Most Excellent Microsoft Excel Users

As you may have read on the Community Business College Twitter page, we had another examinee pass the Microsoft Office Specialist Excel Expert exam. The goal of the certification is to provide people a chance to show others (e.g. current bosses, prospective employers, patronizing computer-savvy high school children) that they know their stuff. It’s been a way for employees to differentiate

themselves in competitive job markets and broaden employment opportunities by displaying advanced skills.

 

Why Excel Certification?

The Microsoft Excel certification is part of the set of Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certifications that is offered by Microsoft. Community Business College instructors have certifications but they’re not just designed for the academic community.

Microsoft Office Specialist certification can also lead to increased job satisfaction. Research (conducted by Microsoft, of course) indicates that certified individuals have increased competence, productivity, and credibility.

 

For employers who are looking for specialized computer skills, Microsoft Office Specialist certification provides skill-verification tools that help assess a person's skills in using the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. It’s also nice to have an official-looking certificate with the Microsoft logo to hang on your wall. The boss might tell you that you don’t know what you’re doing, but you can point to it and say that Bill Gates’ Microsoft says you know what you’re doing.

 

Excel has come a long way…

The days of VisiCalc are gone, of course. For the uninitiated in personal computing lore, VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program for home computers. It was also the first “Killer App” - a good reason to pay a thousand bucks (or more) for a box that nobody else in the house seemed to think had much potential.  There was really no practical need for a home computer – word processors could do your word processing and typewriters were getting pretty sophisticated. Games could be done cheaper on game consoles and sometime the graphics were a LOT better. The Internet was still just a twinkling in DARPA’s electronic eye.

 

Surprisingly, it wasn’t word processing but spreadsheet software that made the whole home computer revolution possible. There was nothing else that could do spreadsheets like a personal computer. And so the worksheet became the face that launched a thousand-thousand PCs.

 

Since those days filled with simplistic dreams of what spreadsheets were for, though, they have come a long way. From PacMan games programmed in Excel to “extreme couponer” organizers to “million-dollar idea” business plan templates, Excel has shown its versatility. The program has become so specialized that it’s official certification exams have been broken into two tiers.

 

“Core” Excel Versus “Expert” Excel

The Microsoft Office Specialist exams come in two versions – Core and Expert. Core covers the basics of spreadsheet layouts and is designed for regular users to get certification. The expert exam gets more advanced, obviously.

 

For most people who come to Community Business College, the core exam is what they’re looking for. Learning Microsoft Excel is not difficult but as someone once said, “it takes a few minutes to learn but a lifetime to master.” When first learning Excel, it’s also a good time to put your hours of game time to good use, especially if you’ve played Battleship. Battleship, by the way, is an excellent way to understand the coordinate reference system Excel uses. At Community Business College, we’ve seen Excel students who have played Battleship and those who haven’t (yes, it’s true, some people have never played Battleship). Those with the “Battleship background” pick up on how Excel functions a lot faster than those who don’t.

 

The core exam is the exam that covers the fundamental and most common uses of Excel, such as:

• Formatting Cells and Worksheets
• Creating Cell Data
• Cell Functions
• Changing Worksheets in a Workbook

(By the way, Community Business College offers some free materials if you’re interested in taking the exam, just ask us for a copy of the Microsoft Excel study guide).

 

If, however, people want to prove they are true Excel aficionados, test takers will tackle the expert level. Expert exam certifications demonstrate proficiency in the more advanced Excel features and uses.

 

The other advantage of buying a Microsoft Excel expert voucher (they cost the same as the core voucher), is once you pass the expert level exam, you are on your way to becoming a Microsoft Office Specialist Master. The master certification is an extra certification received after passing all of the following Microsoft Office exams: Excel and the Microsoft Word expert exam and the MOS: PowerPoint exam and MOS: Outlook exam (either the Access, OneNote, or SharePoint exams can be substituted for the Outlook exam).

 

We’re glad we had another candidate pass the Microsoft Excel expert exam and is on his way to becoming a Microsoft Office Specialist Master. By the way, the way he passed it was he purchased the MOS exam voucher with retake. We strongly encourage test takers to do this because, although the voucher with retake is initially a bit more expensive than just the single voucher, it can save money in the long run because it gives you two shots at passing the exam without having to pay full price for each exam. This can save you money in the end, especially for examinees who have never taken one of these interactive exams before.

 

Once again, congratulations to our newly minted Microsoft Excel expert and good luck to all those in the future who plan to take the exam!

Mastering Microsoft Office

Today, Community Business College had a record-setting day. One person was able to complete her Microsoft Office Masters certification by completing all four required tests in three days.

Test Strategy

Here’s what she did to strategize:

First pick the Microsoft Master certification you want.  Recently, Microsoft changed the system to include two different tracks that include two expert exams for Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.

Here are the Microsoft Office master certifications from which to choose:

Word 2013 Track

       Exams required:

              Word 2013 Expert Part 1

              Word 2013 Expert Part 2

              Excel 2013

       Elective exams (choose one):

              PowerPoint 2013 or Access 2013, Outlook 2013, or SharePoint 2013, or

              OneNote 2013

Excel 2013 Track

       Exams required:

              Excel 2013 Expert Part 1

              Excel 2013 Expert Part 2

              Word 2013

       Elective exams (choose one):

              PowerPoint 2013, or Access 2013, or Outlook 2013, SharePoint 2013, or

              OneNote 2013

Traditional Office 2013 Track

       Exams required:

              Word 2013 Expert Part 1

              Word 2013 Expert Part 2

              Excel 2013 Expert Part 1

              Excel 2013 Expert Part 2

Office 2010 Master

       Exams required:

              Word 2010 Expert

              Excel 2010 Expert

              PowerPoint 2010

       Elective exams (choose one):

              Microsoft Office Outlook 2010, or  Microsoft Office Access 2010, or

              Microsoft SharePoint 2010

In her case, she wanted the Microsoft Word 2013 Track because she uses Microsoft Word heavily at her work site. So that’s the one she picked.

The next strategy is to figure out where you strengths are. When taking the Microsoft Office exams, it helps to start off with a program you are very familiar with. That way you get quick passing grade and build momentum.

Here’s the way she did it: She did these two exams on one day:

       77-422: MOS: Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2013

       77-420: MOS: Microsoft Office Excel 2013

Then this exam the following day:

       77-425: MOS: Microsoft Office Word 2013 Expert Part 1

And then finally this exam today:

       77-426: MOS: Microsoft Office Word 2013 Expert Part 2

PowerPoint can be a difficult test because a lot of people take it for granted. If you use a lot of its features though, or study up on the ones you’re not that familiar, it’s not too hard.

The recent change in the Microsoft Expert certification means that the Microsoft Word Expert exam is now split up into two 50-minute exams. It means you have to be familiar with a wider range of Microsoft Word functions in order to pass it.

Why Go To All That Trouble?

The Microsoft Office Master Certification demonstrates the highest level of proficiently when using Office programs. Many employers will use it as continuing education units or to meet certain job requirements. It certainly helps when you’re going in for an annual employee evaluation meeting.

Certification is Important

The need for Microsoft Office skills is increasing dramatically as more and more businesses are embracing newer technologies. Microsoft Office Specialist certification enables Office users to demonstrate their abilities to complete tasks and projects with greater ease and efficiency with proven Office skills. Based on globally recognized standards, MOS certification validates your skills, builds self-confidence and enhances professional standing among peers and managers.

Lifelong Learning

Getting certified through Microsoft also provides a good deal of personal satisfaction. Adults always need to practice lifelong learning and this is one way to do it. The new Microsoft Office Specialist certification validates the skills needed to use the powerful features and functionality of the Microsoft Office programs by passing a results-oriented computerized exam. Those who successfully complete a Microsoft Office Specialist exam have demonstrated the skills necessary to work faster and smarter while improving performance.

Bottom line – you get out of Microsoft Office only what you put into it. The more you know, the more you can do.

As you study and prepare for the Microsoft Office Master certification, you’ll find you learn a lot more about these programs than you’ve been using. Hopefully, you’ll be able to put what you’ve learned to good use in more efficient and time-saving work.

One of the nifty changes the testing system has made is they now offer certification verification. It’s sure easy for unscrupulous people who want to forge their own certifications to run off their own on a good color printer.  Microsoft Office certifications now offers this website : www.verifycertiport.com  where anyone can enter a code that appears on all official certifications

Need to brush up on your Microsoft Office classes before you look at the exams? Join us at the Community Business College campus in Modesto, California or use distance learning to take an online class. More information can be found at this catalog of Microsoft classes: https://cbc.ed4online.com/search?search_api_views_fulltext=microsoft+office+certification