One of my recent attendees admitted that he has written that he is proficient in Excel on his CV. But, he said “all I can really do is to copy”.
Excel is an interesting one. It comes in the same package as Word and PowerPoint and there seems to be an assumption in some quarters that young people learn it at school or, failing that, at university. This assumption is very wide of the mark and brings large amounts of inefficiency and risk into the workplace.
People’s perceptions of their own Excel knowledge is very varied. Some of those who don’t know much at all think that they are experts. And some who know a lot about Excel realise just what a small fraction they know and will think that they are beginners.
Excel is a huge subject. In my area, financial modelling, we only use about 5% of the available functions. And how do people get to learn to use it efficiently by getting to know the shortcuts? And how about the little tricks that you cannot possibly know about unless you are told? (It took me about 15 years to work out what happens when you press F2 twice). And what about knowledge of different calculation methods? And what about how to deal in a sensible way with circularity? (The answer to that one is, of course, to solve it)
These essential modelling skills cannot be picked up by osmosis and cannot be picked up efficiently on the job either. And whilst Excel is capable of so much, it is also a dangerous tool in the wrong hands or if used in areas where there are better alternatives.
Remember that you don’t know what you don’t know. And don’t forget that there is always a lot of learning to do, even for the experienced.