If you look through any job posting site online, you might quickly see that many employers prefer candidates with experience in Microsoft Excel. Knowing how to use Excel is deemed an essential and in-demand skill in almost all industries. Advanced Excel skills and expertise include:
- Making graphs and tables.
- Utilizing spreadsheets efficiently.
- Performing automation and calculations when processing large volumes of data.
Whether or not you have already established Excel skills, it is crucial that you still have basic information regarding this software application, as most jobs may require you to sit in front of your computer and manipulate data in Excel. Here are some of the top excel skills that you may need for work:
1. Create Pivot Tables
The Pivot Table is an Excel feature used to create reports derived from large data sets. It is a powerful tool if mastered because it allows users to look at the same data sets from different perspectives. A Pivot Table’s significant functions are summarizing, analyzing, and comparing trends and patterns that the data may reflect.
To further emphasize, here are the features that Pivot Tables hold which may also be beneficial to practice with and use for work:
- Present in a user-friendly and time-efficient way large amount of data
- Summarize data into categories and subcategories
- Create custom formulas and calculations that users may apply to the data set
- Group data and efficiently filter or sort out data that you need and don’t need
Having excel skills such as developing pivot tables can be necessary to move forward in your line of work. If you want to learn more skills then taking Online Excel Courses can be beneficial for you.
2. Apply Conditional Formatting
Conditional formatting is a valuable tool for designing spreadsheets, such that it gives a quicker way for any user to add a layer of visual analysis to a data set. Features include changing the color of a set and the contents, depending on the criteria you will set. An example is highlighting any cells with negative numbers with the color red.
3. Setting Up Charts
Charts strengthen and make date presentation easier by providing visual aids which are easy to comprehend. This is particularly helpful when dealing with data containing many numbers. Charts can be tools to assist users so that they may compare pieces of a data set easily with another set.
The most common charts that are used in Excel are the bar, column, pie, line, and scatter charts. Column, bar, pie, and line charts are usually used when dealing with a single series of numbers. Scatter charts use two sets of corresponding data for comparison, e.g., height versus weight.
4. OFFSET Proficiency
The OFFSET function’s purpose is to return a range, a specified number of rows and columns derived from a reference cell or range. When we say referencing, it typically requires clicking on the cell or typing characters or data in a column and row.
OFFSET has a range that may involve a single cell range or multiple consecutive cells. Once a range is returned, users may be able to specify the size by inserting several columns or rows. Regarding handling data and formulas, proficiency with OFFSET is a handy skill, especially with data that require dynamic range.
5. Excel Filters
Filters are helpful in temporarily hiding data so that the user will not be distracted by other information on the spreadsheet. You can find this feature under ‘Sort and Filter’ in the Data tab and set the filter to a range of data based on your input criteria. Other features such as Auto-filter or comparison functions such as “greater than” and “top 10” are great tools for data filtering by number values and cell colors.
Takeaway
As a professional, having Excel skills, whether simple or advanced, is a qualification that will surely benefit you in the workplace. If you are looking for work, this might be the skill that your prospective employer is looking for.
Validate Your Business Data Using Excel Drop Down List