If you hear the word “spreadsheet,” you probably picture the Microsoft Excel interface without even realizing it. While the program may not look like much, it has several exciting capabilities that can be applied to nearly any profession in any industry. The program can help design balance sheets, budgets, and calendars to keep projects on track. Learning how to use this versatile software is not something that everyday high school students do, but Excel skills are in-demand for many of today’s most desirable professions. 

Regardless of your future goals, you can keep reading to learn more about the advantages of learning Excel at an early age.

Develop Essential Business Skills

Even if you’re unsure of your ultimate career path, learning to use Excel can be beneficial to young professionals in almost every industry. Basic Excel skills are a standard job requirement in many entry-level positions; some employers may even ask you to demonstrate your knowledge so they can be sure you meet the requirements of the position. A basic understanding of Excel also shows hiring managers that you understand how to organize raw data and translate it into actionable information.

Here are a few uses for Excel that apply to a tremendous range of professions:

  • Data Analytics: In a nutshell, data analytics is a process that helps businesses analyze their raw historical data to make different kinds of predictions with a higher degree of accuracy. Any business can use data analytics to answer questions like, “Why did we lose customers in X demographic,” or “What could happen if we expand into X geographical area.” Excel is useful for data analytics because it is accessible and affordable for most businesses. Excel can also perform complex mathematical calculations and is customizable to the unique needs of your agency.

  • Data Visualization: Excel has plenty of built-in graphing and charting features that can help illustrate your data in an appealing and easily understandable way. These features include more simplistic visualizations like bar graphs and pie charts, but you can also access complex reports like 3D maps and bubble charts. Any of these tools can be used to make a presentation more attractive. Data visualization is also crucial when providing information to a client who perhaps doesn’t have much experience with data analytics.
  • Organization and Time Management: The charting and spreadsheet functions within Excel can also help with general organization and time management skills, which are critical for almost every profession. Because the software integrates with other programs within the Microsoft Office suite, entire teams can access a single document and update them in real-time. For example, you can use one of Excel’s many preloaded templates to create a project timeline, and all members can work on the same document to keep the team apprised of their progress.

Future Careers with Excel Skills

Below, you’ll find examples of just a few of the available career options that require a high level of proficiency in Excel’s more advanced features. However, nearly every professional can benefit from the tools that Excel offers.

Financial Analysts use the data related to a company’s finances to help them make informed decisions and more intelligent investments. They provide expert financial guidance and help businesses understand the most likely outcomes of specific decisions. They must also stay current on marketing trends and possess strong communication skills since much of their job involves preparing reports that they will distribute to a broader audience. These positions earn an average annual salary of around $71,000 per year. In addition to working with Excel, Financial Analysts generally hold additional certifications such as a Certified Management Accountant or Chartered Financial Analyst.

A Project Manager is another career path that can require regular use of complex Excel skills. This position is available in nearly every industry since it designates anyone who is in charge of seeing a particular project through to completion. They tend to earn around $78,000 per year, though that partially depends on which industry they work in. Some of the fields that most commonly require project management include construction, advertising, information technology, and healthcare administration. 

If you’re detail-oriented and exceptionally skilled with numbers, becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) may be ideal for you. It’s a common misunderstanding that CPAs and accountants are interchangeable. In reality, CPAs keep their licenses active by regularly acquiring professional education credits and taking exams to demonstrate that they possess the appropriate skills. Another significant responsibility of a CPA is to represent clients and taxpayers who are audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Because CPAs are held to such a high standard, their pay is typically over $81,000 a year. 

If you’d like to boost your professional prospects even further, you can also look into a Microsoft Office Certification. This is another way to show potential employers that you’ve mastered the more advanced capabilities of Excel and other Microsoft programs. You can customize which certifications you get for your chosen career path. 

Personal Uses for Excel

Aside from the many professional uses of Excel, there are plenty of ways to integrate the program into your daily life to help you boost your productivity and manage your schedule more effectively. 

    • Budget Management: Excel allows users to generate a simple monthly expense report so they can easily visualize the amount of money they’re bringing in vs. the amount they’re spending. Paying attention to patterns in your monthly expenses can help you identify where you can cut back. This report can also help you keep track of your goals if you’re saving for a particular item. Visualizing your progress can help you stay motivated as you save up for a vacation or a dream car.

  • Schedule Organization: Excel also offers a calendar feature that individuals and families can utilize. You can add different events to the calendar and filter to find what you want. For instance, you can add appointments, birthdays, and bill payments to the calendar and then easily search to find what you’re looking for. As a student, you could use this feature to manage your educational, professional, and personal commitments.

  • Event Planning: Just like Excel can help a company keep track of progress towards a major deadline, you can use the same features to coordinate major events in your personal life. If you want to host a party for your family and friends to celebrate graduation (or completion of an Excel class!), you can use different spreadsheets to manage your guest list and keep track of various vendors.

Learn Excel with NextGen Bootcamps

If you’re ready to invest in Excel training that will undoubtedly help you stand out from your peers, check out the Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program through NextGen Bootcamp. They provide hands-on tech education to high school and college students at their campus in New York City and online. This particular course is one of the only classes in the entire country that helps young professionals learn foundational Excel skills. As an added perk, the course was developed by experienced professionals who are graduates of NYU Stern and Wharton Business School. 

The first few days of the program are where you’ll focus on Excel. The curriculum begins with basic skills like handy shortcuts and data entry before moving on to more advanced concepts like VLOOKUP, automation, and Pivot Tables. The second half of the program discusses stock prices and investment principles. Here, you’ll learn how to effectively assess the value of stocks and develop professional-grade investment strategies from the ground up.

The course also includes a certificate of completion and a packet of reference materials that students can take with them once the course is over. These materials are extremely useful for students when they need a refresher on core concepts as they progress in their careers.