How do you quantify a level of Excel knowledge

[minibois]

Hey,

 

Since I have to start applying for internships and such somewhat soon, I was currently updating my resume.

I'm just wondering if/how I can put Excel knowledge on it.

 

Is there some way to quantify your level of knowledge of the program? Just saying "I know Excel" nowadays is IMO not detailed enough, but are there certain tests or lists I can consult to know my level of the program?

 

Just to give an idea, most my Excel knowledge I actually learned through Google Spreadsheets.

I know the real basics (SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, etc.), know the if's and how they work and know how to setup data so it's easy to implement into a graph.. I also know how to properly make the graphs.. etc.

But I feel like that is still quite surface level knowledge, which I am not sure if I can/should include on a resume?

 

So long story short:

- At what point should one include Excel knowledge on a resume?

- Do you have a list of things you should know for each level (or a link to some list)?

- Is it even worth it to mention it?

 

Thanks for any thoughts.

[Guest]

Typically I see internship applicants putting their knowledge in the whole office umbrella vs. just putting excel specifically. (i.e. Proficient in Microsoft Office applications/suite) I find if someone breaks down specific programs, I try to trip them up if I happen to be interviewing that day.

[minibois]

29 minutes ago, Den-Fi said:

Typically I see internship applicants putting their knowledge in the whole office umbrella vs. just putting excel specifically. (i.e. Proficient in Microsoft Office applications/suite) I find if someone breaks down specific programs, I try to trip them up if I happen to be interviewing that day.

Say.. if someone wrote down on their resume "Profecient at Microsoft Excel".

What would your expectation of that person be?  Like what kind of follow up questions would you ask?

[Guest]

Just now, minibois said:

Say.. if someone wrote down on their resume "Profecient at Microsoft Excel".

What would your expectation of that person be?  Like what kind of follow up questions would you ask?

Typically I'll ask "did you mean basic data entry or do you know your way around formulas?"

To this day I've only had one person answer the latter and when I asked a few questions regarding formulas that I had used recently, their eyes glazed over.

[minibois]

10 hours ago, Den-Fi said:

Typically I'll ask "did you mean basic data entry or do you know your way around formulas?"

To this day I've only had one person answer the latter and when I asked a few questions regarding formulas that I had used recently, their eyes glazed over.

Are you able to give me some examples of the sorts of formulas you expect someone - who says they have that sort of knowledge - should know?

 

I have a background in programming, so certain formulas probably are not foreign to me. It just kind of depends on the depth of it I guess.

 

For example, I made a simple sheet in Google Spreadsheet to compare different new GPU options, specifically comparing their performance to my current GPU (and thus the increase in performance) and also what the value of the card is:

(This only uses a basic percentage calculations and an average of a couple benchmarks to get the last increase number).

There is also a performance per dollar metric, but that again is just a simple divide.

 

Is this the sort of formula you expect someone 'profecient at Excel' t o know, or does it go further?

 

Thanks for answering my question so far, by the way. It has been really helpful in getting a better understanding of expectations and has cleared up a ton for me already.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, minibois said:

Are you able to give me some examples of the sorts of formulas you expect someone - who says they have that sort of knowledge - should know?

 

I have a background in programming, so certain formulas probably are not foreign to me. It just kind of depends on the depth of it I guess.

 

For example, I made a simple sheet in Google Spreadsheet to compare different new GPU options, specifically comparing their performance to my current GPU (and thus the increase in performance) and also what the value of the card is:

 

(This only uses a basic percentage calculations and an average of a couple benchmarks to get the last increase number).

There is also a performance per dollar metric, but that again is just a simple divide.

 

Is this the sort of formula you expect someone 'profecient at Excel' t o know, or does it go further?

 

Thanks for answering my question so far, by the way. It has been really helpful in getting a better understanding of expectations and has cleared up a ton for me already.

Ah, see... that is much further along than what people believe proficient to be in resumes, lol.

Most of the time they put it there because someone tells them to or because they see every puts it.

They've opened excel and used it to total out a couple of columns lol.

I don't think you'd get throw for a loop if you're a programmer.

A lot of what we used to use are formulas that span multiple sheets. Though we've since moved to in house collaborative web based software.

I think that is the trend a lot of places. You don't really see people using Excel like they used to (unless you're at an accounting firm, they still looooove excel).

[manikyath]

this question also depends on the "market" to put it with an odd word.

 

for example, some recruiting agencies here describe language skills as a score out of 5, where 0 is "not at all", and 5 is essentially second nature (or first nature..)

after my job interview swiftly transitioned from dutch to english, and the person on the other end of the table blanked out, they filled in 5/5 on both english and dutch.

 

but then, if i'd move to the UK, on that same scale i'd come up as maybe a 3 or 4 if lucky.

 

but as a general advice.. its best to understate, not overstate. it's better for the job interview to be "pleasantly surprised", rather than "mildly disappointed".

[LogicalDrm]

This will depend to what extent you will be using Excel at the position. For example working as accounting or financial positions will require more knowledge than using Excel as preparation tool for database insertion for example (difference between what I do and what my brother does).

 

The 5-point scale is good. 0= no experience, 1=some experience, 2=basic functions and tricks (know why spreadsheets are used), 3=comfortable with using, 4=advanced user (some knowledge of macros etc.), 5=can solve pretty much any task and able to teach others. This is how I've seen some recruitment forms dividing it. My skills are at 4, but I still rely on online tutorials for some functions, like matrices.

[minibois]

8 hours ago, Den-Fi said:

I think that is the trend a lot of places. You don't really see people using Excel like they used to (unless you're at an accounting firm, they still looooove excel).

To be quite honest, I do not expect I will be using Excel a whole lot, if at all..

My internship won't be in the account field, so it probably won't feature a bunch of spreadsheet stuff.

 

Thanks for the insight!

8 hours ago, manikyath said:

this question also depends on the "market" to put it with an odd word.

for example, some recruiting agencies here describe language skills as a score out of 5, where 0 is "not at all", and 5 is essentially second nature (or first nature..)

That's a great way to describe your skills - on a slide and depending on the context of the person interviewing you.

I will do some more research on what Excel skills companies might be looking for in my field and base the skill level on that.

 

Thanks for the pointer to this skill-scale !  

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

This will depend to what extent you will be using Excel at the position. For example working as accounting or financial positions will require more knowledge than using Excel as preparation tool for database insertion for example (difference between what I do and what my brother does).

 

The 5-point scale is good. 0= no experience, 1=some experience, 2=basic functions and tricks (know why spreadsheets are used), 3=comfortable with using, 4=advanced user (some knowledge of macros etc.), 5=can solve pretty much any task and able to teach others. This is how I've seen some recruitment forms dividing it. My skills are at 4, but I still rely on online tutorials for some functions, like matrices.

Thanks for giving some context to the different skill-levels of Excel! I can probably place myself very comfortably in 'Level 3'. I would still need to look into some of the macro features and certain formulas to go to level 4...

The example of matrices is a good one too. I have some experience with that in programming, but that is probably quite different in Excel as compared to C# or whatever

 

 

Thank you all for the advice and pointers - I will do some more research on the topic. Mainly about what features might be expected of someone who will do Excel work in the field I'll be interning in.

Of course I'll be furthering my knowledge of the program, because (on top of liking Excel), I do want to improve what I know already.

[manikyath]

11 hours ago, minibois said:

That's a great way to describe your skills - on a slide and depending on the context of the person interviewing you.

it's usually only recruitment agencies doing it that way, primarily because its great for "calculating your skill", but in truth it often loses the context. because of that double 5/5 and my last name being super confusing in some fonts, it did happen a few times they thought i was a migrant.