Introduction

Microsoft Excel is no longer just software. In fact it has become a necessity for life. It is a skill which every person in his or her profession should know and learn. Today, Excel is used in every field by all the professionals in the world. Basic Excel skills are very easy to learn and anyone can try to learn.

Skills required in Excel for working professionals

1. Data Filters–Sort, hide, delete all the bits of information in a spreadsheet at any time

2. Data Sorting-Ability to sort the data in your spreadsheets.

3. Pivot Tables- For summarizing and you will be able to count, add, average

4. SUMIF/SUMIFS- function to extract any data if it satisfies some condition.

5. COUNTIFS– calculates counts if cells satisfy a given condition.

6. Shortcut Keys-You can surely save a lot of time if you know shortcut keyboard keys.

7. Charts-Visualization of data in Excel.

8. Cell Formatting-Format size, color, etc of cells.

9. Page Layout –Manage and change page layouts.

10.  Data Validation-It gives correct results in validations.

11. Workbook-Collection of spreadsheets in a single file.

12. Vlookup-Collection of data from different spreadsheets.

13. Pivot Charts-Another brilliant skill for Visualization.

14. Flash Fill-Ability to fill the information in cells compared to manual efforts.

15. Quick Analysis-Time saving skill to perform analysis.

16. Power View-Pulls and performs analysis of huge chunks of data.

17. Conditional Formatting-Various filters available in Excel to perform user based formatting.

18. Exchanging Column with Rows-You might need to interchange column to rows data and vice versa.

19. IF Columns-Conditional formulas based on criterias.

20. Auditing Formulas-Display the relation between formulas and cells.

Excel skills to consider

1. Data Filters

The process of selecting a smaller subset of a data set for viewing or analysis is known as data filtering. Filtering is usually temporary, the entire data set is saved, but just a portion of it is used in the calculation. Filtering can be used for a variety of purposes, including

Examine the results for a specific period of time.

Calculate the outcomes for specific groups of interest.

Remove any observations that are incorrect or poor from the analysis.

Develop and test statistical models.

You can perform all these steps efficiently using Excel.

2. Data Sorting

Any procedure that includes putting data into some meaningful order to make it easier to interpret, or display is known as data sorting. Sorting is a typical strategy for presenting data in a way that makes it simpler to understand the story the data is telling while working with research data. Sorting can be done using raw data or aggregated data in Excel using tables, charts, or some other aggregated or summarized output.

You can sort alphabetically or serially to make the data more readable.

3. Pivot Tables

One of the primary and most famous data analysis tools is the pivot table. Many key business questions can be easily answered with the pivot tables.

We develop Pivot tables for a variety of reasons, one of which is to convey information. We would like to back up our storey with data that’s simple to comprehend and see. Despite the fact that Pivot tables are just tables with no true images, they can nevertheless be used to tell a story visually.

4. SUMIF/SUMIFS

This is a useful Sumif Excel function that sums cells that fulfill various yet specified conditions. When nearby cells fulfill requirements based on dates, text, or numbers, it is frequently used. In other words, it’s a method for quickly sorting data in a spreadsheet.

5. COUNTIFS

COUNTIFS is a function in Microsoft Excel that counts the number of cells in a range that match one or more conditions. They can be used as a worksheet function and can be used as part of a formula in a worksheet cell itself. Some of these Excel abilities may appear unfamiliar at first, but they are simple to acquire when you follow an organised learning route, such as one of our Excel classes.

6. Shortcut Keys

If you understand how to use shortcut keys in Excel, you will be able to complete your tasks faster. These are a few of these keys that can be accessed directly from the keyboard rather than through the mouse. You can  save a few minutes  each time if you use this shortcut, but your work requires working  on spreadsheets daily, mastering these  shortcut keys will save a lot of time. Example: Ctrl+c– Copy, Ctrl+V— Paste. These are primary shortcuts and you need to know to save some time.

7. Charts

Another great and pretty useful skill is learning how to create charts in Excel. It is widely used in presentations by professionals. It works best for visualization of data. Charts can tell the story more visually and in an efficient manner. These are very important skill to learn. There is so much emphasis on data right now, hence visualizing it nicely becomes naturally important.

8. Cell Formatting

Making the data look clear and correct in Excel sheets is so important and not much talked about. But this is an art and equally important while working in Excel sheets. If your data is formatted correctly and visualized in correct cell shape and size, it naturally generates attention and interest for the people.

9. Page Layout

Managing page layout in Excel is a good skill to have. This makes sure that your spreadsheets are precise and particular and tell the story in a crisp way. It has to be well organised and clean looking to make it more efficient for users.

10.  Data Validation

Today, we create chunks of data from retail, healthcare, banking,etc industries. All the professionals working in these sectors require data validation to check the correctness of data. Everyone cannot run queries and maintain the data in databases. For those users, Excel comes in handy to perform data validations. It is an extremely skill to have if you are a working professional.

Data comparison can be done between two or more columns or rows. You can write automation scripts in Excel as well to automate the data validation process completely.

11. Workbook

Workbook is a simple collection of different spreadsheets. All the similar kinds of spreadsheets, which are correlated, can be integrated together in the form of workbooks. This is yet another very basic and important skill to learn for an entry level role.

12. Vlookup

This one is a valued skill to have. Here using Vlookup, you can collect data from multiple sheets and different workbooks as well to keep in a centralized location which is supremely good for creating reports.

This is an extremely important skill if you are working as an Analyst in any domain.

13. Pivot Charts

This one allows you to simplify your complex category of data, so that it becomes easier to understand it. They have different subcategories like data series etc. They have lots of interactive filters to get the required information more quickly and efficiently. Your data can tell the story in graphical format using this tool and will also gain interest from users seeing the presentation.

14. Flash Fill

There are lots of tricks and methods in Excel, which can be performed to fill out the information in minutes. It takes less time to fill information using these tricks compared to filling manually. Many people do not know about these steps, hence it becomes extremely important to be aware of these.

Example. If you need to fill A column with serial order 1-20. You can click on the first cell, add one there and drag the cell, automatically nos will be listed. This is easier than manually putting numbers from 1-20.

15. Quick Analysis

This one is a time saver as well. It automatically saves your time for creating charts. You can learn about these if enrolled in a course much more efficiently. Comes with practising. Cannot be learnt in a one day course. You need to regularly practice this skill.

16. Power View

This is again a data extraction tool in Excel. You can pull chunks of data from external files or databases and can move it into Excel cells to analyse it in Excel itself. It’s a data exploration tool. Excel can work with multiple external files of different types. You can import data from csv, text, etc. Once you extract the data, you can store it in Excel and can perform all the calculations easily. This one comes in handy if you are in tech and have jobs like Data Analyst or Data Scientist.

17. Conditional Formatting

Knowing how to use the conditional formatting feature in Excel makes it simple to spot the data points of interest. This function has a plethora of rules and applications, making it essential if you want to keep up with all of the hottest Excel talents in 2021. This is spot on and comes only with training or practice. Not everyone has expertise on this skill but you can learn anytime.

18. Exchanging Column with Rows

When working in Excel, it’s normal to find yourself dealing with data in columns when you need it in rows, or vice versa. Another time saving Excel talent you will need in 2020 is knowing how to accomplish this tiny trick. This is useful when you have to interchange row data with column and vice versa. Usually used in tech industries and you should know this skill if in tech.

19. IF Columns

In Excel, the IF and IFERROR formulae are quite handy. They allow you to calculate one way when something is true and another when it is false using conditional formulas. For example, you can recognise test results of 70 points or more by labelling the cell report Pass if the score in column C is greater than 70, and Fail if it is less than 69.

This is to calculate something and store it in a cell based on certain specific criterias or data in another cell. Used a lot for performing data validations for comparing the data and calculating output based on requirements.

20. Auditing Formulas

In Excel, formula auditing displays the link between formulae and cells graphically, allowing you to audit the formulas and look for errors or modifications. This functionality allows you to easily audit formula dependents and predecessors, as well as object dependencies. It has a wide range of applications in the workplace, and while it is a more advanced skill, it is simple to learn with the correct training.

Job prospects

Administrative Assistants

Responsible for a variety of activities, including minor bookkeeping, reporting, developing databases, managing docs, and records on computer, all these skills required prior knowledge on Excel.

Manager in Retail Stores

Responsible for managing and administering a store’s everyday operations. Despite the fact that they are in charge of developing shop procedures, supervising, they also need to analyse consumer records for which Excel if first go to tool.

Project Managers

They need to track everything from client requirements up to employee everyday tasks. In this scenario, their first go to tool to track all the activities is Excel always.

Business Analysts

Requires to analyse all the business data, document it, track and store it efficiently. Although there are so many complex tools to use today, Excel skills are the primary requirement in this job.

Data Journalists

They work with huge chunks of data. To integrate this data to calculate useful information, firstly they store it in Excel. So good Excel skills come in handy here.

Accountants

An accountant has to have good Excel skills. Their tasks revolve around auditing, formatting, using formulas to filter out different requirements.

Conclusion

Excel is a priority in life. Today everything is digital and if someone requires to work on computers he/she should know how to use Excel efficiently. Currently, we are producing chunks of data digitally, in this scenario, Excel will always be useful to keep that data handy to track down meaningful information.