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Excel Interview Questions with Worked Answers

Ten common Excel interview questions on a small staff list, each with a short spoken answer and a formula checked in a live sheet.

Excel interviews mix two kinds of questions: concept questions you answer in a sentence, and small tasks you answer with a formula. This page lists ten common ones with a short answer you could say out loud and, where it helps, the formula that proves it. They all run against the same seven-row staff list, so you can paste the data into any spreadsheet and verify the results yourself.

The questions are chosen to separate memorized phrases from understanding: when to use SUMIFS rather than SUMIF, how to look up to the left, how to keep a lookup from showing an error, how to rank, how to find duplicates, and how to express a share as a percentage. A good answer names the situation, gives the formula, and mentions the check. A great one adds a limitation.

Use the page as rehearsal. Cover the answer, say yours aloud, then compare. The live sheet asks for an average salary by department, a typical warm-up. If you want more hands-on work, the interview preparation path and the job-interview test page have lesson tasks, and the free Sample mock exam gives you a timed set of four. Interviewers differ, so use these as practice, not a script.

Your turn

Warm-up question: in F2, calculate the average salary of the Sales department.

Example spreadsheet for staff list
ABCDEF
1NameDepartmentSalaryRating
2AnaSales520004
3BenOps480003
4CySales610005
5DeeFinance700004
6EliOps450002
7FaySales580003
8GusFinance660005
9
10
11
12
Not yet solved.

Practice under a time limit

Try the free Sample mock exam with 4 tasks in 8 minutes, or browse the level and interview mock exams included with Pro + Exams.

Take the free Sample mock examBrowse mock exams (Pro + Exams)

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Open a task in its lesson.

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  3. In F2, calculate the total of Emma's deals in Boston.

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  4. In G2:G4, look up the item price.

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  5. In G2:G6, turn the text in column A into numbers (some have spaces at the edges).

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  6. Build a second PivotTable: the average deal amount by city, with the result in F8.

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  7. In F10:F13, find the prepayment discount from the scale in F2:G5 (approximate match on the number of months).

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  8. Fix D3: the average price of coffee.

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Worked answers

Try the spreadsheet first, then compare your formula and result.

1. How do you count the people in a list?

Interviewer: how many employees are listed in A2:A8, even if some salaries were missing?

Formula: =COUNTA(A2:A8) → 7

  1. Say: count the names column rather than a number column, because COUNTA counts non-empty cells while COUNT counts only numbers.

2. SUMIF or SUMIFS?

Interviewer: what is the total salary of Sales staff with a rating of 4 or higher?

Formula: =SUMIFS(C2:C8,B2:B8,"Sales",D2:D8,">=4") → 113000

  1. Say: two conditions, so SUMIFS; the sum range comes first, then each criteria range and criteria.

3. Exact lookup

Interviewer: what is Dee's salary?

Formula: =VLOOKUP("Dee",A2:D8,3,FALSE) → 70000

  1. Say: VLOOKUP with FALSE for an exact match; the salary is the third column of A2:D8.

4. Looking up to the left

Interviewer: who earns 70000?

Formula: =INDEX(A2:A8,MATCH(70000,C2:C8,0)) → Dee

  1. Say: VLOOKUP cannot return a column left of the key, so use INDEX with MATCH.

5. Avoiding an ugly error

Interviewer: what do you show for a name that is not in the list, such as Zoe?

Formula: =IFERROR(VLOOKUP("Zoe",A2:D8,3,FALSE),"Not found") → Not found

  1. Say: wrap the lookup in IFERROR and return a clear message, but only after you have confirmed the error really means not found.

6. Ranking

Interviewer: what is Ben's salary rank, highest first?

Formula: =RANK(C3,C2:C8) → 6

  1. Say: RANK of Ben's cell within the salary range, in descending order by default.

7. Counting with a condition

Interviewer: how many employees have a rating of 4 or more?

Formula: =COUNTIF(D2:D8,">=4") → 4

  1. Say: COUNTIF with a comparison in quotes.

8. Highest value in a group

Interviewer: what is the highest salary in Ops?

Formula: =MAXIFS(C2:C8,B2:B8,"Ops") → 48000

  1. Say: MAXIFS returns the maximum that meets a condition, with no array formula needed.

9. A share as a percentage

Interviewer: what percent of total payroll is Finance, rounded to one decimal?

Formula: =ROUND(SUMIF(B2:B8,"Finance",C2:C8)/SUM(C2:C8)*100,1) → 34

  1. Say: divide the group total by the overall total, multiply by 100, and round.

10. Spotting duplicates

Interviewer: how would you check whether Ana appears more than once?

Formula: =COUNTIF(A2:A8,"Ana") → 1

  1. Say: COUNTIF of the name over the list; anything above 1 is a duplicate.

Frequently asked questions

Are these the exact questions interviewers ask?

No. They are typical examples. Interviewers choose their own, so use these to practice explaining, not to memorize.

Do I need to say the formula or only the idea?

Start with the idea and the situation, then give the formula. Naming a check, such as a manual subtotal, shows you do not trust a number blindly.

Which question separates strong candidates?

Lookup failure handling. Strong answers explain why the error appears and decide deliberately what to show instead.

Can I run these formulas elsewhere?

Yes. Paste the staff list into any spreadsheet starting at A1 and the formulas return the same results.

Is there a timed way to practice?

The free Sample mock exam has 4 tasks in 8 minutes. Level and interview mock exams are part of Pro + Exams.

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