What is Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Office is a bundle of applications used for various office functions. These include word processing, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, data administration, email, and project management. While people may have Microsoft Office apps on their home computers, it’s most common in workplaces and schools. Some of Microsoft Office’s most popular applications are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Outlook.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of Microsoft Office apps is how they integrate with each other. While any app is useful on its own, they become even more versatile when used in combination. For example, you can make a content list in Excel and import it to Outlook to create a mail merge or embed a PowerPoint slide in a Word document.
Why Learn Microsoft Office?
Mastery of Microsoft Office is critical for almost everyone in the working world. It is ubiquitous across industries and many workplaces expect their employees to be comfortable using Microsoft Office. There are alternatives to Microsoft Office, including Google Workplace and iWork (Apple’s Mac-only software suite). However, Microsoft Office is the most popular by a long shot. Even if you are already familiar with some Microsoft Office apps, building advanced skills or learning other applications can improve your chances of getting hired.
Familiarity with Microsoft Office can pay off in non-work contexts, too. Current and future students can benefit from knowing how to use Word to write papers, OneNote to take notes, and PowerPoint to give class presentations. Want to make flyers for a neighborhood event or posters for a concert? Publisher can help you out. The more you explore Microsoft Office, the more you’ll see how useful it can be in your everyday life.
What Careers Use Microsoft Office?
Many office jobs require experience in Microsoft Office, particularly in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The level of knowledge expected among employees at an office will vary based on their position, but it is usually assumed that any given person has a basic knowledge of these programs. Some office positions require a higher level of knowledge in Microsoft Office. If you are seeking a career as an administrative assistant, office manager, or executive assistant, you should have intermediate to advanced skills in common Office applications.
Some careers may require expertise in a particular Office program. Financial analysts often use Excel at an advanced level. They use Pivot Tables, lookup tools, data validation, and advanced functions and formulas to work with data. Project managers will often have proficiency in Project along with a knowledge of other project management software, tools, and concepts. Some database administrators use Access as their primary method of storing and analyzing data.
What Microsoft Office Classes Are Available?
Taking a Microsoft Office course is a great way to prepare for a career or improve performance in your current job. We offer a wide selection of Microsoft Office classes that you can attend at our location in NYC or live online from anywhere.
Attending a bootcamp allows beginners to quickly progress through learning different skills and gain mastery of a Microsoft Office application. Our Excel Bootcamp starts out by teaching basic calculations, fomulas, and formatting techniques. From there, students will move to more advanced material like Pivot Tables, advanced functions, and macros. In the PowerPoint Bootcamp, you’ll learn how to make templates, record presentations, import charts and tables from Excel, and customize presentations with shapes, objects, and animations. To learn about how to create and query relational databases, including creating reports and sharing data across applications, enroll in the Access Bootcamp.
If you want to build a solid basis of knowledge in multiple Microsoft Office applications, you can attend the Microsoft Office Fundamentals Bootcamp. This course includes introductory classes in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook. You can also check out the Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp, which teaches basic through advanced skills in all these apps.
There are also individual classes in Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Access, and Project. These include general beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes as well as specialized courses like Excel Programming with VBA.
Certifications for Microsoft Office
A great way to build and demonstrate proficiency in one or more Microsoft Office applications is to become a Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS). Earning a MOS certification can give your resume a boost and prepare you for many types of jobs, including administrative, IT, and office management positions.
We offer a Microsoft Certification Program with Outlook that gets students certified in four of the most popular Microsoft Office apps: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. This 66-hour course includes 6 hours of private tutoring and all 4 exams (proctoring and free retakes included). There is also a 73-hour Microsoft Office Certification Program with Access that you can take to earn certification in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Access. Like the other program, this includes 6 hours of private tutoring and all 4 exams with free retakes and proctoring. The only difference is that instead of Outlook, you will learn and be tested on Access.
What Microsoft Office Apps Should I Learn?
One of the most useful Microsoft Office programs anyone can learn is Excel. At its most basic level, Excel allows you to efficiently organize large amounts of information into spreadsheets. With the help of formulas and functions, you can turn Excel into a time-saving tool for calculations and statistical analysis. You can also use Excel to turn spreadsheets into charts, tables, graphs, and other data visualizations to include in presentations or reports. With a simple template, you can use Excel to make lists, schedules, calendars, and invoices. If you build more advanced skills in Excel, you can even do some simple programming.
Learning PowerPoint is a good idea for anyone who gives presentations. This includes anyone who works in a business setting, along with college professors, public speakers, and scientists. Getting professional training in PowerPoint will help you create and deliver dynamic, memorable presentations that incorporate animations, transitions, and graphics.
Being able to use Word is important for creating business documents, including reports, proposals, letters, and internal records. Many people know the basics of Word, like how to type in a document and print. However, Word also has You can make outlines and tables of contents for longer documents, make PDFs, and use Track Changes to collaborate on edits
One of the most popular email platforms in the world, Outlook also has a number of other functions that allow users to make to-do lists, schedule events and meetings, and manage calendars for a workspace. Along with knowing how to file emails and manage an inbox, being able to use Outlook’s advanced functions can be helpful to professionals in many industries.
Another useful app to learn is Publisher. With Publisher, you can create custom layouts or use templates to design greeting cards, brochures, business cards, email newsletters, and even books. Publisher integrates easily with other apps in the Microsoft Office suite, making it easy to import text from Word or merge an Excel workbook. It’s important to note that while Publisher is widely used, many careers that involve designing print materials will also require knowledge of Adobe InDesign and other Adobe Creative Cloud applications.
If you’re interested in database management, taking a class in Access may be the right call. Database administrators and analysts use Access to store and understand data. Access also supports simple app development using VBA, the same programming language employed with Excel.
If you want to work professionally as a project manager or product manager, knowing your way around Microsoft Project is a good idea. Project is a dense application that lets you manage resources and timelines for enterprise-level projects. With Project, you can build intricate Gantt charts and create visualizations to show executives and stakeholders.
The more Microsoft Office apps you learn, the more productive you’ll be in a workplace. If you’re unsure of which Microsoft Office apps are going to help you the most, you can always begin by getting training in one of the most popular ones and branching out from there.
