How To Demonstrate Advanced Excel Skills On Your CV

Despite the rapid advances in technology, advanced Excel skills are still one of the most valued skills in the workplace. Having Excel skills, and demonstrating them effectively on your CV, can help you stand out from other job candidates.

Featuring your strongest skills on your resume is the most effective way of informing recruiters that you’re capable of filling a position with their company. A strong Excel skills section on your CV informs hiring managers of your extensive knowledge of this software program.

If you repeatedly notice that all interesting jobs require intermediate or advanced Excel skills, it’s high time you do something about it. Read on and learn what advanced Excel skills are, and how to describe Excel skills on a resume.

First, what are Advanced Excel skills?

Advanced skills in Excel are tools and capabilities used for higher-level data analysis and data manipulation. It includes the ability to produce graphs and tables, use spreadsheets efficiently, and perform calculations and automation to process large volumes of data.

Specifically, these advanced skills involve more complex formulas and formatting as well as in-depth knowledge of Excel tools and functions.

1. Be specific

Specify your knowledge of Microsoft Excel rather than broadly referring to the Microsoft Office Suite. Don’t say you have “advanced Excel skills” as that will mean different things to different people. Expand your abilities by including a few examples of the advanced functions you can use.

The examples you give should be important to the position and not basic or common functions. For example, you might say “Advanced in MS Excel including PivotTables, VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, and Data Tables”.

2. List previous Excel courses

In addition to your experience with Excel in the workplace, you can list the Excel courses you’ve previously taken. This is especially helpful if any of these courses taught you advanced skills that can be used in the position you’re applying for. This can be a course you’ve completed at a university or through a short course program.

3. Give examples of what you have achieved

Show you’re adept at using Excel by providing examples of what you’ve accomplished with it. If you automated the data collection for a college research project or created financial models during an internship, add these to your CV. These examples will show employers that you aren’t a casual user. List examples of how you dominated Excel under the actual work experience section.

As an example, you might say, “Built 3-statement financial models in Excel which incorporated advanced features such as sensitivity tables and scenario analyses.”

4. Be honest

Don’t put that you’re advanced in Excel when you’ve only used basic functions. Interviewers may ask you follow-up questions and you don’t want to be caught off guard. Employers will even test a candidate’s Excel capabilities if the role requires heavy Excel use.

I have interviewed many candidates who claimed to be “advanced” in Excel. My first question to them is always, “So, do you know how to use INDEX/MATCH?” That question gave a lot of panicked expressions. Being honest and detailed about your knowledge of Excel will help you avoid that situation.

Want to gain advanced excel skills that will make your CV stand out in a pool of many candidates? Consider Enrolling in this Advanced Excel Skills training!

 

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