15 Excel Interview Questions and Answers

Excel is a vital tool in the analysis of statistical data. For this reason, it has found a wide range of application in various fields. Interviewers in different statistical oriented companies are looking for people with innate excel knowledge. Therefore, we are going to provide you with 15 top excel interview questions to expand your knowledge on the subject. Upon clearing this tutorial, you will be better placed at acing your interview.

The 15 excel interview questions have been particularly selected for preparation services towards your oncoming job interview.

Question 1: Briefly explain what Excel entails.

Excel is an electronic spreadsheet application designed by Microsoft. It allows people to input, store, manipulate and analyze statistical data. Excel consists of rows and columns which intersect to form cells. Data is usually coded in the cells. Every cell has a unique address composed of the rows and columns making it. Excel can also be used in the presentation of numerical data through tables and graphs to depict a required picture.

Question 2: What is an Excel worksheet?

This is the interface provided by excel in which data is entered. It is a single page of a workbook. By default, Excel offers three worksheets in which the user can manipulate their data. However, you can create more worksheets by clicking on the insert function at the bottom of the page.

Question 3: What is the ribbon and how can you hide or show it?

It is an area situated at the top of the application page which provides the user with menu items and editing tools available in Excel. You can toggle between hiding and show the ribbon with the use of Control and F1 keys.

Question 4: Explain how to add cells, rows or columns in an Excel worksheet.

The process involves right clicking on the cell to which you want to add. On the drop-down menu box that appears, choose the options to add a row, column or cell. You will be prompted to pick on whether to shift the given cell right or down.

Question 5: How do you differentiate between a text and a number character in a cell?

By default, Excel aligns all the number data types to the right. Text data types are aligned to the left.

Question 6: Give the various ways of resizing a column.

The first procedure is to click on the line on the right boundary of the column and drag it to the desired size. This changes the width of the column.

A different way of going about it is to format the column properties in the home tab.

Pick the Autofit Column Width option below the cell selection. You then click on it to format the column width.

Question 7: How can one provide a dynamic range in ?Data Source? of pivot tables?

Among the Excel interview questions, this one has a higher probability of being tested.

To accomplish the above task, you need first to create a named range. You will use the offset function to do that. You will then proceed to base the pivot table with the named range you created earlier.

Question 8: Can one create a Pivot Table from a multi-sources data?

This is only possible if the multiple sources of data are from another worksheet within the current workbook on which you are working.

Question 9: Most of the times, refreshing may lead to loss of column width. How can you stop that?

This is one of the simplest Excel interview questions. Look for the pivot table options and click on the ?Enable preserve formatting? option. You will also have to disable the default AutoFormat option.

Question 10: Describe the use of the IF function in Excel.

The IF-function is one of the commonly used logical operations in Excel. It usually tests whether a condition is either true or false. The format of the IF-function is as follows:

=IF (The Logical test, value_if_true, value_if_false)

Question 11: What are the data formats available in Excel?

There are numerous data types in Excel for data formatting and storage. The most common and frequently used ones are:

? Number: this includes decimal values and separators for values that exceed a thousand. They are available for mathematical operations.
? Currency: This data format stores data based on its particular currency. The number formats set the various indicators of currency in the home tab. For the purpose of calculation, Excel handles these values as numbers.
? Date: It allows Excel to store data like dates. It can also be manipulated as a number during mathematical operations.
? Percentages: The values in question are stored as percentages which are then taken into account during arithmetic operations.
? Text. It stores the values as text. It is unique in that it includes number characters, letters, and symbols. Mathematical functions may not be performed on formatted text cells. They are usually used for naming of columns.

Question 12: Define comments and explain how they can be added to a cell.

Comments are applied to a cell for a varied number of reasons such as:

• Clarification of the purpose of the cell;
• To expound more on the formula used within the cell;
• Leaving a note to the other users who would refer to the workbook about a given cell.

If you want to insert comments into a cell, right click on the cell. On the menu that appears, click on the insert comment and choose the type of comment to add. The comment entered will be shown by a red triangle at the top right of the cell.

Question 13: Explain what a micro is with regards to Excel.

These are instructions that are set in excel to cater for repetition purposes. They are usually used as references for instructions frequently used to save on time. If you need to create a new macro, go to the developers’ tab and then input the set of instructions from the current worksheet.

Question 14: How can one enforce data integrity on Excel?

You can do this by protecting your worksheet or workbook with a password. Use the following steps to create a password:

• Click on the Tools button;
• Move to the protection option;
• Go to protect sheet;
• Key in your password and hit OK;
• You will be told to enter the password again, and then click OK.

Question 15: How can you quickly create a table to organize data in excel?

Excel provides users with the option to organize data into tables in the home tab.

The initial step is to select the range of data you wish to format into a table. On the home tab, go to the ?format as table? option in the Styles pane. By default the first row will be set as the table heading. From here you can then sort the data alphabetically, color-wise or number filtering.

We encourage you to keenly go through these 15 best excel interview questions to get the necessary knowledge of spreadsheet analysis. The answers are very conclusive so that upon getting the job you can apply this knowledge to your actual work. If you have any queries regarding excel interview questions discussed in the article, you can communicate it with us. Also, make sure to share these issues with your friends too.

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