Can I conqur the Excel fear

[Deleted User]

Hi


I've been allowed to leave current job early and think I must uterlize the next 4 days (before I start the new job) learning excel - guess the best thing I can do is go and buy one of these self help book(s) I am lucky that I still have a few computers I can access it on


I did try years ago to book a course on it at the FE college (around 2010) in the basics of Excel but this got cancelled and refunded as not enough to run course


I know google 'how to' is an option but I think time has come to get over the phobia

enjoyyourshoes

Can anyone 'sit next to nelly' and provide guidance ?
Any drop in centres for unemployed or library with someone to assist?
Short notice course?
Colleague (finance department or operations) who can help?
On your own it may seem a bit gobledygook
Don't forget BODMAS !

PlutoinCapricorn

Google free online Excel training e.g.

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/office

TELLIT01

Excel is an extremely complex application and you won't be able to learn anything other than the absolute basics in the next 4 days. Did you claim to know Excel in order to get the job? If so, you are going to be found out very quickly indeed.

Paully232000

I'm sure if you go to youtube and search for excel there will be many. I have found tutorial videos on there for all sorts of programmes, including more unusual ones.

[Deleted User]

enjoyyourshoes wrote: »

Can anyone 'sit next to nelly' and provide guidance ?
Any drop in centres for unemployed or library with someone to assist?

No otherwise I REALLY wouldn't be asking, no unemployment help as never been long term unemployed enough and last time I signed was 2013 deemed as brief if you can't believe that then toddle off, people in a work environment are of the opinion it isn't their problem either rightly so, hence partly and awfully why I ended my new year assignment when they wanted me permanent for an Accounts role when I knew Excel wasn't my greatest strength which I'd be using, no courses by F/E I presume if they were auto refunding courses booked them years ago (must say it was like a day course not evening college)
I failed my GCSE in maths so there is no point in mocking - well all of them actually! Was busy having epileptic fits at the time yeah! Thanks all the same.


I see the link - Thanks PlutoinCapricorn suppose I'd just gotten into auto pilot and kept seeing the books! - I did have a real simplified/babyfied one but doubt I'll be able to just pick that of the shelves now I picked Salesforce up quite quickly operationally, with next to no training so hopefully I'll do the same here once I can be bothered to open it half the battle no doubt!


Thanks once again.

WobblyDog

In situations like these, I find it helps to aim to produce something useful (to me) at the end. I have spreadsheets for monitoring my car's fuel comsumption, predicting the size of my pension, calculating the size of timbers necessary to support a roof, etc.

I was motivated to learn how to produce these spreadsheets, because I knew I would get a useful tool at the end. Excel probably has a more rewarding learning-curve than most software tools, because it's very visual and gives rapid feedback.

I find it often helps to plot graphs of the results I'm calculating - faults in my formulas often become obvious on a graph.

peter3hg

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Excel is an extremely complex application and you won't be able to learn anything other than the absolute basics in the next 4 days. Did you claim to know Excel in order to get the job? If so, you are going to be found out very quickly indeed.

Most people who are "competent" in Excel only know the basics. I work in a job where using Excel takes up 90% of the work day but most people in the office can't do anything more complex than a Pivot Table or a vLookup.

pmduk

I agree with wobblydog, use excel to record something you're already doing, eg track bills, a bank account or something similar, then as you want to incorporate more data you can build "flesh" onto the bare bones knowledge you already have.

Don't panic! like most skills the more you learn, the more you realise how much there is still to learn. I'm sure there are very few people who use - or even need to use, Excel to its full potential.

GCFlearnfree is excellent, I taught myself to use powerpoint with them, after failing to get to grips with it for years. Your library might offer software training courses on cd-roms.

Firetastic

I'm currently doing a course with Alison. You can do Excel although I'm doing the full Microsoft Office Package.

jc808

peter3hg wrote: »

Most people who are "competent" in Excel only know the basics. I work in a job where using Excel takes up 90% of the work day but most people in the office can't do anything more complex than a Pivot Table or a vLookup.

What more do people 'competent' in Excel need to know?
Maybe be able to write the program in scratch - in Notepad