Honest opinion needed, could cost me my job.

[Excel Hopeful]

Hi Everyone,

I love this site. I spend my days working in Excel and VBA and there is no better site than this one. My boss has recently asked me to learn VBA inside and out.

My question is, what does everyone here recommend? Should I buy the materials on this site and self train myself or should I go to a classroom where VBA is taught? I really do respect your opinions.

Thanks

 

[Norie]

Tell your boss to send you on a training course, there's plenty of them.

And by the way I don't think it's actually possible to know VBA totally inside out, I'm still learning.

 

[shajueasow]

Whether you train yourself or go to a class, make it a habit to frequent this site as it will give different methods (approaches) to achieve the same thing.

 

[lenze]

There are many people (including me) who learned VBA by using this and other forums. A good technique is to take some code from the board and try to modify it in some way. This will familiarize you with how the objects fit together and what properties each has. Also, as MrExcel MVP Oaktree once observed, the Macro Recorder is your friend.

lenze

 

[Joe4]

Excel is straightforward enough that I was able to self-teach myself using some good tutorial books.

VBA is a little more complex, and I took an intro class to get me started, and then self-taught using books and frequently asking questions on this site.

A lot of it depends on you. Some people have no problems learning from books, while other are more "visual" and need to see it worked out. Others like to be able to ask questions as soon as they don't understand something. If you choose to self-teach, this site is a great source to get those questions answered.

 

[Oaktree]

It might help to know the context in which you will be using VBA and, for that matter, where your current level of comprehension is. For the typical manager, having the knowledge that the macro recorder is even there could be considered "knowing VBA inside and out."

The book Professional Excel Development by Bullen, Bovey, and Green describes five types of Excel users:

1) Basic Excel user (probably never use macros)
2) Power user (occassionally uses macros, usually from the macro recorder or by making slight modifications to other people's code)
3) VBA developer (computer programmer types who forget Excel includes functions)
4) Excel developer (uses most of Excel's built-in features, making efficiency improvements by including VBA when necessary)
5) Professional Excel developer (from Stephen Bullen's website, "While Excel forms the core of their solutions, they include any other applications and languages that are appropriate, such as third-party ActiveX controls, automating other applications, using Windows API calls, using ADO to connect to external databases, C/C++ for fast custom worksheet functions, VB6 or VB.Net for creating their own object models and securing their code and XML for sharing data over the internet. ")

To the regulars on this board, "knowing VBA inside and out" means that 5th category. But, depending on what you'll actually be doing with VBA, even level 2 might be sufficient for what your boss has in mind.

 

[Excel Hopeful]

Thanks everyone. All of this is really helpful.

Oaktree, I like the list you provided. I bevieve I need to be # 5.

Is there such thing as an Excel VBA Certification?

 

[Norie]

Why do you think you need to be #5?

What is your boss actually expecting you to do?

By the way, how much is he paying you?

 

[Excel Hopeful]

I will need to create spreadsheets that work with other applications.

My boss did not say so exactly, but from what he has requested, I think # 5 is needed.

The pay is not enough, I can tell you that much.

 

[Norie]

I don't think you need to be #5 for that.

Though that depends on what other applications you mean.

If you really need #5 take a look again at the description.

Notice it mentions other languages eg C/C++ and also stuff (that's a technical term) like ADO,XML.