Excel Specialist Certification Program

Microsoft Excel Certification–Is It Worth It?

“Are you experienced in Excel?” is a common, yet poorly-worded question asked by supervisors and hiring managers to weed out inexperienced professionals. What exactly do they mean by “experienced”? And how can you prove or demonstrate your skills on the spot?

Fortunately, Microsoft created a simple solution to this question with Microsoft Excel Specialist Certification. Excel certification from Microsoft means your Excel skillset is substantial. Earning certification removes the relative value judgment from your answer (“I am very capable”) and replaces it with quantitative proof ("I earned a 900 on my Microsoft Excel Certification Exam").

But, why become certified? Excel is easily one of the most in-demand skills required by employers. With the increased focus on data and finding analysts and strategists, proving your ability to manage data quickly and efficiently has never been more critical. It communicates to employers that you possess a certain level of knowledge and mental acuity in data management techniques, which are more effective than claiming to be "really good” at Excel.

How do you become certified? By taking a test; specifically, a 50-minute, 30+ question, task-based exam. If you score 700 or higher, you become certified! A score of 70% doesn't correspond to 700. A 700 score is a scaled-score dependent upon the question difficulty and determined by SME (Subject Matter Experts) before the exam. Once certified, you are certified for life.

Is certification worth it? If you are interested in advancing your career, increasing your earning potential, and proving your experience without having to say a word, certification is certainly something to think about. A Microsoft Excel certification can help you achieve all of these goals. Take the first step and enroll in Microsoft Excel Specialist Training at NYIM today.

What certifications are available for Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft offers two levels of certification for Excel users: Excel Specialist and Excel Expert.

While both the Specialist and Expert Certifications are official Microsoft certifications (with 50-minute exams administered by Certiport), the Expert Certification is a higher level of certification and covers more advanced topics. The Microsoft Specialist Exam is suitable for experienced professionals that want to demonstrate proficiency in Excels core functions–data entry, cell formatting, tables, and charts.

Here is a basic topic comparison between the certifications:

• Excel Specialist: Create and manage worksheets and workbooks, manage data cells and ranges, create tables, perform operations with formulas and functions, and create charts and objects.
• Excel Expert: Manage workbook options and settings, apply custom data formats and layouts, advanced formulas, and advanced charts and formulas.

As you can see, the Expert Certification takes each topic to the next level. Essentially, the Specialist exam covers topics mostly covered in our Fundamentals and Intermediate classes, while the Expert exam cover topics from all three levels. 

For the Excel Specialist Certification, the exam you will take is called "Excel 2016: Core Data Analysis, Manipulation, and Presentation" (other versions are available upon request) and is administered by Certiport. The cost of the exam and proctoring for the exam is included in the Certification Bundle price. NYIM is an authorized Certiport testing center, and we will work with you before the exam to ensure you're ready for the exam.