# I would like to introduce myself..........



## mark9988 (Oct 11, 2005)

Hello everyone,

My name is Mark and I just finished college a couple of months ago.  I came across this site during work one day at my new job and I can't get over how knowledgeable all of you are with Excel.

So I'm a financial analyst for a very large financial firm in NYC.  As of right I feel as if I should of became a pharmacist or something because I spend about 8-10 hours a day on Excel when I could be spending only 4 hours a day if I knew how to.

I just feel that If I were more experienced in Excel, my job would be much more enjoyable. I can't believe how much there is to learn in Excel and how powerful it can be.  So my question.............How long did it take all of you to become a "pro" in Excel? How did all of you do it? Did you read books or do all of you work for Microsoft?  I would love to become a "pro" in Excel, but I just don't know where to start.

Thanks for the great site and keep up the great work!! 


Mark


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## RichardS (Oct 11, 2005)

Hi Mark, and welcome to the Board.

As my number of posts indicates, I'm hardly a pro, but...

You will have noticed that Excel is capable of achieving a lot of outcomes, it's a matter of learning how to get to where you want to be. The Excel help files are very useful, as is the formula paste function. I would suggest you look at what you're doing, imagine a way of improving it, then use those tools.

Searching this and other forums will also often throw up some incredible solutions. Then if you still can't find what you want, post a question here, stating clearly what you are trying to achieve, what you've done so far, and what is holding you back.

Personally, I haven't read a book on Excel since Excel version 2 (circa 1988).

Good luck!

Richard


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## Tazguy37 (Oct 11, 2005)

mark9988 said:
			
		

> I just feel that If I were more experienced in Excel, my job would be much more enjoyable. I can't believe how much there is to learn in Excel and how powerful it can be.  So my question.............How long did it take all of you to become a "pro" in Excel? How did all of you do it? Did you read books or do all of you work for Microsoft?  I would love to become a "pro" in Excel, but I just don't know where to start.
> 
> Thanks for the great site and keep up the great work!!
> 
> Mark



There's a great deal to learn about Excel.  Some of the formulas and solutions here will make you (even experts) say:  "I didn't know Excel could do *that*!"

I don't consider myself a pro (at least not in Excel), but if somebody has come up with an answer to a problem previously, I'm pretty good at finding it.  I'm better with VBA than formula solutions (especially things like array formulas) but I do my best to answer all of the questions I can.

I've read several books on Excel and VBA (I have one in front of me this very moment), some from the store on this site, and at least one (I've forgotten how many) by John Walkenbach.  Great stuff!

"Work for Micro$oft"?  Um...no.

Here's a couple posts you may find interesting as well:  http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=161616&
and, on the lighter side:
http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=52989&

Have a look at the top 20 posters list and see some of the stuff they've done.  Many of their posts just make you go:  Cool!!


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## tactps (Oct 12, 2005)

Mark,
I've been around spreadsheets for 20 years now (gosh...has it been that long - my god I'm old!!!!) from Visicalc to Lotus to Excel and learned as I've needed to.

Books are fine to learn what you can do, not how to do it - if I gave you a test after you read 500 pages on an Excel book, you'd probably know what could be done, but the actual syntax would likely escape you (unless you've got a photographic memory). By all means, read whatever you can, but try to discover what you can do - when you need it you can always look it up again.

I agree with the comments by others, and I'm sure Taz'll be the first to tell you that I'm no expert either.

Richard raises a good point - 
"I would suggest you look at what you're doing, imagine a way of improving it, then use those tools."

Don't be disheartened - you know more than others, but less than some (like most of us).

To be a "pro", find the person in your section of the company who knows the most about Excel and learn one more thing than them!


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## Tazguy37 (Oct 12, 2005)

tactps said:
			
		

> To be a "pro", find the person in your section of the company who knows the most about Excel and learn one more thing than them!



Especially if you don't like them.  Become smarter than they are, get promoted to be *their* boss, and then fire 'em!


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## tactps (Oct 12, 2005)

You are a harsh man, Taz!

but that's why we get on so well...


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## Zack Barresse (Oct 12, 2005)

Hello there, nice to meet you.

I started learning Excel the day I joined this site.  I didn't know anything then except may be SUM, MIN and MAX.  Oh yeah, and AVERAGE.  But that was about it.  I almost forgot, I'd just heard about this Conditional Formatting, but was unsure of what it was or how to use it.

That was December 2003, not quite two years ago.  I learned most of what I know now in the first 6 months.  By reading posts on this board.  Taking problems and finding othersolutions to them.  I was actually able to answer questions shortly after I had a few answered of my own.  It started snowballing from there.  Pretty soon I was answering a question a day, then a half dozen a day.  At that rate, I just kept picking more and more up along the way.

In March of 2004 I recorded my first macro.  Cool stuff.    I was in love with VBA.  My main focus at work actually shifted this way as my boss wanted more automation.  Actually, he just wanted more work, and I couldn't do it on my own.  So I automated almost everything except the data input.  I don't have to email anybody anymore, it's two clicks away; no more report formatting, checking my daily balances, none of that.  It does it all automatically for me, taking my brain work out of it and reducing my work load by about 300%.  I fill about 3 positions now on my own.

Use the free forums, they're your best friend.  And if you keep with it, and really try to learn this stuff, it'll come to you eventually.  Keep testing on your own.  Copy what you see on the board, use it in your spreadsheets.  Don't be afraid to fail or crash your Excel, because it will happen; it's not a question of if, it's a question of when.  So prepare yourself, it's going to be fun.  

And read all of Tazguy & tactps posts you can.  Don't let them fool you, they are Experts!  Guru's!  Pro's!  :D


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## tactps (Oct 12, 2005)

Awww...Zack, you are too kind!

Mark, Zack has learned more in 2 years than I have in 20. Maybe I don't have 20 years experience - maybe just 1 year 20 times.

When you get a little experience under your belt, also check out VBA express (see zack's links to new articles), but don't stray too far from this forum or pookie will get upset with me for plugging other sites (lol).


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## Chitosunday (Oct 12, 2005)

I have been with excel for 5 years and i have not mastered it .  I just learned more and more......... Now , i believe i have learned 50% of excel going 99% by year 2020 maybe, wnen there are trying to replace excel with another spreadsheet .


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## Cbrine (Oct 12, 2005)

Mark,
  I started working with Excel back about 3-4 years ago.  We had about 14,000 employees in about 700 locations to produce merit workbook for.  Prior to me taking the position, it was completed manually(I have no IDEA how), over about 2 weeks.  I created a process that let us produce the formated worksheets in about 3 hours.  Looking back now, at that original code, I wonder what the hell I was thinking at the time.  It always a learning experience, keep pushing the edge of your knowledge, and when it comes to vba programing, always remember the macro recorder is your friend.  It might now give you what you are looking for, but it will point you in the right direction.  Also, if you can do it with a formula, don't try to do it with code.  So that means learn as many formulas as possible.  Just knowing what they do will be a big help, when that particular thing comes up.

Here's some homework:
Learn vlookup, it's a great help.
Index(Match())
Offset()
Again, you don't need to be an expert, but having a general idea what they do is a big help.
   And like Zack says, post to this board.  If you participate and get it wrong, we will help you figure out the best way.
   It's going to be a wild trip.

Cal


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## Smitty (Oct 12, 2005)

Welcome to the Board!

In addition to what everyone's said, check out the: Microsoft Template Gallery.

It's full of good exapmples of what could probably be termed "proper spreadsheet design."

If you like, I'd be happy to send you a workbook that details every native Excel function with working examples and how to's.  I also have a wb with loads of VBA UserForm examples.  Both can make you go: "Oh, that's how they did that!"

As for how long with Excel/Spreadsheets, well I first started using Quattro in the early 90's when I was ranching.  It was good for doing herd counts, pasture allocations, crop rotations, etc., but I never had enough time to do with it what I realized a ss was capable of.  SUM was about as complicated as I got.  When I came to work in a coat & tie environment, I was sat down with 1-2-3 and developed stuff that drastically made my life easier, but in retrospect, it would have been much better managed in a database application (essentially list management).  I didn't really get into starting to utilize ss's until I got Excel in 96/97 and started developing interactive forms for sales people when I saw how much time they wasted doing paperwork.  I got into VBA in 98/99 or so largely by using the recorder and also taking great advantage of Microsoft's "free" assistance program (I think it was 3 support instances per valid license #, so I took my Boss', VP of Marketing, etc.).  They essentially wrote all of the code for my first big project, which is still being used company-wide (albeit updated just a wee bit since then...)  

I have no formal PC training other than a few books, and most of the things I know about Excel, I either learned by accident, or here.  Mr.Excel is definitely the reason I know what I do about VBA and advanced formulas.

Unfortunately, I'm in a somewhat similar spot as Zack in that I've streamlined my work (and others') so much that I've actually created a great deal more of it for myself, with daily/weekly/monthly reports & analysis, etc., that it has put somewhat of a kibosh on expanding/experimenting further.  I.E. Being the go-to Excel guy in a company isn't always a good thing, as I find myself sucked into projects all the time that despite my desires to be more, have to be essentially computerized Etch-A-Sketches for our sales people and support staff.  My euphamism for it is "Sales Automation Development", although technically I'm a Financial Analyst.

This is probably the best resource that I can think of and everyday I see answers that just blow me away!

Good luck and if you ever have a question, just ask away!  You'll find that the folks here are probably the friendliest around and have a genuine desire to help you find the fastest/most efficient answer possible.

Smitty


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## NateO (Oct 12, 2005)

Hi Mark, 

Welcome to the board. 



			
				mark9988 said:
			
		

> So I'm a financial analyst for a very large financial firm in NYC.  As of right I feel as if I should of became a pharmacist or something because I spend about 8-10 hours a day on Excel when I could be spending only 4 hours a day if I knew how to.
> {snip}


Finance, eh? Yes, Excel can be an applicable tool in the field. I'd say go through the Financial Functions that Excel has to offer and check out the help files on them. I'd also recommend that you tie-out your results using long-hand until you're comfortable with them, e.g.,

http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?p=833028#833028

Don't assume that your use of the function is correct because it is returning something. And if you become dangerous with VBA at some point, don’t try to reinvent these functions with a UDF if you don’t have to. I made this mistake with the NPV function once...

My experience with Excel comes from reading and experimentation; as noted here, I read, then I read some more. I started searching on/reading about/experimenting with very specific problems I was approaching, then I began to branch out and read on more general or specific topics that I didn't necessarily have an immediate use for.

In any case, enjoy the forums, this is a great resource.


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## tactps (Oct 12, 2005)

Smitty:



> My euphamism for it is "Sales Automation Development"



S.A.D. - I like that.  

Just remember, Mark - the term "guru" is relative - what amazed me in Excel a year ago is nothing to me now - as you learn more, you will realise how little I know.


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## Smitty (Oct 12, 2005)

> S.A.D. - I like that.


Watch it!  I resemble that remark!     

Smitty


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