should I prep?
Our take
Feeling anxious about your upcoming Excel technical for a consulting role? You're not alone. While your finance background has equipped you with foundational skills like VLOOKUP and pivot tables, a formal Excel interview can still feel daunting. This guide will help you navigate the nuances of advanced functions and problem-solving strategies that often arise in these tests. By focusing on common tasks and effective practice techniques, you’ll gain the confidence to tackle your interview head-on.
Hey everyone,
I’m a recent grad interviewing for an entry-level consulting/compensation role, and I have a 30-minute Excel technical coming up next week.
I come from a finance background, so I’m comfortable with things like:
- VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP
- INDEX-MATCH
- SUMIFS/COUNTIFS
- Pivot tables (basic use)
- Cleaning simple datasets
But I’ve never done a formal Excel “technical” interview before, so I’m not really sure what to expect in a timed setting.
The recruiter said it tests “formulas and advanced functions,” but didn’t give much detail.
For those who’ve done these before:
- What kinds of tasks usually show up?
- Is it more about speed, logic, or obscure functions?
- Any common “gotchas” I should watch out for?
- Best ways to practice in a week?
If you’ve done consulting/analyst-style Excel tests, I’d really appreciate any advice or sample problems.
Thanks in advance 🙏
[link] [comments]
Read on the original site
Open the publisher's page for the full experience
Related Articles
- Looking for advise/recommendations taking my first excel test for an inventory planning positionHello! I was just told during a phone interview I will be moving forward and taking an excel test. I have never taken an excel test before and am incredibly nervous! I currently work as a supply chain buyer/planner for 3 years and though I work in excel most of the day its mostly from exported sheets that need very basic clean up to work off of. I rarely use formulas of any kind, used vlookup maybe a couple times, created a some basic spreadsheets and done only one version of a pivot table in that time. My knowledge in excel is rudimentary and I have very basic knowledge of how formulas work. I'm concerned I'll be in over my head and embarrassed during this test. I have 1 week to prepare and am looking for any advise, things to specifically work on, or any practice tests recommendations regarding this field. Perhaps some stories on your experience with your first, or any excel tests you've taken as well. Thank you! submitted by /u/Ginoblee [link] [comments]
- Data Analysis Excel InterviewI've got a interview coming up that is likely going to be testing my excel skills in data analysis how can i prep and any advice from those who have done one before submitted by /u/CryptographerOk4012 [link] [comments]
- How to prepare for assessment for internshipI have an interview in almost 2 weeks for an internship which includes a 1 hr Excel assessment. It’s for an accounting/financial reporting/reporting analyst internship so I am assuming it will be in that context. As an Excel beginner, what are the main skills needed for an assessment and also, how difficult will the assessment be. On the job description, it says knowledge of advanced excel so I don’t know what level to go for submitted by /u/dm_2503 [link] [comments]
- live skills assessment in excelHi folks! This might not be what’s allowed in this sub so I apologize if this isn’t the right place but I have a live skills test in Excel coming up. I have no idea what the contents will be or what data I’ll be using. I’ve used this subs resources (Thank you!) and I’ve been reviewing what I know already, so I’m not asking for a list of things to know (although I always appreciate that) but more of advice how how to remain collected when analyzing in Excel, if any of you have done an assessment on camera like this, what was it like, and how to… excel:) I used Excel a lot in my Master’s and in my previous role but nothing fancy. VLOOKUP, Pivot Tables, IF statements (CountIF and SumIF), basic visualizations, etc, but I am way more comfortable coding in R and SQL, and feel like that’s more where my skill set lies than in Excel. I also get really anxious when people watch me work, and the only other live skills test I ever did, I bombed horribly. Have any of you done an assessment like this and have any recommendations on how to go about it? Thanks and sorry again if this is not a good place to post this!! submitted by /u/baby-blues22 [link] [comments]
Tagged with
#Excel alternatives for data analysis#Excel compatibility#natural language processing for spreadsheets#generative AI for data analysis#rows.com#enterprise-level spreadsheet solutions#financial modeling with spreadsheets#Excel technical#consulting role#VLOOKUP#XLOOKUP#INDEX-MATCH#entry-level#SUMIFS#COUNTIFS#formulas#advanced functions#finance background#Pivot tables#interview preparation