How can high level use of MS suite be leveraged for BA/PM/Management role?

N2IT

Without the risk of sounding very amature, can you somehow call out expert use on your resume regarding the MS Suite? In particular MS Excel? I've been using it for over 10 years and now support high level functionality of the tool. Reporting, Pivot Tables, Text lookups like V and H, IF statements out the arse, Charting, etc. I assistant analyst, researchers, doctors, executives etc with these tools. Any ideas how to tactifully mention this on a resume?


Sorry for the random question, but I have been doing some thinking about it and I don't want to look like a fool, however in the business environment I have found that I trump most users and I would like to leverage that and call it out to potential future employers.

Thanks in advance.

JDMurray

Isn't there an MS Excel cert? I hear having certifications is a good way to summarize professional experience.



OK, seriously...

Excel is probably the #1 business application on this planet. People who are truly proficient in Excel are worth their weight in dark matter (assuming you can find any first). That being said, there is no way I can think of to get this point across to someone who doesn't understand the value of extreme Excel skills using only a sentence or two on a resume.

Describing your talents from several wide angles, such as having Excel certs, instructing Excel classes, writing VBA and .NET Excel add-ins, etc. will raise a few knowledgeable eyebrows. But all that will be lost on people who think Excel is only used for balancing budgets and printing mailing lists.

N2IT

JDMurray wrote: »

Isn't there an MS Excel cert? I hear having certifications is a good way to summarize professional experience.



OK, seriously...

Excel is probably the #1 business application on this planet. People who are truly proficient in Excel are worth their weight in dark matter (assuming you can find any first). That being said, there is no way I can think of to get this point across to someone who doesn't understand the value of extreme Excel skills using only a sentence or two on a resume.

Describing your talents from several wide angles, such as having Excel certs, instructing Excel classes, writing VBA and .NET Excel add-ins, etc. will raise a few knowledgeable eyebrows. But all that will be lost on people who think Excel is only used for balancing budgets and printing mailing lists.

JD or worse, people who use it for formatting text. I just want to say to these people you know word has a table function that is much better for formatting text

I'm not a developer, but I understand the mechanics behind Excel. [Function]{Arguments} I also know how to use most of the features in Excel. Heck I consistently fix peoples workbooks all the time. Whether it's a dash board linked to 30 other sheets or some detail chart with dozens of formulas.

I have the MS certification for the whole office suite for 2007, maybe I should do it for 2010 lol

First the PMP though

JDMurray

N2IT wrote: »

First the PMP though

And then there are the people who try to use Excel for PM when they should be using MS Project.

My personal cross is people that use Excel then they should be be using Access or SQL server. Yes, there is some overlap in functionality of Excel/Access, but there just comes a time when your historical data needs to be in a relational database and accessed using a proper query language, not spread across multiple workbooks and searched using macros.

NetworkingStudent

N2IT wrote: »

Without the risk of sounding very amature, can you somehow call out expert use on your resume regarding the MS Suite? In particular MS Excel? I've been using it for over 10 years and now support high level functionality of the tool. Reporting, Pivot Tables, Text lookups like V and H, IF statements out the arse, Charting, etc. I assistant analyst, researchers, doctors, executives etc with these tools. Any ideas how to tactifully mention this on a resume?


Sorry for the random question, but I have been doing some thinking about it and I don't want to look like a fool, however in the business environment I have found that I trump most users and I would like to leverage that and call it out to potential future employers.

Thanks in advance.

Hello, N2IT

I remember reading something related to your question on the ask a manager website.
question 23is somewhat related to your question….

.3. What constitutes proficiency in I.T. skills?

I’m looking for a new job after budget cuts caused me to be laid off from my job in IT support. I was there for a year and acquired some more experience with software I already knew, like MS Office, but also FileZilla and Photoshop. I also worked with databases and SQL, as well as learned more basic HTML and CSS. My question is, how do I know how to list these skills objectively? I’m 25, quite nerdy/geeky and spend a lot of time on the computer. I tend to consider my skills as basic, but my boyfriend seems to think I’m the McGyver of computers (I’m not!).
I’d like to know if he overestimates me because I know a few things he doesn’t, or whether I underestimate myself because I’ve always been around people who are extremely good with technology. I want to make myself look as good as I can, but I don’t want to lie and be stuck in a role I’m unqualified for. Are you aware of any guide to gauge one’s proficiency with basic software? Something along the lines of ‘if you can do function X in Excel, your level of proficiency is Y’.
I’m not! But I bet a reader is, so I’m posting this in the hopes that someone can help you.

I suggest reading the comments on the link provided below..

short answer Sunday: 7 short answers to 7 short questions

Read the comments and some of the readers suggestions look pretty good.

good luck hope this helps

RobertKaucher

JDMurray wrote: »

And then there are the people who try to use Excel for PM when they should be using MS Project.

My personal cross is people that use Excel then they should be be using Access or SQL server. Yes, there is some overlap in functionality of Excel/Access, but there just comes a time when your historical data needs to be in a relational database and accessed using a proper query language, not spread across multiple workbooks and searched using macros.

Don't even get me started! The stuff I have seen in the wild... Like a project resource loading app for a many time multi-million dollar company written in Excel.

Excellent1

JDMurray wrote: »

My personal cross is people that use Excel then they should be be using Access or SQL server.

Truer words were never spoken. It seems any place I've ever worked has had at least 2 or 3 departments running monthly spreadsheets linked to a "master" spreadsheet for summarization reasons. These departments dutifully recreate said workbooks every month. I'm convinced at this point in my life that I would have a much better chance at becoming pregnant than I would to move people to rdb's (and I'm not equipped for pregnancy). Something about it scares the hell out of people, I guess. It's certainly not rational, but there it is.

N2IT

JDMurray wrote: »

And then there are the people who try to use Excel for PM when they should be using MS Project.

My personal cross is people that use Excel then they should be be using Access or SQL server. Yes, there is some overlap in functionality of Excel/Access, but there just comes a time when your historical data needs to be in a relational database and accessed using a proper query language, not spread across multiple workbooks and searched using macros.

I've never been on a project that used MS project always Excel LOL. I'm not saying I agree with it, but most of the PM's I have worked under prefer tool sets they know

JDMurray

RobertKaucher wrote: »

Don't even get me started! The stuff I have seen in the wild... Like a project resource loading app for a many time multi-million dollar company written in Excel.

Yes, it is really astonishing what you can do with the MS Office apps and .NET programming languages. It's very tempting to me to use Excel as the GUI and processing engine for a major data-crunching program. I can see how some small add-in can end up being grown into a Frankenstein by .NET developers.

N2IT wrote:

I've never been on a project that used MS project always Excel LOL. I'm not saying I agree with it, but most of the PM's I have worked under perform tool sets they know

People use what they know. They take accounting classes and learn Excel and then try to use it for everything--including writing documentation. Very rarely will people take classes to learn how to design and implement relational databases and know when they need to use them.

Slowhand

N2IT wrote: »

I've been using it for over 10 years and now support high level functionality of the tool. Reporting, Pivot Tables, Text lookups like V and H, IF statements out the arse, Charting, etc. I assistant analyst, researchers, doctors, executives etc with these tools.

Personally, I think using what you've written here sums it up pretty nicely. You could re-write what you've got there with the proper '10 years experience with Excel. . . ' resume-tense, and I'd say you were in good shape.

Oh, and keep the 'out the arse' bit, that's my favorite part.

N2IT

Slowhand wrote: »

Personally, I think using what you've written here sums it up pretty nicely. You could re-write what you've got there with the proper '10 years experience with Excel. . . ' resume-tense, and I'd say you were in good shape.

Oh, and keep the 'out the arse' bit, that's my favorite part.

Heheh Thanks for your input.

onesaint

You might write something up like:
"acted as the SME for MS Excel"
"known as the go-to for in depth users needs in Excel and Office"
"consulted with users of all levels on in depth aspects of MS Office and more specifically, Excel"
"functioned as Management's first stop for all advanced MS Excel needs"
"handled advanced functionality requests for MS Excel and Office"
"consulted with users from Annalists to Executives on in depth MS Office and Excel functionality"

Hopefully those don't sound to amateur-ish or at least can spur a thought as to what you're looking for. Being elected an Excel MVP would really shine for those in the know. Or like JD has pointed out some other Office certification would do the trick as well.