looking up data in another column & populating another cell

This is the first time I have ever posted a question on the internet,
so bear with me, I will do my best to be clear and concise for anyone
who may be interested in helping me look good to my boss! )

Seems the easiest way to do this is tell you what I need the formula to

do, so here goes...


User Facing I would like to see two columns, #1 is 'Req. Number' and
#2, is 'Position'. In order to streamline data as well as to save
time on data entry, a user would only need to enter a desired req.
number into column 1 of the row they are working on. The formula I am
looking for would be able to then take that number, reference
previously entered (possibly hidden) data, and then be able to report
the corresponding/ desired text in Column 2 of the same row.


I think its the LOOKUP (or maybe something to do with a REFERENCE)
function which will look up data in a table to return a row/column # or

something?? Sounded close, but I don't know where to begin when it
comes to figuring out how to turn that row/column reference into the
desired text...


I KNOW excel can do this. It has to be one of the most basic things it

does, yet I can no longer sift through all these commands knowing that
someone out there knows that this is a cinch. If that person is you,
dear reader, please take pity on the girl who is still working at 9:00
on a friday night and at least give me a hint?


Being that the function I am trying to perform is a relatively simple
one, and I don't think you'll need it to catch my drift, I am not
including an example of what I described above. However, please don't
hesitate to e-mail me if you need examples or any other specifics.

THANK YOU!
Even if you can't help, thanks for at least attempting to
by reading this.


MANDA
San Jose, CA
Okay, so like I said, I've never done this...do I leave my e-mail for
quickest response?


[email protected] -- too late now I guess!

The formula you need is indeed VLOOKUP. Let's say Req Nr is entered in Cell
A2, and you want Position to be refelcted in B2. Let's also say that your
reference table is located in Sheet 2, A1:E20. A = Req Nr, B = Position and
so on. Syntax is =VLOOKUP(A2,Sheet2!$A$1:$E$20,2,FALSE) This means, get the
data from A2, look in Sheet 2, A1:E20, the 2nd column(ColB), and find the
exact data. If you say TRUE, it will find the closest data.

"Manda" wrote:

> This is the first time I have ever posted a question on the internet,
> so bear with me, I will do my best to be clear and concise for anyone
> who may be interested in helping me look good to my boss! )
>
> Seems the easiest way to do this is tell you what I need the formula to
>
> do, so here goes...
>
>
> User Facing I would like to see two columns, #1 is 'Req. Number' and
> #2, is 'Position'. In order to streamline data as well as to save
> time on data entry, a user would only need to enter a desired req.
> number into column 1 of the row they are working on. The formula I am
> looking for would be able to then take that number, reference
> previously entered (possibly hidden) data, and then be able to report
> the corresponding/ desired text in Column 2 of the same row.
>
>
> I think its the LOOKUP (or maybe something to do with a REFERENCE)
> function which will look up data in a table to return a row/column # or
>
> something?? Sounded close, but I don't know where to begin when it
> comes to figuring out how to turn that row/column reference into the
> desired text...
>
>
> I KNOW excel can do this. It has to be one of the most basic things it
>
> does, yet I can no longer sift through all these commands knowing that
> someone out there knows that this is a cinch. If that person is you,
> dear reader, please take pity on the girl who is still working at 9:00
> on a friday night and at least give me a hint?
>
>
> Being that the function I am trying to perform is a relatively simple
> one, and I don't think you'll need it to catch my drift, I am not
> including an example of what I described above. However, please don't
> hesitate to e-mail me if you need examples or any other specifics.
>
> THANK YOU!
> Even if you can't help, thanks for at least attempting to
> by reading this.
>
>
> MANDA
> San Jose, CA
> Okay, so like I said, I've never done this...do I leave my e-mail for
> quickest response?
>
>
> [email protected] -- too late now I guess!
>
>