Excel & SQL Test

Q: What are the main data analysis tests?

Some of the important data analysis tests available are: Data Analysis Test Data Analytics in Excel Test Data Interpretation Assessment Test

The Excel SQL Test uses scenario-based MCQs to evaluate candidates on their proficiency in using Microsoft Excel and SQL for data analysis and reporting. The test assesses candidates' ability to query and analyze data using SQL, import and export data between Excel and SQL databases, and create and manage Excel reports and dashboards. The test focuses on data modeling, database design, data validation and normalization, SQL functions and procedures, data visualization, and data manipulation.

Covered skills:

Basic Excel formulas
Excel lookup formulas
Analyzing data using Pivots and Filters
SQL CRUD operations
SQL Joins and subqueries
SQL indexes and views

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About the Excel & SQL Assessment Test

The Excel & SQL Test helps recruiters and hiring managers identify qualified candidates from a pool of resumes, and helps in taking objective hiring decisions. It reduces the administrative overhead of interviewing too many candidates and saves time by filtering out unqualified candidates at the first step of the hiring process.

The test screens for the following skills that hiring managers look for in candidates:

Able to use basic Excel formulas to perform calculations
Proficient in Excel lookup formulas to retrieve data from multiple sheets
Skilled in analyzing data using Pivots and Filters in Excel
Able to perform CRUD operations in SQL
Knowledgeable in SQL Joins and subqueries for data retrieval
Familiar with SQL indexes and views for performance optimization

1200+ customers in 80 countries

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Non-googleable questions

We have a very high focus on the quality of questions that test for on-the-job skills. Every question is non-googleable and we have a very high bar for the level of subject matter experts we onboard to create these questions. We have crawlers to check if any of the questions are leaked online. If/ when a question gets leaked, we get an alert. We change the question for you & let you know.

How we design questions

These are just a small sample from our library of 15,000+ questions. The actual questions on this Excel & SQL Test will be non-googleable.

🧐 Question
Medium MATCH INDEX LOOKUP	Solve
Some friends live in adjacent apartments in a building in Central Perk, New York. We want to write a function to search the apartment number by name. Which of the following functions should we use?
Medium Organization data Data transformation Duplicate Data Removal Remove Duplicate Values	Solve
We have two Excel files with organization data. One file has Organization ID and Organization Name fields, whereas the second file has Organization ID, Organization Name and Country fields. We wrote a query to retrieve the data from both files. Here’s a sample of the data retrieved: We want to ensure Organization ID field is unique. Which of the following is the ideal solution that ensures Organization ID field is unique while retaining Country data? A: Select the Organization ID and Country columns, and then click Keep Duplicates. B: Select the Organization ID and Country columns, and then click Remove Duplicates. C: Use Group BY function to group the rows by Organization ID. Specify output columns for Organization Name and Country using MAX operation. D: Select Organization ID column and then click Remove Duplicates. Then specify output columns for Country using MAX operation.
Medium Student scores Data formatting Data Transformation Data Manipulation	Solve
Here’s a sample Excel data source: Here’s the expected data format: Which of the following is the correct way to transform the data from the query editor to achieve the result? A: Columns to Select: Student Only B: Columns to Select: Student and Student ID C: Columns to Select: Primary and Secondary D: Command to Use: Pivot Column E: Command to Use: Reverse Rows F: Command to Use: Unpivot Columns
Medium VLOOKUP blood donor Lookup Functions Data Manipulation	Solve
We are looking to find the contact number of the only blood donor with blood group O-. Which function should we use to look up the correct contact number? Here's the documentation for VLOOKUP: =VLOOKUP(lookup value, range containing the lookup value, the column number in the range containing the return value, Approximate match (TRUE) or Exact match (FALSE)). A: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 3, TRUE) B: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 3, FALSE) C: =VLOOKUP("O-", D1:D10, 4) D: =VLOOKUP("O-", D1:D10, 3) E: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 4, TRUE) F: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 4, FALSE) G: =VLOOKUP("Kane", A1:E10, 4)
Medium Multi Select JOIN GROUP BY Sql Join Data Analysis	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: How many rows does the following SQL query return?
Medium nth highest sales Nested queries User Defined Functions	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: Which of the following SQL commands will find the ‘nth highest Sales’ if it exists (returns null otherwise)?
Medium Select & IN Nested queries	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: Which of the following SQL queries would return the year when neither a football or cricket winner was chosen?
Medium Sorting Ubers Nested queries Join Comparison operators	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: What will be the first two tuples resulting from the following SQL command?
Hard With, AVG & SUM MAX() MIN() Aggregate functions	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: How many tuples does the following query return?

	🧐 Question	🔧 Skill
	Medium MATCH INDEX LOOKUP	2 mins Excel	Solve
Some friends live in adjacent apartments in a building in Central Perk, New York. We want to write a function to search the apartment number by name. Which of the following functions should we use?
	Medium Organization data Data transformation Duplicate Data Removal Remove Duplicate Values	3 mins Excel	Solve
We have two Excel files with organization data. One file has Organization ID and Organization Name fields, whereas the second file has Organization ID, Organization Name and Country fields. We wrote a query to retrieve the data from both files. Here’s a sample of the data retrieved: We want to ensure Organization ID field is unique. Which of the following is the ideal solution that ensures Organization ID field is unique while retaining Country data? A: Select the Organization ID and Country columns, and then click Keep Duplicates. B: Select the Organization ID and Country columns, and then click Remove Duplicates. C: Use Group BY function to group the rows by Organization ID. Specify output columns for Organization Name and Country using MAX operation. D: Select Organization ID column and then click Remove Duplicates. Then specify output columns for Country using MAX operation.
	Medium Student scores Data formatting Data Transformation Data Manipulation	2 mins Excel	Solve
Here’s a sample Excel data source: Here’s the expected data format: Which of the following is the correct way to transform the data from the query editor to achieve the result? A: Columns to Select: Student Only B: Columns to Select: Student and Student ID C: Columns to Select: Primary and Secondary D: Command to Use: Pivot Column E: Command to Use: Reverse Rows F: Command to Use: Unpivot Columns
	Medium VLOOKUP blood donor Lookup Functions Data Manipulation	2 mins Excel	Solve
We are looking to find the contact number of the only blood donor with blood group O-. Which function should we use to look up the correct contact number? Here's the documentation for VLOOKUP: =VLOOKUP(lookup value, range containing the lookup value, the column number in the range containing the return value, Approximate match (TRUE) or Exact match (FALSE)). A: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 3, TRUE) B: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 3, FALSE) C: =VLOOKUP("O-", D1:D10, 4) D: =VLOOKUP("O-", D1:D10, 3) E: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 4, TRUE) F: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 4, FALSE) G: =VLOOKUP("Kane", A1:E10, 4)
	Medium Multi Select JOIN GROUP BY Sql Join Data Analysis	2 mins SQL	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: How many rows does the following SQL query return?
	Medium nth highest sales Nested queries User Defined Functions	3 mins SQL	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: Which of the following SQL commands will find the ‘nth highest Sales’ if it exists (returns null otherwise)?
	Medium Select & IN Nested queries	3 mins SQL	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: Which of the following SQL queries would return the year when neither a football or cricket winner was chosen?
	Medium Sorting Ubers Nested queries Join Comparison operators	3 mins SQL	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: What will be the first two tuples resulting from the following SQL command?
	Hard With, AVG & SUM MAX() MIN() Aggregate functions	2 mins SQL	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: How many tuples does the following query return?

	🧐 Question	🔧 Skill	💪 Difficulty	⌛ Time
	MATCH INDEX LOOKUP	Excel	Medium	2 mins	Solve
Some friends live in adjacent apartments in a building in Central Perk, New York. We want to write a function to search the apartment number by name. Which of the following functions should we use?
	Organization data Data transformation Duplicate Data Removal Remove Duplicate Values	Excel	Medium	3 mins	Solve
We have two Excel files with organization data. One file has Organization ID and Organization Name fields, whereas the second file has Organization ID, Organization Name and Country fields. We wrote a query to retrieve the data from both files. Here’s a sample of the data retrieved: We want to ensure Organization ID field is unique. Which of the following is the ideal solution that ensures Organization ID field is unique while retaining Country data? A: Select the Organization ID and Country columns, and then click Keep Duplicates. B: Select the Organization ID and Country columns, and then click Remove Duplicates. C: Use Group BY function to group the rows by Organization ID. Specify output columns for Organization Name and Country using MAX operation. D: Select Organization ID column and then click Remove Duplicates. Then specify output columns for Country using MAX operation.
	Student scores Data formatting Data Transformation Data Manipulation	Excel	Medium	2 mins	Solve
Here’s a sample Excel data source: Here’s the expected data format: Which of the following is the correct way to transform the data from the query editor to achieve the result? A: Columns to Select: Student Only B: Columns to Select: Student and Student ID C: Columns to Select: Primary and Secondary D: Command to Use: Pivot Column E: Command to Use: Reverse Rows F: Command to Use: Unpivot Columns
	VLOOKUP blood donor Lookup Functions Data Manipulation	Excel	Medium	2 mins	Solve
We are looking to find the contact number of the only blood donor with blood group O-. Which function should we use to look up the correct contact number? Here's the documentation for VLOOKUP: =VLOOKUP(lookup value, range containing the lookup value, the column number in the range containing the return value, Approximate match (TRUE) or Exact match (FALSE)). A: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 3, TRUE) B: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 3, FALSE) C: =VLOOKUP("O-", D1:D10, 4) D: =VLOOKUP("O-", D1:D10, 3) E: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 4, TRUE) F: =VLOOKUP("O-", A1:E10, 4, FALSE) G: =VLOOKUP("Kane", A1:E10, 4)
	Multi Select JOIN GROUP BY Sql Join Data Analysis	SQL	Medium	2 mins	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: How many rows does the following SQL query return?
	nth highest sales Nested queries User Defined Functions	SQL	Medium	3 mins	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: Which of the following SQL commands will find the ‘nth highest Sales’ if it exists (returns null otherwise)?
	Select & IN Nested queries	SQL	Medium	3 mins	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: Which of the following SQL queries would return the year when neither a football or cricket winner was chosen?
	Sorting Ubers Nested queries Join Comparison operators	SQL	Medium	3 mins	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: What will be the first two tuples resulting from the following SQL command?
	With, AVG & SUM MAX() MIN() Aggregate functions	SQL	Hard	2 mins	Solve
Consider the following SQL table: How many tuples does the following query return?

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Why you should use Pre-employment Excel & SQL Test?

The Excel & SQL Test makes use of scenario-based questions to test for on-the-job skills as opposed to theoretical knowledge, ensuring that candidates who do well on this screening test have the relavant skills. The questions are designed to covered following on-the-job aspects:

Basic Excel formulas for data manipulation
Excel lookup formulas for retrieving specific information
Analyzing data using Pivots and Filters in Excel
Executing SQL CRUD operations for data management
Performing SQL Joins and subqueries for data extraction
Utilizing SQL indexes and views for optimization
Creating and modifying Excel spreadsheets effectively
Implementing complex Excel formulas for advanced calculations
Applying Excel conditional formatting and data validation
Using SQL functions for data manipulation

Once the test is sent to a candidate, the candidate receives a link in email to take the test. For each candidate, you will receive a detailed report with skills breakdown and benchmarks to shortlist the top candidates from your pool.

What topics are covered in the Excel & SQL Test?

Basic Excel formulas: This skill covers the fundamental formulas in Excel that allow users to perform calculations and manipulate data. It is important to measure this skill in the test as it forms the building blocks for more advanced Excel functions and data analysis.

Excel lookup formulas: This skill involves using formulas in Excel to search for specific values in a data set and retrieve corresponding information. Measuring this skill in the test helps assess the candidate's ability to efficiently access and retrieve data from Excel spreadsheets.

Analyzing data using Pivots and Filters: This skill focuses on the use of Excel's pivot tables and filtering capabilities to analyze and summarize large data sets. It is crucial to measure this skill in the test as it demonstrates the candidate's proficiency in performing data analysis tasks using Excel's powerful features.

SQL CRUD operations: This skill involves creating, reading, updating, and deleting data in a relational database using SQL. It is essential to measure this skill in the test as it assesses the candidate's ability to interact with a database and perform basic data manipulation tasks.

SQL Joins and subqueries: This skill encompasses the ability to combine data from multiple tables using SQL joins and utilize subqueries to retrieve specific information. Measuring this skill in the test is important as it evaluates the candidate's understanding of database relationships and their capability to write complex queries.

SQL indexes and views: This skill involves creating indexes to optimize query performance and creating views for presenting data in a predefined format. Measuring this skill in the test is crucial as it assesses the candidate's knowledge of database optimization techniques and their ability to create efficient data presentation structures.

Full list of covered topics

The actual topics of the questions in the final test will depend on your job description and requirements. However, here's a list of topics you can expect the questions for Excel & SQL Test to be based on.

Basic formulas

Lookup formulas

Pivot tables

Filters

SQL CRUD operations

SQL Joins

SQL subqueries

SQL indexes

SQL views

SUM function

AVERAGE function

COUNT function

IF function

VLOOKUP function

HLOOKUP function

INDEX function

MATCH function

OFFSET function

Conditional formatting

Sorting data

Filtering data

Slicers

Consolidating data

Grouping data

Aggregating data

Adding and deleting rows/columns

Inserting and manipulating data with SQL

Updating and deleting data with SQL

Selecting specific columns with SQL

Querying multiple tables with SQL

Using subqueries in SQL

Working with indexes in SQL

Creating and managing views in SQL

What roles can I use the Excel & SQL Test for?

SQL Data Analyst
Business Intelligence Analyst
Database Administrator
Financial Analyst
Operations Analyst
Business Analyst

How is the Excel & SQL Test customized for senior candidates?

For intermediate/ experienced candidates, we customize the assessment questions to include advanced topics and increase the difficulty level of the questions. This might include adding questions on topics like

Advanced Excel formulas for complex data analysis
Optimizing Pivots and Filters in Excel for better performance
Designing and implementing efficient SQL database schema
Implementing SQL security measures for data protection
Writing SQL queries with multiple table joins for complex data retrieval
Utilizing SQL subqueries to solve advanced data problems
Evaluating and optimizing SQL query performance using indexes
Designing and creating SQL views for simplified data access
Applying advanced Excel formulas for forecasting and modeling
Utilizing Excel data analysis tools for insights and trends
Analyzing large datasets using SQL aggregation functions

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Have questions about the Excel & SQL Hiring Test?

What is the Excel & SQL Test?

The Excel & SQL Test is designed to assess a candidate's proficiency in Excel and SQL. Recruiters use this test to evaluate candidates for roles that require a solid understanding of data analysis, reporting, and database management.

Can I combine the Excel & SQL Test with other skills?

Yes, recruiters can request a custom test that includes multiple skills. For example, you might want to combine this test with the Business Analyst Excel Test.

What skills are assessed in the Excel & SQL Test?

This test evaluates basic and advanced skills, including:

Basic Excel formulas
Lookup formulas in Excel
Analyzing data using Pivots and Filters
SQL CRUD operations
SQL joins and subqueries
SQL indexes and views

How to use the Excel & SQL Test in my hiring process?

Use this test as a pre-screening tool at the start of your recruitment. You can add the test link to your job post or directly invite candidates via email.

Can I test Excel, SQL, and PHP together in a test?

Yes, you can use the combo test PHP, Drupal & SQL Test for this purpose. Combining these skills is recommended for roles requiring a broad skill set.

What are the main data analysis tests?

Some of the important data analysis tests available are:

Can I combine multiple skills into one custom assessment?

Yes, absolutely. Custom assessments are set up based on your job description, and will include questions on all must-have skills you specify. Here's a quick guide on how you can request a custom test.

Do you have any anti-cheating or proctoring features in place?

We have the following anti-cheating features in place:

Non-googleable questions
IP proctoring
Screen proctoring
Web proctoring
Webcam proctoring
Plagiarism detection
Secure browser
Copy paste protection

Read more about the proctoring features.

How do I interpret test scores?

The primary thing to keep in mind is that an assessment is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. A skills assessment is optimized to help you eliminate candidates who are not technically qualified for the role, it is not optimized to help you find the best candidate for the role. So the ideal way to use an assessment is to decide a threshold score (typically 55%, we help you benchmark) and invite all candidates who score above the threshold for the next rounds of interview.

What experience level can I use this test for?

Each Adaface assessment is customized to your job description/ ideal candidate persona (our subject matter experts will pick the right questions for your assessment from our library of 10000+ questions). This assessment can be customized for any experience level.

Does every candidate get the same questions?

Yes, it makes it much easier for you to compare candidates. Options for MCQ questions and the order of questions are randomized. We have anti-cheating/ proctoring features in place. In our enterprise plan, we also have the option to create multiple versions of the same assessment with questions of similar difficulty levels.

I'm a candidate. Can I try a practice test?

No. Unfortunately, we do not support practice tests at the moment. However, you can use our sample questions for practice.

What is the cost of using this test?

You can check out our pricing plans.

Can I get a free trial?

Yes, you can sign up for free and preview this test.

I just moved to a paid plan. How can I request a custom assessment?

Here is a quick guide on how to request a custom assessment on Adaface.

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Along with scorecards that report the performance of the candidate in detail, you also receive a comparative analysis against the company average and industry standards.

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