Microsoft introduced their Office Suite of products on November 19, 1990, forever changing how career professionals, students, and individuals completed documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on their computers.

And though we have seen rapid technological changes over the past few years, Microsoft Office Suite continues to remain one of the best and most sought after skills.

Microsoft Office Suite comprises Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, to name a few.

Their products are widely adopted and utilizes across varying industries.

Having experience and proficiency in these products can be transferred to other companies without missing a beat.

From the full list of Microsoft Office Suite products, by-and-large, Excel reigns supreme in the corporate world.

Having Excel skills on your resume will help you to land a high-paying job in a growing field.

And as understanding and mastering Excel at one place of employment can help you at other places of employment, we highly recommend that you focus and master it.

When putting Excel skills on your resume, you want to be honest, factual, and descriptive.

Too often, candidates will list their Excel skills above what it really is.

This can be detrimental to your performance at a job role and we highly recommend being honest about your true skill level.

Excel Skill Levels

For the most part, employers will bucket Excel skills as beginner, intermediate, advanced, and master.

These skill levels help employers to determine an employee’s understanding of the functions and capabilities of Excel.

It also helps employers to correctly hire and place candidates.

  • Beginner – Beginner level skills include the ability to format basic formulas, conduct formatting within Excel, and create charts and graphs.
  • Intermediate – Intermediate level skills include more advanced formula understanding, the ability to utilize pivot tables, and the VLOOKUP function.
  • Advanced – Advanced skill levels include the ability to conduct complex spreadsheet designs and having basic VBA knowledge.
  • Master – Mastery of Excel includes all of the above and a thorough understanding of VBA.

In addition, Excel masters are able to interface Excel with other software’s to truly unlock its potential.

In addition, Excel masters are able to interface Excel with other software’s to truly unlock its potential.

Excel Courses

When listing Excel skills on your resume, you will want to include any additional classes or courses you may have taken to advance your skills.

These courses will provide a more in-depth level understanding of Excel and its true capabilities.

In addition, taking one of these courses will show your commitment to learning and understanding Excel.

Be sure to list any Excel classes or courses you may have taken on your resume.

If you received a diploma or certificate for completing the course, you should also list it on your resume.

This can be placed beneath the skills section of your resume.

There are a plethora of online courses which offer training and development skills in Excel.

We’ve listed a few of the top courses below and highly recommend you look into them if you are serious and determined to increase your understanding and knowledge of Excel:

You can also read this article which goes over 17 of the best Excel courses, with many of them offering free solutions.

Be Specific

Excel is a great tool to have and to understand.

However, you want to be honest and specific as-to your experience and understanding of it.

As Excel is also a complicated tool that requires many years of practice to fully master, you want to be careful to not mislead or be dishonest to a future employer.

You can always utilize the basic definition list we discussed above.

However, if you would like to be more specific, you should list out exact and direct skills you have.

This can be accomplished as-follows:

Advanced Microsoft Excel Skills:

  • Thorough understanding of pivot tables and the VLOOKUP function
  • Knowledge of VBA and basic mastery of task automation
  • Complex and aesthetically pleasing spreadsheet design skills

In addition, you can speak further to the specifics within a certain skill.

See below for some of the more popular and more widely used skills and capabilities:

  • Pivot Tables

Ability to manage, sort, and analyze large data sets via Excel pivot tables

  • Formula Functions

Ability to use Excel formulas to solve basic and complex mathematical problem sets.

Ability to link data between spreadsheets

Ability to isolate and locate information in large datasets via the VLOOKUP function

Ability to sort and present data in a visually appealing manner via the filter and subtotal functions

  • Formatting

Thorough understanding of Excel formatting capabilities

Ability to create and distribute visually and aesthetically pleasing spreadsheets

When to List Excel Skills on Your Resume?

Ideally, most people should have a basic understanding of Excel and its capabilities.  For that reason, we do not recommend listing Excel skills on your resume below intermediate.  As those basic skills are widely adopted, it will only take away valuable space on your resume.

Rather, we highly recommend practicing your skills on your home computer.  There are a plethora of free and paid tools which can assist you and walk you through understanding and completing Excel functions.  You can also find a good amount of information on YouTube.

Additional Excel Skills to List on Your Resume

Ideally, most people should have a basic understanding of Excel and its capabilities.

For that reason, we do not recommend listing Excel skills on your resume below intermediate.

As those basic skills are widely adopted, it will only take away valuable space on your resume.

Rather, we highly recommend practicing your skills on your home computer.

There are a plethora of free and paid tools which can assist you and walk you through understanding and completing Excel functions.

You can also find a good amount of information on YouTube.

Additional Excel Skills to List on Your Resume

While we have gone over some of the more basic Excel skills to list on your resume, you can also look into the following ones.

If you have experience and an understanding on these skills, be sure to list them out separately beneath your skills section.

These skills are less known and should show the interviewer your mastery of Excel.

  • Conditional Formatting
  • Paste Special
  • Absolute References
  • Print Optimization
  • Formula Extension
  • Flash Fill
  • Index Match
  • Filters
  • Pie Charts
  • Combination Type Charts
  • Data Validation
  • IFERROR Function
  • Data Visualization
  • IF and OR Functions
  • Hide Data

Conclusion

Excel continues to remain one of the most widely used and adopted programs in the corporate and academic world.

Its knowledge, understanding, and mastery is absolutely crucial to career growth and advancement.

Taking and receiving course certification indicating your mastery will help you to advance in your career.

When listing Excel skills on your resume, be sure to be honest and specific.

You want your employer to know your Excel skills so that you may be properly placed and set correct expectations from the get-go.

In addition, on your resume, you should list specific capabilities and understanding of Excel functions you may have.

Be honest and good luck!


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