How do I practice to become quick with Excel?

[icon53]

I've got an internship this summer doing data analysis. I really want to get good at Excel and Access; how should I go about practicing?

[zbor]

Go to the course somewhere nearby your place and then try to solve user questions on the Forum (and learn both, from the answering and from the answers of other users)

[ranman256]

Do practice at home. Build a database to track your CDs/DVDs. Or a personal address book. As you build forms and queries you will see the best ways to do things.
When you hit a wall, Google will reply with many answers (and boards to search).

[FDibbins]

Try answering some of the questions here - and look/try some of the otehr answers offered by other members. See if you can figure out how (and why) their formulas work, and maybe try to create a new 1 of your own...there sre generally many ways to get to the same answer

[oeldere]

Try to work a lot with excel, and first try to solve your own problems.

The advance of that is your are interested in solving your problem, and understand a (existing) problem.

[zbor]

I agree with both of you, but to became good in Excel till summer... He'll need professional :D

[FDibbins]

I had a guy come to me 1 day and say something along these lines...

"I heard you were pretty good at excel, and I would like to learn excel as well. I have the afternoon available, can you teach me all of excel and all that stuff"

I was only just able to hold back my laughter and tell him I would be happy to try and help, but I was kinda busy this afternoon

[:) Sixthsense :)]

Me too experienced it many times like Ford said in Post #7, and I would like to share one of it here...

A person (my friends friend) called me (his core job proficiency is accounts) and said he was attended an interview in an multi national company and he will get good pay and get settled in career if he get that job, I said ok, fine.. congrats and all the best and what's your problem now?

Then he described that in first round of interview they checked his accountancy knowledge and he completed it successfully and in the next round it will be excel test, and they want person who is expert in ms-excel also, so I want to learn In and Out of excel from you in 2 hours, can you please help me?

I said surely I will help you for getting that job, and I said please answer this question first...

Those who are coming with me with this type of question then in the first step I always ask this question with them,

What is the very toughest formula/some other thing which you know in excel

OR

You feel it is a very toughest one for which you know how to solve with excel.

I asked the above question with him and I got a reply from him saying that he know Sum, +,-,/ in excel and he continued saying that he heard about Vlookup but don't have any idea about how to use it.

Then the above statement about vlookup given me some insight about his excel knowledge and from my point of view a normal level user should have the knowledge of Vlookup because it is a very powerful function which many users use it in the beginning stage itself.

I asked him what is that company's expectation? Whether you got any idea about it?

He replied, yes I know what they want (Because his friend is working their in HR dept., who given the required qualities), and he continued saying that they want persons with the knowledge of Vlookup, Hlookup, Index, Array Formulas, Pivot Table, Sumifs, DGet, DSum, Charts and the final one is VBA coding...

He continued saying that he wants to learn these stuffs in 2 hours with indepth of understanding about them.

I said in your present stage it's not possible to get a indepth understanding about all those things in 2 hours, instead you can get a overview only....

[zbor]

Same as high school students want to pass math and have 2 hours to undestand whole year material.

[XOR LX]

Sounds like one of those suspicious internet adverts you see:

"Become a Master in Excel in just 24 hours!! Only $999.99!!!"