Top Five Advanced Excel Skills Employers Look For!
“I am an avid reader of online articles that edify me on how I can get a more senior role and advance my accounting career. A few takeaways that I have gotten from those articles include crafting a professional CV, tailoring it to a specific role, and including relevant skills. I have applied for several jobs and during the interviews, when given practical questions that involve using advanced excel skills; it is hard to perform because I just have the basic skills and not advanced skills. The one thing that has been holding me back from getting jobs is lack of advanced Excel skills. Perhaps I have been using Excel but there are some functions that I have not mastered. My main question is, which excel skills do employers look for when hiring and will I acquire those skills through the training offered by CSSS?” This was a concern that was raised by Triza during the open day for the advanced excel introductory class.
The world is becoming more data-driven and increasing dependency on Excel has increased the demand for advanced Excel experts with relevant skills.
Here are five relevant skills that employers look for when hiring;
1. PivotTables
This is a table of statistics that summarizes data in an organized way to further analyze the results and create reports with large data sets.
During advanced excel training, you will understand the popular functions before you dive into more advanced features such as grouping values, defining custom sort lists, and more.
2. Basic Macros
Learning how to implement Excel macros is a skill that employers are always seeking out because they help the user to save time on repetitive tasks involved in data manipulation and reports.
“During the training, I will guide you through the step-by-step process of how to create macros and use them to automate your work efficiently,” The trainer said.
3. Data Validation
Data validation is the process that involves ensuring the data has been fine-tuned to provide the highest quality. This is because the employers have different work styles and how they want the data to be presented is different.
For you to gain hand-in-knowledge with data validation, you need to take up advanced excel training and you will learn how to save time and work efficiently.
4. Charts/Graph
Professionals who use advanced excel skills aim at showcasing their findings through visual representation.
“During the training, I will teach you how to work with charts and advanced formatting styles by introducing Excel’s distinctive features to you. For example dynamic visuals, interactive form controls, and much more that will help you create clear and compelling graphs/charts and reports that make your findings stand out” added the trainer.
5. Proper Formatting
Formatting data correctly is a skill in itself that employers look for when hiring. When you learn how to streamline and analyze data effectively, you will have an opportunity to prove to potential employers that you have a valuable skill set that will help you be productive in your next role.
For instance, in Triza’s case, she missed a lot of opportunities because she didn’t have the advanced excel skills that most employers were looking for.
Let’s Conclude!
Employers will always look for professionals who can maximize productivity within the limited time hence any feature that ensures working efficiency with Excel will increase your chances of being hired.
Stand out among other professionals by adding these 5 skill sets in the next Advanced Excel training.