Top 3 Features of Microsoft Excel You Must Know

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Microsoft Excel is heavily used in Banking, Sales, Finance, Marketing, Customer Service… you name it, it is used by people at operations level, supervisory level and management level for data entry, data analysis, tracking and reporting data.

No wonder in job interviews, Excel features heavily for such job roles.

The Top 3 features often asked in the Job Interviews are regarding Pivot Tables, VLookup Functions and Macros.

Do you know Pivot Tables in Excel?

Excel Pivot Table Training
Summarize Data Quickly With Microsoft Excel

Pivot tables are used to summarize multiple data rows in one or multiple sheets, and create a summary report. It is a fantastic tools that makes it much easier to view the data at a high level – by category, by division, by department, by area and by country etc… based on your data.

It is best if you master pivot tables, and its nuances, its options, its hidden features and become an expert at using Pivot tables.

Here are some articles I wrote about using Pivot Tables in Excel, and its advanced options of getting pivot data in summary sheets within Excel.

But you may want to attend the Advanced Excel classroom training, and even avail government grants, SkillsFuture, SDF funding etc. to get subsidized fees.

Do you know how to use the Vlookup Function in Excel?

Vlookup and Hlookup are 2 of the Lookup functions within Excel. They help to lookup prices of parts, employee names etc. from tables where you know the part number, employee number, IC number etc.

It is like looking up the meaning of a word in a dictionary. These are extremely powerful functions, and you must know them well.

Do note that there are couple of variations of the Lookup functions – Exact Match or Range Lookup (Approximate match). You must know what to use, and when to use which option.

Knowledge of VLookup is a  must for most industries using Excel, like the Banking & Finance industry.

Excel VLookup Sample
Excel VLookup Sample

Again, at Intellisoft, we cover the Lookup Functions in the Advanced Excel and the Excel Dashboard MasterClass, where you learn how to create Management Reports and Dashboards using Microsoft Excel.

Do you know how to write Macros in Excel?

To save time in doing repeated steps, Microsoft introduced the Visual Basic for Applications programming language. IT is popularly called as VBA Macro programming. With VBA programming, you can extend Excel to create routines that can do the basic, mundane steps, quickly, and correctly, so you can spend more time with the more important stuff.

Excel macros are used in creating specific user forms, creating conditional logic, creating work flow within a n organization.

Excel Macro Sample
Excel Macro Sample

The end user can simple execute multiple steps without knowing how to do the intermediate steps, simply by clicking a button, which in turn can run a complex macro. It is so simple, and magical to use and execute macros within Excel.

You could use it to generate a profit and loss statement, a balance-sheet, a leave approval form, a cash flow statement, pivots and charts automatically, without doing multiple steps.

Read more about VBA Macro Programming here. And you can attend our 3 day VBA Macro programming training in Singapore.

Conclusion:

These are the most important and most used features of Microsoft Excel. Master these, and you will be very popular in your company, and you will improve your job prospects significantly by learning these 3 most important things in Excel.

Cheers,
Vinai Prakash,
Founder & Principal Trainer,
Intellisoft Systems

3 Reasons Why You Should Learn SQL

SQL training at Intellisoft, Singapore

stand-out-from-the-crowd

Whether you work in Business, Finance, IT, Services, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, R&D or any other domain, it is important for you to learn SQL.

You may be wondering – What the heck is SQL? Why should I learn it

WHAT IS SQL?

Well, SQL stands for Structured Query Language (pronounced as SEQUEL).

SQL is the most common language used in all RDBMS (Relational Databases). SQL is a simple, standard query language used is the world’s largest to the world’s most popular databases.

introduction to SQL

It is the base of Microsoft Access, Oracle, SQL server, MySQL, MariaDB, and a host of other relational databases.

Whether you work on Enterprise systems like SAP, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards, or Financial Accounting Software, or Analyzing Google Analytics Data, you can easily use SQL, and you must use it to gain power and full control over your data.

SQL is used to Select data from a database. It can also be used to Insert, Update or Delete data. These 4 operations are the main uses of SQL – it can be used to add data to a database, change it, delete it, or select it for analysis & reporting.

WHY LEARN SQL?

Create Your Own View of Data

Using SQL, you are no longer at the mercy of the IT programmers to extract certain reports for you. You also do not have to be satisfied with the run of the mill standard reports coming out of the systems.

Most systems provide basic transnational reports, but when you want to go beyond, customize them or tweak them, you realize that it is simply not possible. Or you may to have to go through a long process of Change Ticket creation, justify your request, get approval, and then wait for IT to develop it… which may easily take 6 months to a year at the very least.

The problem is that you simply can’t wait to get your hands on the raw data, to make business decisions today, not 1 year later.

Simple to use

SQL is extremely simple to use. Most people can get started on using SQL within an hour, and be able to extract basic data within minutes of learning it. SQL Is easy to understand for business and IT folks. You do not have to be a full-time programmer or a hard core IT geek to understand it.Students Learning SQL at Intellisoft

We have taught SQL to complete newbies, business owners, financial analysts, sales staff, service engineers, even hospital counter staff to use SQL within a short time, and be able to service ad-hoc customer requests within minutes.

Business Analysts & all other employee can benefit from a solid foundation & understanding of SQL.

Point & Click GUI Interfaces

Further, today, there are several excellent Front End GUI interfaces, that eliminate the need to write complex queries. Once the data model and table joins are created, and simplified views exist, you will be able to begin exploring the power of SQL. You will begin to feel awesome as you’ll be able to extract any data, analyze data easily, and even pull data into Microsoft Excel for later, further analysis.

Once the data is extracted from the Enterprise systems, you generally use Excel pivot tables, Excel Dashboards and Formulas, Functions to group the data, tabulate it, summarize it and find the hidden gems of insight in your data.

High Paying Jobs for SQL Developers

Once you learn SQL, you can work as a SQL Developer. Such jobs pay much higher salaries. According to a salary survey on Indeed.com, an average SQL Developer gets USD92,000 per year. Compare that to the average US Household salary of USD52,000 per year. You are earning almost double of the national average, as a SQL Developer.

This can lead to a much higher standard of living and earn you more prestige and power in the corporate world. Such jobs are also more secure and are less prone to recession blues.

 


Learn SQL At The Earliest

With so many benefits, chances to increase your salary significantly, and being the owner of your own data gives you great power, maximum opportunities and flexibility.

Join the Intellisoft 2 Day Introduction To SQL class, and begin to take your career to the next level. Classes for groups of 10 or more can be scheduled for your company only, as a Corporate Training on SQL too. Contact us at +65-6250-3575 for more information.

Written By: Vinai Prakash

This article is written by Vinai Prakash, SQL Expert &  an IT veteran with over 30+ years of experience in data analyses, business intelligence, data warehousing, project management & in running several successful businesses. Vinai consults with small and large companies in selecting and implementing business intelligence and database solutions. He also teaches the SQL, Python & PHP courses at Intellisoft. Vinai is an SQL Expert & Excel guru, and is highly sought after consultant and trainer. Contact Vinai for your next training!

PMP Exam Preparation Crash Course

Are you planning to give the PMP exam before 31-July-2013? If yes, you can benefit from the PMP Crash Course conducted by Intellisoft Systems, on July 6 & 7, 2013 in Singapore.

This PMP Crash course boot camp is based on PMBOK Guide Fourth edition, which is applicable for the PMP exam upto 30-July-2013.

The crash course is focused on providing you with tips, techniques, tools and strategies to pass the exam quickly, in your first attempt.

The 2 day camp will cover the entire base foundational material, and will also provide you with tips and techniques to pass the exam quickly.

Check out the details and register online. You can make the payment and reserve your seat quickly, as seating is limited.

You can contact Intellisoft Systems at +65-6250-3575 or send an email to training @ intellisoft.com.sg.

Beat The Haze. Boost Employee Skills & Productivity

improve the skills and productivity of your team during the haze

It is the time of the year when the haze strikes Singapore. From the weather forecast, it is expected to stay from September to November, due to forest fires in Indonesia & the prolonged El-Nino effect.

The Singapore ministries have urged people to stay indoors, and avoid strenuous exercises or outdoor exposure.

This does not cause much concern for the office goers… but for the people who have to stay outdoors to make a living – the technicians, service engineers, builders, foremen, from the service, oil & gas, marine, offshore kind of industries, it is a major concern.

It is important to take care of the employees, and ensure their safety and health. Simply giving out masks may not be enough. It is best to stay indoors.

One of the things that companies can do is to use this time to boost employee productivity, by sending their staff for training to improve their skills, and boost their productivity.

Steven Covey, in his famous book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” says that the 7th Habit – “Sharpen The Saw” is often the most overlooked habit.

Because we are so busy, in our “busyness”, we tend to forget, or postpone it to “someday”, or simply ignore the most important thing – our skills, our knowledge – the things that provide us with the  ability to get things done, earn our daily bread, and provide for our families.

So what can you do now… while waiting for the haze to clear?

Be Proactive: Take some action now that will protect and secure your future.

Use this time wisely. Invest it in your education, skill building, capability building. Not just for your self, but for your employees also.

What kind of Training is available for you and your employees?

  • Computer Literacy: All people should know how to work on a computer. Basic skills like using the keyboard, using the mouse, and knowing the basics of Windows, Email does help everyone. With the declining cost of computers, there is no dearth of cheap computers. Even construction workers enjoy learning how to send an email back home.
  • Basic Microsoft Office Skills: People like the office receptionist, admin staff, coordinators should all know the basic computer literacy, and more… they should know how to use Microsoft Excel to create a simple spreadsheet to track employee lists, inventory, pantry lists.They can learn how to create simple checklists, track expenses, and do simple calculations with basic formulas in Microsoft Excel. Learning about fonts, margins, tabs, documents, templates, spell checks, etc. can provide the basic skills for workers to write simple emails, type out letters, documents, and summarize minutes of meetings, all using Microsoft Word.

Word Templates, Form Letters, Mail Merge, Creating Table of Contents, using the Thesaurus, Dictionary, using advanced document management options can benefit the people who do a lot of document management, and type policy and other documents using Microsoft Word training. PowerPoint presentations go much beyond the basic bullet points.

Today, you can build transitions, animation effects, YouTube videos, time and rehearse the presentation, and apply sophisticated themes, and styles, embed Excel charts, or Word Documents, and Present in numerous ways. Advanced Printing options allow you to print handouts, create slide shows, and deliver killer presentations.

  • Project Management Skills: Most junior, middle level executives, and even managers are working on some project or the other. In fact, most are working on multiple projects. Wouldn’t it be beneficial to pick up some basic and intermediate level Microsoft Project skills, that will enable you to come up with the Gantt Chart, check the feasibility of the project vis-a-vis the available resources,  budget, and timeline.

Microsoft Project goes beyond a basic task list. Now you can establish a baseline, check progress against the plans, and take corrective actions intermediately, as the data is gathered directly from the workers, saving time, and prompting better and faster decision making. The newer version of Microsoft Project are getting better in terms of speed, and performance too!

  • Soft Skills: Hard computer skills are good, but they do not teach you how to communicate, how to interact with people, and how to solve problems creatively. Learning how to communicate, how to get your ideas across, and how to lead, motivate, inspire your team to greater goals is a worthy effort, and is a continuous, life long learning.

Identify the areas of improvement, training for each of your staff, executives, project managers, and the leadership team. Go for it. Quickly put some concrete steps to Get The Edge!… while waiting for the haze to clear.

Once the haze clears, you and your team will have greater clarity to achieve your organization’s vision, and will have the knowledge, skills, tips, tricks to move to the next level!

Use Government Funding for Training your staff. We can advise you on how to apply and claim the available training grants for your organization.

The Intellisoft Training team is here to help you. If you would like to discuss about the training options, need to do a training needs analysis, and help you in choosing the different types of Word or Excel training courses for your team, simply call us at +65-6250-3575 or email to training@intellisoft.com.sg.

We will be glad to assist you in beating the haze, and transforming your organization for tomorrow!

Cheers,
Vinai Prakash
CEO & Founder,
Intellisoft Training

The PMP Exam is Changing in Jan 2016

The PMP Exam is changing on Jan 12, 2016.

Although it is still based on the PMBOK Guide, Fifth Edition, there are changes in the tasks you are tested on. Make sure you are attending the latest training for PMP exam, which is updated for the revisions in the tasks.

This change is caused because PMI regularly conducts the RDS, and based on the results, it will tweak the PMP exam format.

Do you know what’s changing, and How will it impact you…

Do you have any of these questions on the PMP Exam?

  1. How to prepare for the PMP exam?*
  2. What to study for the PMP exam?*
  3. How to study for the PMP exam?*
  4. What are the changes to the PMP exam?*
  5. What is the eligibility criteria for the PMP exam?*
  6. How to get the 35 PDU certificate?*
  7. How long should I study for the PMP exam?*
  8. What books should I read for the PMP exam preparation?*
  9. What exactly is changing in the PMP exam?*
  10. How am I impacted? When should I take the PMP exam?*

If you have any of these questions, you can come and attend our PMP Exam Preview Session, and get the answers to these questions.

WHEN: 19-Dec-2015, 10 am

WHERE: Intellisoft Systems Training Room, #10-08 Golden Mile Complex, Fortune Centre, Singapore

HOW TO REGISTER: Click here to Register for the PMP Exam Preview Session

PMP Exam Preparation: Preview Sessions Each Month

Are you an active Project Manager?

Are you looking for ways to stand out, accelerate your career and get recognition?

If you are, then you should be planning to get the most coveted Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification from PMI Inc. of USA.

It is the top qualification for Project Managers, and is very well received in Singapore. In fact, Singapore ranks as one of the Top 5 countries where the maximum number of PMPs come from.

The PMP exam is not easy. More than half the people who attempt the exam can’t pass it in their first attempt. So don’t take this lightly.

Intellisoft is holding a Preview Session this March 2012, where our senior PMP trainers will give you an overview of the exam.

Some of the Topics covered in the Intellisoft PMP Exam Preview Session are:

  • About the PMP Exam,
  • Eligiblity criteria for the PMP Exam,
  • Methodology used in  the Intellisoft 5 Day PMP Exam Preparation Workshop (available on Weekdays or Weekends)
  • Our Trainers
  • Our exam centric teaching approach
  • CITREP Grant, eligibility, how to claim, claim % etc.
  • The Intellisoft PMP Exam Passing Percentage
  • Change to the Exam, its format,
  • Types of PMP Exam Questions, and the Right approach to answer the questions.
  • Question & Answers Session – where you can ask any questions you have, and our PMP trainers will answer them for you.

If you would like to attend the PMP Exam Preview session at Intellisoft, you can join us by sending an email to Kamini.

Intellisoft Training Schedule:
Intellisoft will be hosting Weekday and Weekend Training Programs for PMP Exam Preparations. You can check the latest PMP Training Schedule here.

Registration for the PMP Exam Prep Workshop:
You can register online for the PMP Training conducted at Intellisoft.

35 Contact Hour Certificate:
Intellisoft Systems will provide you with a 35 PDU certificate at the end of the 5 day PMP training program. This will enable you to attain Education Requirements for the PMP examination.

PMI Registered Education Provider (PMI R.E.P.)
Intellisoft Systems has been awarded the Global PMI Registered Education Provider by PMI. So you can be sure that you are getting quality PMP training and education, provided by our PMP Certified Trainers.

Simply sign up for the PMP Preview Session, and get to know more about how you can qualify and attain the PMP Certification, and boost your career with professional certification!

See you for the PMP Exam Preview Talk at Intellisoft Training Centre in Singapore!

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