Microsoft Office is a family of productivity applications that professionals, students, and non-professionals use to be more productive and efficient when performing daily tasks. Office was initially launched in 1988 by Bill Gates. At this time, it included only three apps: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. In the time since, Office has expanded and continued to transform how users complete office-related tasks like creating presentations, scheduling, using spreadsheets, and drafting documents. Currently, Office is primarily available by purchasing a Microsoft 365 subscription. This suite includes more than 30 apps such as Microsoft Teams for video conferencing, Microsoft Outlook for email, Microsoft OneNote for note-taking, and Microsoft OneDrive for cloud-based storage.
To this day, Office remains a popular tool worldwide for professional and non-professional tasks. More than 1.2 billion people rely on Office products. Office is a staple tool for educational institutions and companies of all sizes and types because of its adaptability across operating systems, its ease of use, and its accessibility.
What Can You Do with Office Training?
Training in Microsoft Office is useful across virtually all industries and educational settings. Its range of applications helps users perform many organizational tasks:
- Word is the most popular word-processing program worldwide, as well as the most widely used software that exists. Users from all backgrounds work with this application to create, format, edit, save, and print documents. Word also has tools for adding images, checking spelling, creating hyperlinks, and customizing templates.
- Teams is a teleconferencing platform used by students, professionals, and non-professionals to connect through video with those in different physical locations. Teams also has tools for recording and file sharing.
- Outlook helps users with tasks like configuring calendars, scheduling events and appointments, managing email and junk mail, and updating contact lists.
- PowerPoint is the industry-standard tool for creating presentations in work or educational settings. It provides users with features to insert images and shapes, customize layouts, modify text, layer objects, and create charts and tables.
- Excel users work with this spreadsheet tool to make calculations, organize and retrieve data, make charts, and create tables.
Office training in Baltimore is a great opportunity to prepare for career paths in a range of sectors, including data entry, customer service, finance, marketing, and journalism. Not only can knowledge of Office open professional doors, but it also can make you a more productive and valued employee at your current job, as well as a more effective communicator.
What Will I Learn in an Office Class?
Office coursework differs in terms of the program’s difficulty level, its length, and the educational focus. Some courses focus solely on one Office application such as Teams or Outlook, while others offer more comprehensive training in several Office apps. When you sign up for a typical Office class in Baltimore, you’ll likely receive instruction on how to use apps like PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Outlook. You also will receive training in how to communicate more effectively through written and verbal correspondence.
PowerPoint
One commonly taught Office application is PowerPoint. This app helps users create engaging presentations for use at school or work. Coursework teaches learners how to create tables, charts, and diagrams, as well as how to use SmartArt. Training also covers how to work with slide layouts, custom themes, video content, and animation when creating small or large presentations.
Word
Nearly all industries seek out employees who know how to use Word to create and edit professional documents. Beginner-friendly coursework includes instruction on how to work with this app to create, edit, spell-check, and print documents. Students also explore how to incorporate citations and tables into documents, apply various fonts and styles to text, and save their work. More advanced training builds on these core skills and teaches students how to create their own custom templates, work with advanced formatting, use mail merge, and track changes in their documents.
Excel
Most coursework that teaches Office prepares students to create spreadsheets in Excel. Students in beginner-level classes learn how to use shortcuts and basic functions, as well as how to create charts and other data visualizations based on their information. More advanced coursework typically teaches learners how to use advanced analytic tools, PivotTables, macros, data calculations, and advanced automation.
Outlook
Some Office courses teach students how to work with Outlook to perform tasks like calendar scheduling and managing email. In introductory-level classes, students explore basic skills such as how to manage contacts, book upcoming appointments, and automate tasks. Higher-level classes teach learners how to use spam control, enhanced contact management, and account setup.
Clear Communication
In addition to training in one or more Office applications, Microsoft Office coursework in Baltimore also teaches learners soft skills, including how to be a more effective communicator verbally and through writing. Those able to create clear emails in Outlook, make engaging presentations in PowerPoint, or draft and format letters in Word are able to reach audience members with their message. Additionally, those who work with Teams for real-time video teleconferencing can connect with others remotely and ensure their coworkers or team members are on the same page about a work project.
How Hard is It to Learn Office?
Before you get started studying Microsoft Office, you may wonder how hard it will be to learn this family of applications. Similar to other skills, the learning process is largely subjective and depends on factors like the knowledge you bring to the learning process, your study preferences, and your personal aptitude. For some learners, it will be much harder to learn Excel than other Office apps. Others, though, may encounter more challenges trying to master advanced PowerPoint or Word functions.
One common challenge learners face when studying Office is setting aside sufficient time to learn and practice with these applications. Since Microsoft 365 has more than 30 applications, some students may struggle to determine which are the most important to learn first and which can be studied later, if at all. This largely depends on the reasons the student wants to learn Office and their goals for their training. Most learners start by familiarizing themselves with the three core Office applications—Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—before moving on to others. Those who only need to learn each application’s basic functions and features won’t have to spend as much time learning Office as those who intend to apply their skills professionally.
What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Office?
Each learner will encounter unique challenges when studying Office. One common struggle some learners encounter during their training is becoming familiar with how to use Office’s advanced functions and features. This includes layering and animation tools in PowerPoint and statistical analysis in Excel. Most individuals begin their Office training by studying essential functions in core applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel before trying to learn their advanced capabilities.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Office?
The amount of time it takes the average student to learn Office is largely dependent on the number of apps they’re hoping to learn, as well as the level of proficiency they want to reach with each. Some programs teach students one application such as Word or PowerPoint and take only a day to complete. Those who attend these courses leave with basic proficiency in this app, including how to use its basic features to perform common tasks and how to navigate its interface. Intermediate and advanced-level classes typically only take a day to complete as well. They provide participants with a strong foundation in how to work with that specific application. However, some individuals must learn multiple apps such as Microsoft Exchange, OneDrive, or SharePoint. These classes usually only require a few days to complete. The average learner will need a month or less to familiarize themselves with the entire Office 365 suite. For those looking to learn each app’s advanced features and functions for professional use, several months of training may be necessary.
Should I Learn Office in Person or Online?
Baltimore residents interested in learning Microsoft Office can choose from in-person training options and online classes. There are advantages and drawbacks to each learning approach to consider.
Most individuals will find that in-person training is the most effective way to really learn Office. Coursework takes place at a designated training facility in Baltimore that provides students with computers that have the most current Microsoft 365 applications ready to use. Students not only benefit from learning in real time from an expert instructor, but they also enjoy the support and sense of community that’s facilitated by learning alongside others. Those who attend in-person classes can ask questions as they arise and receive individualized clarification and guidance. One important consideration of this training format is that students will need to attend classes that meet at regular intervals at a training center. This may pose challenges for those who don’t have access to reliable transportation or who live far from Baltimore.
One popular alternative to in-person training is live online classes. Those who study Office live online connect with the instructor in real time using Zoom or a similar teleconferencing platform. Students have the chance to ask questions in the moment and receive immediate support. They can even share their computer screens with the instructor (with permission) for further assistance. Instead of wasting money and time commuting across Baltimore for class meetings, students can complete their training remotely from the comfort of their own space. Live online classes do require that students attend meetings that take place at regularly scheduled intervals, often weekly or bi-weekly. For this reason, this type of coursework may be prohibitive for those who have busy work schedules or full schedules outside of work.
The most flexible way to study Office is with on-demand content. Unlike live online and in-person classes, which are taught in real time, on-demand content like videos and written tutorials is recorded at an earlier time and placed online for students to access and complete as their schedule permits. Each learner has the power to dictate their own learning pace. They can pause lessons, rewind them, and even rewatch them from start to finish. Another incentive for self-paced training is cost. Since the content is pre-recorded and no instructor is present, this type of training is usually a much more affordable way to study Office than live classes. Those interested in on-demand Office training should remember that it will be up to them to find answers to their own questions since they won’t have access to an instructor.
Can You Learn Office Free Online?
If you want to learn Office but aren’t ready to invest hundreds of dollars or more in training, you can take advantage of free online resources that can help you get started:
- Noble Desktop has a range of free beginner-friendly seminars on different Office applications. Pre-recorded seminars are available on topics like PowerPoint Presentation Design or Top 10 Beginner Excel Tricks You Need to Know. These resources cover the basic features and functions of popular Office applications.
- Microsoft’s website contains useful beginner-friendly content that helps those just getting started with Office navigate and work with different applications.
- Podcasts are another free resource with useful Office content pertaining to updates and new developments on Office products. Listeners can select from podcasts like “Microsoft Mechanics Podcast, ” “Office 365 Distilled, ” and “The Practical 365 Podcast.”
- Learners can also learn Office basics and stay current with changes in Microsoft Office products through blogs. Popular Office blogs include “Microsoft Blog 365, ” “Collab365, ” “Practical 365, ” and “Content and Code.”
While free online Office resources can provide a great starting point for those hoping to learn Office basics, most learners will find that they can only take them so far. Often, they are too broad in scope for learners to have the chance to fully explore a given topic. In other instances, their window isn’t broad enough, and they don’t provide sufficient detail on topics such as how to create professional-grade presentations in PowerPoint or perform data analysis with Excel. This is why those who hope to use their Office training for professional reasons will likely require a more structured, live approach to learning at some point to truly master one or more applications.
What Should I Learn Alongside Office?
If you want to learn Microsoft Office, you may wonder which tools or skills would be useful to learn as a supplement. Because Office is widely used across nearly all industries and professional settings, there are many industry-specific skills you can select that would make you a more well-rounded job applicant, depending on the sector in which you want to work. Some may want to study project management alongside Office so they can manage projects of all sizes. These individuals can train for Microsoft’s Office 365 certification, which helps them become a Teams Administrator Associate. This credential is valuable for those who want to learn how to work with SharePoint and Teams to better manage workplace collaborations. Alternatively, other individuals may opt to supplement their Office training with cybersecurity. These professionals may want to prepare for the Office 365 Security Administrator Associate exam or the Messaging Administrator Associate exam to prepare for a career in cybersecurity.
Industries That Use Office
Office training is valued in many Baltimore industries, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and nonprofits. The following sections will examine how Office training is used in each of these key sectors in the city.
Healthcare
One of the most prominent sectors in Baltimore is healthcare. Six of the ten largest city employers are in the healthcare industry, including MedStar Health, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins Hospital & Health System. Johns Hopkins alone contributed almost $15 billion to Maryland’s economic output. Within the healthcare sector, Microsoft Office has many applications. Teams is a popular tool that allows doctors to stay in touch with colleagues or patients through video or voice meetings, as well as to conduct virtual appointments. Teams also helps with collaboration among various healthcare teams within an organization. Additionally, OneNote’s notebook feature is a great resource for tasks like creating and sharing action plans for patients, reviewing cases that are relevant to a current patient’s care, or providing patients with updates.
Finance
The finance industry is another staple of Baltimore’s economy. Drawing from its convenient location between New York City and Washington, D.C., Baltimore is home to some of the major financial players in the area, including CFG Bank and Morgan Stanley. With more than 80 banks and 50 credit unions in the city, finance professionals flock to the area to pursue a range of finance-related careers in insurance and banking. Within the finance industry, Excel is a go-to tool for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing financial data. This popular spreadsheet application helps financial professionals create complex financial models and share their findings through visualizations, which can be presented to internal and external stakeholders.
Manufacturing
In Baltimore, manufacturing has been a prominent industry for many years due to the city’s port access for imports and exports. Today, there is a growing focus on smaller and more specialized manufacturing organizations in fields like advanced manufacturing and creative industries. Baltimore residents with Office expertise can use this training to better manage and track employees. Teams, a teleconferencing application, is also a great resource for coworkers to use for real-time video conferencing and file sharing. Additionally, Word can help those in manufacturing create approval requests and other documents.
Nonprofits
The Baltimore nonprofit sector is another prominent industry in the city. There are currently approximately 5,000 nonprofits located in this region. They are a major contributor to the area’s economic development and employ 10% of Baltimore’s workforce. Programs like the Maryland Nonprofits Accelerator Program are in place to help nonprofit organizations expand their capacity. Some of the most prominent Baltimore nonprofits are the Johns Hopkins Hospital Endowment Fund Incorporated and the Baltimore Community Foundation Inc. Within the nonprofit sector, Office training serves a range of purposes. Those who work in nonprofits can use Teams to collaborate with partners, donors, or volunteers who are in different physical locations. Outlook assists with scheduling and email-related tasks. Excel is a go-to for analyzing and visualizing fundraising data. Additionally, Word is helpful for creating and editing documents to share with volunteers or donors.
Office Job Titles and Salaries
Microsoft Office training is a useful skill set in nearly all Baltimore career paths. In the following sections, professions like Web Developer, Business Analyst, and Administrative Assistant will be explored, as well as the corresponding salary rates and job requirements for each position.
Web Developer
Web Developers work with programming languages like CSS/HTML and JavaScript to create webpages. They also identify errors in code and focus on program functionality. Some Web Developers focus on front-end development, whereas others work primarily in back-end or full-stack development. Web Developers use several Microsoft Office applications for everyday tasks. The programming languages provided in Excel have applications for setting up code to develop websites. Web Developers may also use PowerPoint to prototype user interfaces and test hyperlinks to see how various images or content arrangements would work. In Baltimore, Web Developers earn an average yearly salary of $89,000–$99,000.
Business Analysts
Business Analysts who work in Baltimore are tasked with assisting their organization review any problems it’s encountering and suggesting data-driven solutions to these concerns. Business Analysts perform tasks like communicating with stakeholders, analyzing business data, documenting and presenting their findings, and implementing solutions. In Baltimore, the average pay rate for a Business Analyst is $111,000–$121,000 a year.
Administrative Assistant
Those who work as Administrative Assistants in Baltimore help administrative professionals with organizational tasks. Each day, Administrative Assistants schedule meetings, book appointments, draft and edit documents, answer phone calls, file, and manage business accounts. The average yearly salary for a Baltimore-based Administrative Assistant is $48,000–$58,000.
Office Classes Near Me
If you’re interested in finding Microsoft Office training near home, you can use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool to find Office classes in Baltimore. Training is available for learners at all levels in several Office apps.
Noble Desktop, the creator of this tool, has live online study options for those interested in learning more about Microsoft Office. In its Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp, learners have the time and support necessary to fully immerse in learning Microsoft Office. This rigorous program prepares participants to create professional-level presentations in PowerPoint that incorporate SmartArt, animations, and custom themes. They explore how Outlook is used to manage contacts, automate tasks, control spam, and customize settings. During the Word component of training, participants are taught how to format text, incorporate citations, and use mail merge. In the Excel portion of training, learners study data visualizations, advanced analytics tools, PivotTables, and macros.
Those interested in focusing their studies entirely on one Office application can do so in Noble Desktop’s Excel Bootcamp. Over the course of several days, this class takes students from beginner to intermediate and advanced-level spreadsheet training. Those enrolled learn basic functions and calculations, as well as how to work with INDEX and MATCH, macros, SUMIFS, VLOOKUP, and PivotTables. These classes both include a free retake option for up to a year.
Outlook 2019—Part 1 is available from New Horizons for those interested in learning Outlook basics. This one-day course provides instruction on topics like contact and email management, interface customization, and calendaring. By graduation, students will be able to handle complex scheduling tasks, sort and filter email, and automate routine tasks. This program is available in-person in McLean, Virginia.
In ||CPN661||, which is available live online from NYC Career Centers, participants work with multiple Microsoft Office applications. Beginner-level training in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel is provided. This class includes a free retake option for a full year.
NYIM Training’s Excel for Business Bootcamp is a great option for those who want to take their Excel training to the next level and explore advanced-level skills. Those enrolled receive training in formulas, charts, macros, and PivotTables. By course completion, students will be able to work with this industry-standard app to perform a range of business-related tasks. This program is offered live online.
Certstaffix Training’s Word—Level 1 is available for those who want to get started learning Word basics. This beginner-friendly class covers many basic word processing skills, including how to create and edit documents, add graphics and diagrams, change text appearance, and customize settings. Certstaffix also has Outlook—Level 1 for those interested in learning how to use this application to manage emails and contacts, schedule appointments, or customize options. These programs are both taught live online. Learners can study from their own space or complete training in the computer lab that’s provided in Laurel, Maryland.
Office Corporate Training
Would Microsoft Office training help those at your workplace perform daily tasks more efficiently? If so, Noble Desktop can help. Noble can provide corporate and onsite Microsoft Office training for some or all of your employees. Training can be conducted in Baltimore directly at your workplace or remotely using Zoom. Training options are available in popular apps like Excel and PowerPoint. You can purchase vouchers in bulk at a discount for Noble’s regularly scheduled classes, or Noble can customize training to ensure all your employees can maximize their time and efforts.
If you would like to find out more about the various corporate training options Noble can offer your employees in Microsoft Office, you can contact Noble today to find out more.