Become an Excel Expert
Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet application is used in many workplaces and is therefore an excellent skill to have. Advertising yourself as an Excel expert may give you an advantage over other applicants, especially in administrative support positions. Excel experts are often tasked with organizing and explaining data to non-financial managers. It's smart to become an Excel expert before applying for positions or working toward a promotion.
Steps
- Take a class.
- Joining a class at a technical college, community center or library may offer the quickest route to familiarity with the program, especially for those who have no experience with Excel techniques or other spreadsheet applications.
- Search for videos on Excel methods and features.
- The first website linked in the Sources" section of this article contains a number of videos that will help with Excel techniques.
- Borrow how-to books on Excel.
- Be sure to study the most current book on Excel along with older versions, because the features of the program change every few years. An Excel expert should be able to use any version of Excel.
- Practice your skills.
- The most mundane household finance duties can be turned into Excel technique learning and practicing opportunities.
- For example, you could export your online bank account statement into Excel and create a pivot table from the data to practice this advanced Excel feature.
- Answer any questions your spouse or roommate may have about household finances using Excel applications and features.
- Familiarize yourself with all Excel menus and sub-menus.
- Knowing where to find the options and features you need can be a significant portion of your quest to learn. It will also help you become comfortable with the logic behind advanced Excel features and how they are organized in the user interface.
- Try unfamiliar advanced Excel features.
- This is the best way to identify where your skills are lacking.
- You may be surprised which features you can teach yourself simply by jumping in to them.
Tips
- Remember that Excel spreadsheets are not just for financial information. Excel can be used to manipulate all sorts of data.
- Save your Excel file after adding each feature. It is sometimes easier to close the file and open a fresh copy than to remove a feature that is not working as intended. Saving frequently will ensure that you lose as little work as possible.
- Use the help feature in Excel. You can often find step-by-step instructions and examples to help you work through even the most difficult processes in advanced Excel.
Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Microsoft Excel
- Library card
- Internet access
