Excel Simplified: The Things You NEED To Know In Excel (and what you can ignore)
Welcome back to Day 4 of 30 Day Excel Analyst – transforming your analytical skillset in 30 days.
Did you know there are over 500 formulae in Excel? And that Excel is supported by a native programming language (VBA)? And that Power Query comprises a huge range of functionality? And that you really should master pivot tables too …?
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I could go on. The fact is there’s a bewildering
g array of functionality available in Excel these days. Don’t get me wrong – I love it! But, it’s a huge problem for the aspiring Excel analyst. What to learn? Where to start? She says this will change the game? And new features are being released – surely I need to know them? (You probably don’t!)
The 30 Day Excel Analyst course aims to cut through the noise and simplify the process of developing a compact Excel toolkit that punches above its weight. You see, you don’t need to know that much. And, by focusing on applications rather than becoming an Excel wizard, as we do on this programme, you can move towards what you need to know, and what you can safely ignore. Take Excel formulae, for example. As I said above, more than 500 are available. But I use less than 30 on a day-to-day basis.
My approach is simple and, if you’ve watched sessions 1-3 of 30 Day Excel Analyst, you’ll know what’s coming! People are only ever doing 1 of 4 things in Excel: data management, modelling, data analysis or automation (see session 3 for more on this). Moreover, each of the above skill areas requires only a small set of tools (with the possible exception of automation, which requires a programming language) to get things done. When it comes to modelling, for example – the process of creating calculation chains in Excel to understand a real-world situation better – I recommend just five (yes, five!) Excel formulae.
This applied mindset – focused on making a difference in the real-world rather than being the ‘Excel Guy’ – underpins our approach here at Tiger. So, ignore the noise, get away from the confusion and join me for this session. I’ll talk you through my actual Excel toolkit – the stuff I use day-to-day – step-by-step, and explain why adopting a similar approach could supercharge your career as an Excel analyst.
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