Microsoft Excel

Hi guys! Today I will share to you guys about Microsoft Excel.

The truth is, before we go for a job interview, we must have basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel. From an accountant to a receptionist, human resource to administration department all are using Microsoft Excel. It is not only limited to the large companies, small entrepreneurs and college students are using it for their day to day work. That's something which you can’t skip. 

Three most important components of Excel which we need to understand first:

1. Workbook

A workbook is a separate file just like every other application has. Each workbook contains one or more worksheets. You can also say that a workbook is a collection of multiple worksheets or can be a single worksheet. You can add or delete worksheets, hide them within the workbook without deleting them, and change the order of your worksheets within the workbook.

2. Worksheet

A worksheet is made up of individual cells which can contain a value, a formula, or text. It also has an invisible draw layer, which holds charts, images, and diagrams. Each worksheet in a workbook is accessible by clicking the tab at the bottom of the workbook window. In addition, a workbook can store chart sheets; a chart sheet displays a single chart and is accessible by clicking a tab.

3. Cell

A cell is a smallest but most powerful part of a spreadsheet. You can enter your data into a cell either by typing or by copy-paste. Data can be a text, a number, or a date. You can also customize it by changing its size, font color, background color, borders, etc. Every cell is identified by its cell address, cell address contains its column number and row number (If a cell is on 11th row and on column AB, then its address will be AB11).

Basic Functions

Functions are one of the most important features of Excel. It helps us to perform the basic calculations as well complex.

Below I have listed 10 basic functions which we need to learn.

1. SUM

It returns the sum of numeric values in a cell. We can refer to the cells where we have values or simply insert the values into the function.

2. COUNT

It returns the count of numeric values in a cell. We can refer to the cells where we have values or simply insert the values into the function.

3. AVERAGE

It returns the average of numeric values in a cell. We can refer to the cells where we have values or simply insert the values into the function.

4. TIME

It returns a valid time serial number as per Excel's time format. We need to specify hours, minutes and seconds.

5. DATE

It returns a valid date serial number as per Excel's time format. We need to specify day, month and year.

6. LEFT

This function extracts specific characters from the a cell/string starting from the left (start). We need to specify the text and number of characters to extract from it.

7. RIGHT

This function extracts specific characters from the a cell/string starting from the right (last). We need to specify the text and number of characters to extract from it.

8. VLOOKUP

It looks up for a value in a column and can return that value or a value from the correspondent columns using same row number.

9. IF

This function returns a value when the specific condition is TRUE and returns another values it condition is FALSE.

10. NOW

It returns the current date and time in the cell where you insert it using your system's settings.

That's all for some of the basic things that you should know in using Microsoft Excel. 😃