According to a recent study, some 12% of spreadsheets contain serious errors. As we all know, bad data means bad decisions. On this course, you’ll discover more advanced methods for importing and cleaning your data in Microsoft Excel - including techniques to ensure your data stays clean - then look at ways to extract valuable business insights from it. Learn time-saving skills and explore automations and AI to understand how to unlock the power of your Excel spreadsheets!
AI Enhanced
This course has been updated to include the latest AI tools & industry insights
COURSE LENGTH:
COURSE STRUCTURE:
- Understanding Excel Data Types
- Efficient Navigation, Data Entry & Data Manipulation
- Data Conversion & Cleaning
- How Formulas Work
- Solving Real-World Problems With Formulas
- Efficient Data Search
- Workshop 1: Solving Real-World Problems
- Stamping Out Errors: Data Validation & Automation
- Building a Simple Interactive Dashboard
- Improving Dashboards & Adding Graphics
- Using Artificial Intelligence With Excel
- Workshop 2: Enhancing Real-World Scenarios
STUDY OPTIONS:
Part Time
1 x 3 hour live online evening class per week over 12 weeks
SUMMARY:
Spreadsheets are the go-to format for transmitting data in areas such as marketing, finance, project management, operations, and human resources. If you want to progress from casual Excel user to expert data whisperer, this highly practical course is for you. With plenty of use cases, peer collaboration, and real-world datasets, you’ll develop your confidence using Excel to perform a wide range of tasks relating to your role.
You will learn the different ways to navigate, manipulate, and clean data from multiple sources, as well as apply suitable data types for common scenarios. You’ll leave basics such as SUM and AVERAGE far behind as you dive into the real power of formulas and functions, using them to problem solve real-world datasets.
Whether you collect data for sales, performance, accounting, projects, strategies, or administration, you need effective ways to get true business value from it. That’s why this course also covers how to create interactive dashboards and meaningful data visualisations in Excel. Lastly, you’ll explore trends and innovations in Excel, both current and upcoming, such as the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES:
Microsoft Excel is a universal tool for data management and analysis, meaning the skills learned on this course will be pertinent in any industry or sector. Practical problem-solving Excel skills will make you more efficient and effective in any role that involves dealing with data. The ability to analyse and visualise data is a highly valued skill in today’s data-driven business environment, but plenty of professionals have only a self-taught understanding of the computing power within Excel. Mastering its more complex features could enable you to, for example, map marketing outcomes against expenditures in order to improve return on investment or create superior financial models in order to improve forecasting and financial management.
ASSESSMENT AND CERTIFICATION
This course is assessed through a set of short exercises completed each week, plus a final project comprising a brief written essay that describes a problem or challenge you have faced and an Excel file demonstrating a set of defined outcomes derived from the data presented (some sample scenarios are also provided for those students who cannot provide a dataset of their own).
Your UCD Professional Academy Diploma will be issued electronically on a secure platform, with a link that you can share with employers and others wishing to verify your credentials. You’ll also be able to add the certification to your LinkedIn profile to demonstrate your achievement to your network as well as recruiters and potential employers searching for individuals with your skills and experience.
This course is not on the National Framework of Qualifications.
LEARNER PROFILE:
This course will give any interested professional an intuitive understanding of the key capabilities of Microsoft Excel. Cohorts include people from a diverse range of industries and professional contexts and the course structure is designed to develop a community of practice. The focus is on promoting an application-based skillset, so you will look at how the features in Excel help to solve real-world business problems. Unlike a comprehensive Excel curriculum, where you learn a long list of functions to satisfy the requirements of an exam, this course gives you relevant, transferable Excel skills you can use immediately in your professional role!
