How Do You Assess MS Office Skills Before Hiring? Seeking Effective Testing Methods

Dear all,

How do we test whether a candidate has a good knowledge of MS Office before hiring them for a position that requires MS Office? Are there different ways of testing the computer literacy of applicants? Please let me know.

Thanks and Regards,
Vijaya

Dear all,

I am sure some of you will be testing the computer skills of candidates who are applying for a job that requires computer skills. Please share the various methods of testing this skill among job applicants.

Thanks and Regards

Yes, one can easily grade an applicant on his/her MS-Office skills. One needs to assign some small office daily work and tell them to finish in front of you.

Recently, I had to interview applicants for a teacher's job where I had to check their competency in MS-Office. I simply put some exercises in front of them:

1. Mail merge - When the same mail content needs to be sent to multiple people. Mostly used in results.
2. Prepare results in an Excel sheet - It will show you whether the applicant really makes use of inbuilt functions.
3. Proper documentation style - Give them an article and tell them to write in the same way.

There are more exercises you can create based on the position and compare who is quickly solving them.

Thanks

Dear all,

How do we test whether a candidate has good knowledge of MS Office before hiring them for a position that requires MS Office? Are there different ways of testing the computer literacy of applicants? Please let me know.

Thanks and Regards,
Vijaya

Take 3 different test modules. But I suggest you tailor the test according to your needs. For example, if there is more work in Outlook, ask them to prepare a V-card to store info, auto-reply, signature, etc. For Word, test page formatting like margins, paper size, header-footer, etc. For Excel, ask them to calculate simple formulas like sum, division, percentage, average, auto-fill, graphs, etc. For PowerPoint, ask them to create a presentation.

Hope this works out.

Dear Vijaya,

Testing of MS Office skills is simple. Just give the candidate a letter (drafted by yourself), with some deliberate mistakes in spellings and uneven paragraphs, and ask the candidate to type that letter or paragraph. If they complete it properly (up to your standards), then it's okay.

Similarly, provide them with a pre-made Excel sheet and ask them to input formulas wherever necessary.

Shyam Kulkarni

Hi,

I work with tests. I give them a test (IT, Office, Outlook, whatever) and then I can see the mistakes they have made. If it's good, it's good; if it's not, then someone has been 'pimping' their CV! It works efficiently. Standardized tests make a big difference, I have noticed!

Dear Vijaya,

Find enclosed questions which are downloaded from the below-mentioned web link.

1. In order to save an existing document with a different name, you need to:
- Retype the document and give it a different name
- Use the Save as... command
- Copy and paste the original document to a new document and then save
- Use Windows Explorer to copy the document to a different location and then rename it

2. Which keyboard shortcut bolds selected text?
- Ctrl+B
- Alt+B
- File/Format/Bold
- None of the above

3. How can you highlight text without using the mouse?
- It is impossible
- Use the F5 key
- Use the arrow keys while holding down a Ctrl key
- Use the arrow keys while holding down a Shift key

4. What would you see while spell checking the phrase "My father was write"?
- The word "write" is misspelled
- No errors
- The verb of the phrase will be highlighted
- A blue squiggly underline under the word "write"

5. Suddenly Word does not display your favorite toolbar. What has happened?
- Your program has been infected by a macro virus
- This version of Word does not support toolbars
- Your toolbar option has been deleted from the menus
- Your toolbar has been unchecked under the View/Toolbars menu

6. In page preview mode:
- You can see all pages of your document
- You can only see the page you are currently working on
- You can only see pages that do not contain graphics
- You can only see the title page of your document

7. Which elements of a Word document can be displayed in color?
- Only graphics
- Only text
- All elements
- All elements, but only if you have a color printer

8. In order to create columnar data in Word you need to:
- Tab consecutively until your cursor reaches the desired place
- Set tabs or use the Table menu
- You need to use Excel
- Press the space bar until your cursor reaches the desired place

9. The background of any Word document:
- Is always white color
- Is the color you preset under the Options menu
- Is always the same for the entire document
- Can have any color you choose

10. In Word, you can force a page break by:
- Positioning your cursor at the appropriate place and pressing the F1 key
- Using the Insert/Section Break
- Positioning your cursor at the appropriate place and pressing Ctrl+Enter
- Changing the font size of your document

Regarding your question on testing a candidate's knowledge of MS Office before hiring them for a position that requires MS Office skills, there are indeed different ways to test computer literacy among applicants. These may include practical assessments, software-specific tests, interviews focusing on technical skills, and references from previous employers highlighting the candidate's proficiency in using MS Office.

Best regards,
Prashant