# Excel Jobs?



## bheron

Hi all, new to the forum today.  

I have kind of an off topic question...

What kind of professions or specific job types allow you to work in Excel ALL DAY?  Im serious and asking b/c I would love to have a job where I can be paid to do this stuff 40 hours a week. 

Are there specfic jobs out there that any of you have where you do this all day?  Anyone know what I mean?


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## Richard Schollar

There are lots of opportunities within a finance role (ie accounting) to utilise Excel, however, I think you need to consider what it is about using Excel that you enjoy - I use Excel daily in my job, but it's mostly thru this Board (and others) that I get to practice the really fun stuff...


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## bheron

Hmm, good question.

I'll have to think about what I like most. 

My ideal job would be for people to bring me something they do in excel and ask me to help them find a better way to do it.  I could some up with a better way, then show them how to do it on their own.

Vague enough??


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## joefrench

Welcome to the board!
Excel can be used for many things. It all depends on how you would like to apply it. As Richard had stated, there are lots of opportunities in finance which utilizes excel. 

I am a design engineer for a Plastic Injection Molding company and I use excel pretty heavily (although not so much compared to some of the other members of this board). I've used excel to perform simple to complex calculations. I've used VBA to automate some filing issues as well as to interpret and format data that is exported from other programs.


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## Patience

I use Excel like all the time. I have no need for anything else. Basically I monitor charity performance - finance mostly but also other issues for our funders. They give us money, I tell them in ever increasingly pretty ways how we are spending it. 

What I am working on at the moment, though is a new expenses form for our staff as I am forever amazed by the number (and ingenuity) of ways that people can fill in a form incorrectly. I am also using this task as a way to improve my skills with VBA. 

I have also been tasked with writing a financial procedures handbook which frankly I am dreading because I will have to use text rather than functions. And maybe even ... *whispers* Word ...

All this means I mostly work on my own in the corner, which suits me just fine.


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## njimack

bheron said:


> My ideal job would be for people to bring me something they do in excel and ask me to help them find a better way to do it.  I could some up with a better way, then show them how to do it on their own.



That's pretty much what I do most of the time.  Officially, I'm a bog-standard management accountant.  However, I've made so many improvements to the files I inherited, that I only spend the 1st 5 days of the month doing my day job.  The rest of the time, I'm improving processes and automating tasks that are done manually.  Now if I could just find someone else to take over my month-end tasks, I'll be sorted!


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## Russ At Index

H BHeron , Welcome to the Board,

I work within the Logistics sector as a day job , plus i volunteer
as i mentor within Inventory Control. 

A daily user of Excel for reporting on , KPI's, P&L, VAT, Pretty
Graphics & much much more !

As Richard states above , you can gain so much out of Excel ,
whatever field you decide to Excell at. Plus , now you are a member
of this board , "The cells are your oyster !!!!!".

Have fun !

Russ


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## TinaP

I work in the IT department of a bank and I use Excel anywhere from 50% to 99% of my day, depending on what needs done on any given day. Sadly, I've gotten rather proficient at automating tasks and I end up using Excel less and less.

My favorite thing is showing my co-workers how Excel can make their everyday tasks easier. For some reason that I can't comprehend, they don't like Excel much.    It is obviously my fault since I haven't extolled the virtues of Excel often enough.  (There's only a little bit of sarcasm in the last sentence.)  Most of the time, once I've explained how Excel can make their lives easier, they want me to show them more.  

If I only sat at my desk and put numbers into boxes or wrote formulas, however, I'd go nuts.  I'm glad my co-workers continually challenge me to make their jobs easier.


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## mike2008

As an accountant in a manufacturing company I use Excel for about 90% of my job.  Being good at it can have it's down side though... everyone at my factory from HR, Quality, Sales, Purchasing & Engineering come to find me when they have a problem.

Not good when you have your own deadlines...


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## Domski

I'm a management information analyst and use Excel I'd say about 80% of the time. This is more because SAP is so hard to get information out of and I tend to export the data on mass and do my crunching in Excel. I also use it for automated production of reports to pdf and anything else I can do which will help me (slowly) learn a bit more about VBA.

Dom


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## joefrench

mike2008 said:


> As an accountant in a manufacturing company I use Excel for about 90% of my job.  Being good at it can have it's down side though... everyone at my factory from HR, Quality, Sales, Purchasing & Engineering come to find me when they have a problem.
> 
> Not good when you have your own deadlines...



Isn't that the truth!! I have the same problem!


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## MarkAndrews

I’ve had various Job’s over the past 9 years<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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When I started working I was using a very basic knowledge of Excel & very basic functions, this later progressed as intrigue took hold & I started self teaching<o></o>
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Predominantly I use other programmes to mine the data, which then gets dumped into excel, this can be either a file, or a query which I then create excel based models from<o></o>
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The way I look at Excel is that it’s a common business application, every company uses it in some shape or form, so I opted to learn more<o></o>
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I was a late starter with VBA, but I am picking up more and more (from this board & friends I have made from here)<o></o>
<o></o>
Mark<o></o>


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## eblake

I started out as an operations manager for a call center managing anywhere between 15-20 agents, I'd never really messed with the VBA part of excel but knew it was powerful. They started giving us spreadsheets that would take hours to complete, so in my spare time I started to automate them, found this board which was a GREAT help to me. Soon I was writing applications that would save the other managers 15-20 hours a week each. (Unfortunately upper management decided we needed more work at that point)

I have moved on and am back to doing web development, I don't get to play with excel as much as i'd like now, but I still come to the board and read everyday, try to help when I can.

As a side note I would like to thank all those great people that helped me , I've mentioned this board to some co-workers and they were worried about asking "dumb" questions, I told them not to be, Just explain what your trying to do, give some examples and above all, use search first. :D


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## Fazza

There are many jobs that extensively use Excel.

From my observation "99%" of the users have only very limited knowledge of using the software intelligently.

For those interested in learning how to use Excel at an advanced level there will be unlimited opportunities to apply their skills.


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## Jon von der Heyden

I always suggest that Excel is a *tool* used within a professional environment, not an occupation, unless you are an Excel trainer or Bill Jelen.    I have worked alongside many proficient Excel users over the years and found that in order to deliver truly useful and effective products he/she MUST have the subject knowledge and experience, in my environment industry experience is a must.

So... I think it is especially necessary to focus on the commercial skills first and develop your Excel skills in parallel in order to deliver effective models.  I may not be especially proficient in Excel, but I strongly believe that the models I construct are nicely tailored for the commercial requirement and such are often more effective than those sometimes developed by my 'guru' colleagues (who I find often over-complicate by constructing endless macro's or use hungry formula simply to consolidate what can be achieved using an ABC stepped approach).  Funky, flashing bits and bobs often mask a useless model.  Technical make-up is too often all that is required to impress and I have come across many who know that only too well...  

I probably spend about 30% of my working day meeting with colleagues to assess their reporting requirements and understand their strategies and advising how to move forward.  I then probably spend another 20% of my day isolating (and building) queries and reports from our business applications to determine which report(s) are better suited for the task.  Much of this time is actually spent chasing people for content where the data is not available in the business applications.  Another 30% dedicated to the development of the model (including testing, testing and more testing).....  and the last remaining time spent on presentations and reviews of my own business areas and projects.

I think this is a good mix, personally I don't think I could afford to spend anymore time on Excel.  Being involved in the end-to-end process simply means that I cannot spend all my time working on Excel; and I don't think I could deliver effective models without being involved in the core operation.


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## klb

I use Excel extensively as a Risk Analyst in the Risk Management Department of a global manufacturing company.  While my title may be Risk Analyst, it could more easily be Data Analyst.  Many of my financial and loss summaries are enhanced using the VBA that I have learned on this Board.   The requirement of having knowledge of Excel and Access along with a smattering of accounting and insurance is making it difficult for my boss to find a replacement for me when I retire at the end of June.  (Not my choice to retire but our department is being moved to Neenah, WI from Minneapolis.)   If interested, send me a pm and I will give you a link for more info.
Karen


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## DauntingGecko

I work as an Excel developer for specialist Fixed Income company. Its my job to create new tools and methods for traders to use in their every day calculations.

The only issue as with any job, you need to know the data your dealing with. Lots of people can make formulas, etc - but unless you know the definite answer to the problem in the first place you're going to get stuck.

Banks, Hedge Funds, etc heavily rely on spreadsheets as they are used by traders on a perminent basis.

I started off working in IT Support and dabbled around in Excel when I got bored. Then I became a reporting analyst for a bank using Excel 40% of my time. Now I use it 100% of my time. It isn't as great as you think - at times I want to scream if I have to think of another logical process or formula to get things done for what is often the case, people who can't be bothered to research it themselves.


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## Lewiy

I use Excel all day every day.  My basic job is mainly just data entry into a spreadsheet for a bank, but as a side line (and what ends up taking up most of my day) is creating little applications for other people in the company.  I’ve only been in this job since the new year, but it’s amazing how quickly your name will get around from just doing a couple of small things for your colleagues.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
I get people I’ve never met regularly turning up at my desk, saying “I’ve heard you’re good with Excel….can you do this?”.
<o></o>
I think that, as long as you get in somewhere where there are enough people using Excel daily, you can very quickly develop yourself a role which centres itself around Excel.  I’ve managed this very quickly in my last three jobs which were all initially nothing to do with Excel development.  As long as you can do things that 90%+ of regular Excel users can do, you will soon become a commodity!!
<o></o>
Good luck!!


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## Fazza

Lewiy said:


> As long as you can do things that 90%+ of regular Excel users can do, you will soon become a commodity!!



For sure that was the brain jumping ahead of the fingers & should be ... that 90%+ of regular Excel users can't do.


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## Lewiy

Fazza said:


> For sure that was the brain jumping ahead of the fingers & should be ... that 90%+ of regular Excel users can't do.


 
Good call!!!  Yes, that's exactly what I meant


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## Binraider

Kinda an interesting idea... Excel is more of a tool to do a job than a "job" in itself... If you think you can find the customers why not set up a consultancy business for "Excel Business Solutions"...


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## Domski

Binraider said:


> Kinda an interesting idea... Excel is more of a tool to do a job than a "job" in itself... If you think you can find the customers why not set up a consultancy business for "Excel Business Solutions"...


 
Not a job , don't tell my boss!!!

It's something that's crossed my mind but I'm just not convinced my general IT skills are up to it let alone my Excel skills as integration with other systems would no dount be a substantial part of a lot of projects that you would have to undertake.

I've also considered training but have yet to think of that niche that needs filling.

It's also having the confidence and the mindset to go for these things as much as the ability to do them.

Dom


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## Fazza

Domski said:


> It's also having the confidence and the mindset to go for these things as much as the ability to do them.



Words of wisdom, Dom. Some would say this applies to everything in life...
regards, Fazza


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## cummingsea

I am a Engineer on a Tug Boat not much need for Excel, but I love the program I play with it a lot and still in the learning process .
I have created a few spreadsheets  and automated one that our office created for us.
I find it challenging to play with, but sometimes I just want to pull out my hair, but then I found this great web site called MR. EXCEL.COM and it helps a lot especially with formulas.
Once you figure out what you like to do with Excel then kick back and enjoy.  

Windows Vista, MS Office 2007 Pro


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## Stormseed

Well, I am in Share & Stock Broking Financial Services company and my profile defines me as an Excel Analyst. You guys must have heard the name Morgan Stanley - I am an employee of JM Morgan Stanley (JM is an Indian brand collaborated with Morgan Stanley) in India. 

I get paid fairly just to be on Excel all day. My Job title does define that I am a part to Excel - neverthless my Job Role or Profile defines that I am 100% Excel. These guys are paying me because I can do things which they are not even aware of that can be done in Excel ! 

A user who is well versed with Excel VBA is a GOD in Bombay. This is because a very few people have that knowledge of VBA. Even the IT professionals do not have it - the reason being no educational institue or university (private or public) teaches Excel VBA here in Bombay. You need to learn all by yourself ! 

It comes as a Challenge and yearn to Learn ! I ain't even a graduate but just becoz of this widely recognized tool named MS-Excel - I am earning 10 times more than a graduate in India ! 

Wish you all a happy time exploring things in Excel


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## Rusty

Stormseed said:


> A user who is well versed with Excel VBA is a GOD in Bombay.



Hmmm, wouldn't mind living in Mumbai. Would be an interesting experience.

Are there many jobs available there?
Are you expected to hold a degree in computing sciences or commerce?
And if not an Indian national (I'm Irish)?

I've got contacts there; know some people; the current girlfriend speaks some Marathi and Hindi (Used to live there); and I know she would like to go live there.

Just out of curiosity....


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## SydneyGeek

Some good comments on here! 

Chucking in 2 cents...

Jon, Lewiy and Stormseed -- I agree that Excel is a tool, but if you know it well and understand how to solve business problems with it, you can make it (a large part of) your job description. 

Dom -- you mentioned training, and wondering about your niche. Don't worry too much about a niche, you can start general (working as a contractor for one or more training companies) and then work out from there which direction(s) to move in. And if you're any good as a trainer and communicator, you will be asked about consulting too. That's how I got started, about 10 years ago. 

Denis


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## April15Hater

I'm a CPA for a local engineering firm.  I started off using Excel for a lot of the project tracking, internal reporting, and invoicing.  However after a while, my boss suggested I give Access a try to see if it is more aligned with what we were doing.  What I realized is that what I was doing in Excel was making an overglorified vlookup database.  Meanwhile I was missing out on the benefits of indexing, SQL queries, on demand reports, and much more.  Now I'm not downing Excel because it surely has its place and is a great working program.  But what I've found is that I am much more marketable to an employer with Access skills because not only do you have VBA under your belt, but you are forced to learn the SQL language which spans across almost every (if not all) database management system in use today.  Just my $0.02.

Joe


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## Atroxell

I spent 10 years in a scientific job, where we used Excel everyday for many things, mainly data storage and analysis. But I have worked for the last 15 years in Marketing, more specifically the research side of Marketing. My position now is with a major California financial institution as a Market Research Analyst. 

As a result, I have grown from a novice user to what people tell me is an expert--their words not mine. The more I know about Excel, the more I realize there is to learn. I know enough Excel to get the job done and/or get myself in trouble. I currently do everything from managing mailing campaigns to building report and data entry systems to demographic and ROI analysis. 

I normally have my own work, as well as 2 or 3 small projects for others in the company who want to work more efficiently. I have done work for my own department as well as Accounting, Branch Administration and Insurance Services. And now the word is starting to spread that I know a little about Excel, so my workload is growing even more.

The only limit to Excel is 1) The number of rows and columns and 2) your imagination.


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## SydneyGeek

April15Hater said:


> what I've found is that I am much more marketable to an employer with Access skills because not only do you have VBA under your belt, but you are forced to learn the SQL language which spans across almost every (if not all) database management system in use today. Just my $0.02.
> 
> Joe


 
No arguments there. The combination of the two (Access and Excel) gives you huge scope for defining and solving problems. I use them together all the time, and being able to hook into SQL Server doesn't hurt either. 

Denis


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## xld

April15Hater said:


> I'm a CPA for a local engineering firm.  I started off using Excel for a lot of the project tracking, internal reporting, and invoicing.  However after a while, my boss suggested I give Access a try to see if it is more aligned with what we were doing.  What I realized is that what I was doing in Excel was making an overglorified vlookup database.  Meanwhile I was missing out on the benefits of indexing, SQL queries, on demand reports, and much more.  Now I'm not downing Excel because it surely has its place and is a great working program.  But what I've found is that I am much more marketable to an employer with Access skills because not only do you have VBA under your belt, but you are forced to learn the SQL language which spans across almost every (if not all) database management system in use today.  Just my $0.02.
> 
> Joe



Which suggests that you don't really understand what SQL is. It is not Access specific, not even SQL Server specific. It is a query language, and can query any data provider that supports it, and guess what, there is a data provider for Excel that supports SQL. So you can learn SQL and use Excel and never go near Access (if that be your wish).


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## xld

Atroxell said:


> The only limit to Excel is 1) The number of rows and columns and 2) your imagination.



In Excel 2007 there are 1M+ rows and 16K columns. IMO that is the wrong way to go, it encourages poor solutions, but it is there.


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## NateO

Issue #2 is that not all versions of SQL are created equally, Transact SQL (SQL Server) <> Jet SQL (Access). Try running a Crosstab Query with T-SQL.


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## Futile Crush

Whatever you do, DO NOT teach ICT. It will be the last thing you do :P. As a child myself, I know what kind of hell teachers go through, and teaching Excel is best left to certain internet boards where the people listen and actually care about it. .

Just a tip


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## Atroxell

Originally posted by xld:


> In Excel 2007 there are 1M+ rows and 16K columns. IMO that is the wrong way to go, it encourages poor solutions, but it is there.


 
Ummm, I guess my point was missed--didn't really mean that someone should literally use EVERY cell in EVERY worksheet. Rather, the idea was that the possibilities are limitless, at least in the purview of a spreadsheet program. I guess I should be clearer in the future.

Only knew one person who ever used a complete workbook--not myself--and I would never recommend doing that...


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