Interview - Computer test

Hello fellow AF’ers, I have an interview where they will be testing my modeling skills and sitting me in front of a computer for an hour. This interview is for a research role. Has anyone had a similar exam? What exactly do they test?

Perhaps you can find out what tools/technologies they use. E.g. if they’re an Excel heavy shop, you may be asked to build a model from scratch in a spreadsheet.

You may want to check out the newest version of Excel if you don’t already use it. The ribbons will waste tons of your time if you arn’t use to them.

Can’t you ask them a bit about the test? Maybe ask HR about it? I had a “modeling” test when I started in PE a couple years back. It was dead simple. They basically just tested very basic accounting/finance concepts (and I mean basic) as well as fundamentals of building models. I was given a blank excel workbook and a two-page case. There were 10 questions or so that required making modifications to the model. If you set up the model correctly, you could run the scenarios in the alloted time of 30 minutes. If you didn’t know anything about modeling you wouldn’t be able to get the answers in that short amount of time. Good luck!

ack, my excel skills are average at best. i will try cram as much as i can. thank you for the insights

Storkie, This should help with the prep. http://www.exinfm.com/free_spreadsheets.html

sounds like the type of test you can’t really prepare for. i’ve done these tests a couple times for ‘research roles’, both times I asked HR if they could explain it and both said “it’s something you either know or don’t know”. One was a logic test and the other was an excel and acess test – creating queries and manipulating/charting data, no big deal.