add basic excel challenge

README.md

@@ -1,20 +1,14 @@
-# Introduction 
-TODO: Give a short introduction of your project. Let this section explain the objectives or the motivation behind this project. 
+# Skill Challenges
 
-# Getting Started
-TODO: Guide users through getting your code up and running on their own system. In this section you can talk about:
-1.	Installation process
-2.	Software dependencies
-3.	Latest releases
-4.	API references
+This repo is where we store challenges to assess skills. These are mainly used in selection processes or the assessment of colleague skills internally.
 
-# Build and Test
-TODO: Describe and show how to build your code and run the tests. 
+## How to use
 
-# Contribute
-TODO: Explain how other users and developers can contribute to make your code better. 
+Make a folder for your challenge and store all related documents and artifacts there. Some ideas:
 
-If you want to learn more about creating good readme files then refer the following [guidelines](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/repos/git/create-a-readme?view=azure-devops). You can also seek inspiration from the below readme files:
-- [ASP.NET Core](https://github.com/aspnet/Home)
-- [Visual Studio Code](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode)
-- [Chakra Core](https://github.com/Microsoft/ChakraCore)
+- You should, at minimum, provide `README.md` that provides details on the challenge.
+- Additional contents like solutions, interview guides or candidate instructions, etc. are welcome as well.
+
+## Inventory
+
+- `basic-excel-challenge`: a basic excel challenge that tests some skills that would be expected for someone to have basic analyst role.

challenges/basic-excel-challenge/2025Q2_ExcelTest.xlsx:Zone.Identifier

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[ZoneTransfer]
+ZoneId=3
+HostUrl=https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T6DN889HD-F08P7KVBCH1/download/2025q2_exceltest.xlsx?origin_team=T6DN889HD

challenges/basic-excel-challenge/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# Basic Excel Challenge
+
+A basic excel challenge that tests some skills that would be expected for someone to have basic analyst role. A data-team grade data analyst should fly through this. A Domain Analyst is expected to be able to complete it in the proposed timeline, with possible minor mistakes.
+
+## Goals
+
+The challenge requires the candidate to put to use the following skills:
+
+- Be able to read existing tables and understand what's in them.
+- Perform filters on a clean table.
+- Perform % of total calculations.
+- Compute mean and mode statistics of a series.
+- Create line charts.
+- Perform single key and composite key joins across tables.
+- Import CSV files into Excel.
+- Run basic arithmetic formulas.
+
+Some of these can be solved manually, through formulas, with pivot tables, etc. It's possible that different candidates use different strategies.
+
+Besides this, you can emphasize more or less the importance of pretty result presentation, reproducibility, methodology explanations, etc. That's up to you and not really defined in the test.
+
+## Inventory
+
+- `basic_excel_challenge - starting file.xlsx`: the workbook that serves as both starting point and instructions for the challenge. Candidate can use a copy of it as his working area.
+- `rates.csv`: a supplementary file that the candidate will have to import into the workboox.
+
+## How to use
+
+- Provide the candidate with both `basic_excel_challenge - starting file.xlsx` and `rates.csv`.
+- Sprinkle any specific instructions you might want to add.
+- Send it all to the candidate, provide a timeline and sit tight.
+
+## Solutions
+
+We still haven't done them lol. If you do it, please add to the repo.