Microsoft Office Certificates Boston, MA

Microsoft Office, a popular and widely used set of computer programs, has a range of uses in business and industry. It includes software that can be used for word processing, accounting, data analysis, email and meetings, and creating presentations, among other purposes. Learning Microsoft Office, or even any of the varied software within the Microsoft Office suite, makes a professional better qualified for many different careers and better positioned to work within many different industries.

Bill Gates, a technology innovator, founded the Microsoft Corporation in 1975. Alongside the rise of the personal computer, the need for intuitive operating systems emerged. Microsoft initially entered this market with MS-DOS in the early 1980s, followed by the Windows operating system in 1985. Perhaps you would be surprised to learn that the first version of Microsoft Office had its debut more than 30 years ago, in 1990. This form of Office included Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, which remain two of the most popular Microsoft programs today. Later in the 1990s, Gates foresaw that the internet (until then mostly limited to government and the military) would soon become significantly more popular, ultimately transforming everyone’s daily lives. Over time, Microsoft changed the Windows operating system to become more focused on internet use. The company also created its own tools for browsing the web. Ultimately, the company even entered the email market through its popular client, Microsoft Outlook. Even through all these evolutions, the reliable programs in the Microsoft Office suite remained the company’s most popular and versatile software for all manner of uses.

Professionals throughout a vast range of industries and across many different careers use Microsoft Office to perform a wide variety of functions. The two most popular Office programs remain Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Word processing was one of the first functionalities offered by personal computers, even going back to programming within MS-DOS in the early 80s. Today, computer word processing is essential for everything from business letters to notetaking to drafting of items to be posted online. Microsoft Word is still the standard software that most people use for word processing. Similarly, Microsoft Excel is a widely popular and industry-standard software in any field that involves processing numbers or numerical data. This includes not only accounting and finance, but even any career or industry that uses data analysis. Some people also find Excel useful for personal budgeting and other non-work functions. Along with Word and Excel, the Microsoft Office suite includes the Microsoft Outlook email client, the presentation software called Microsoft PowerPoint, and the database processing software Microsoft Access.

Why Become Certified in Microsoft Office?

Microsoft Office is a popular and well-known suite of programs. Individuals in a vast range of careers and industries employ them in their work. Software within Microsoft Office is typically the industry-standard product when it comes to their respective categories of program. Although everyone’s resume may say that they are “proficient in Microsoft Office, ” earning a professional certificate will make it possible for you to demonstrate that you truly are an expert in the Office software product or products that are industry-standard in your particular field.

Getting a certificate in Microsoft Office will give you a way to demonstrate your skills to potential employers or clients. It will also include a comprehensive education in the field, which, if desired, can prepare you for a certification exam as well. And you’ll get access to expert instructors, too, perhaps even alongside practicing critique and collaboration with your peers. As a part of many certificate programs, you’ll also get access to career mentoring, feedback on your job search materials, as well as networking events and similar career opportunities. Unlike some other skill sets, you can’t really make a demo reel or portfolio to showcase your knowledge of Office. Thus, having a certificate will help you sell your qualifications to employers or clients who would like evidence of your skills before hiring you.

What You’ll Learn While Becoming Microsoft Office Certified

The main skills you will acquire when doing a certificate or certification in Microsoft Office include the main software that make up the Office Suite. These include Microsoft Word, the world’s most popular word processing program, as well as the industry-standard accounting and finance program, Microsoft Excel. Perhaps it will also involve learning the presentation software you’re probably familiar with, Microsoft PowerPoint. Students might even explore the powers of the Microsoft Outlook email client, or the specialized database program called Microsoft Access.

Microsoft Word

Across many different fields, Microsoft Word is the industry-standard word processing software. Word’s advantages include a wide range of formatting options, in addition to the ability to save in several different file types for different functions. Nearly anyone who works sitting at a desk will have to use Microsoft Word at some point in their career journey. Therefore, knowing how to use it well can help one stand out. One can become notable both for that skill itself and for what they can achieve using the program.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is perhaps the software within the Microsoft Office suite that employers are most universally eager for workers to be skilled in. This is because it is a powerful data processing tool, especially effective for accounting, budgets, purchasing, and essentially any function that involves finance. The program can also help professionals process other kinds of data such as statistics, business projections, and customer data, among others.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is indisputably the industry-standard software when it comes to creating visual aids to accompany presentations. In fact, PowerPoint was so groundbreaking, and its use has become so popular that it’s kind of like “Kleenex”: that is, the brand name has become the name that people use for the whole category, even when the product they’re using isn’t actually from that brand. When you say a “PowerPoint, ” you might just mean a digital slideshow, regardless of the software used to create it. However, PowerPoint itself remains the vital, widely used, industry-standard program to learn. Studies have shown that presentations become significantly more effective when they are accompanied by well-chosen visual aids. PowerPoint is a strong way to make that happen in any industry.

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is among the most popular email and calendaring clients. While Microsoft and Google are both highly competitive in this field, Outlook remains standard for many businesses and industries. It’s particularly useful because of how well it integrates with the rest of the Microsoft suite–even more so now that many companies use Microsoft Teams, which works in tandem with Outlook, as a platform for remote meetings through video conferencing.

Microsoft Access

You may not have heard of Microsoft Access, which is less common in many industries than the others listed above. However, if you are seeking to become a fully qualified Microsoft Office user, it’s still important to learn Microsoft Access alongside the other software in the suite. That’s because this rarer skill can still be a critical qualification for roles that heavily involve data processing.

Microsoft Office Industries in Boston

The most important industries in the Boston area include healthcare and life sciences, professional services, tech, government, finance, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, aerospace, clean energy, and education.

Within the healthcare industry, data management is always extremely important. That makes Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access key programs for professionals in that industry. This is particularly true when it comes to the support staff who make doctor’s offices and hospitals run smoothly. Departments in medical facilities, from Billing to Purchasing, use Microsoft Excel in these contexts. In addition, they employ Microsoft Word for drafting business-related documents. Many of these institutions use Outlook for email, too. When presenting new medical findings, scientists may support their talks with visual aids in the form of a PowerPoint slide show as well.

The Microsoft Office software suite is a widely used tool in professional and business services. For example, many organizations use Microsoft Outlook for their calendars and email. Professionals in a variety of positions within these fields use Microsoft Word for internal and external communication, report writing, documentation, and other word processing needs. Particularly in accounting and finance positions within professional and business services, Microsoft Excel is vital for budgetary and purchasing operations. In some cases, professionals in the business services industry also use Microsoft Access for data processing purposes. Many presentations in the professional and business services field will depend heavily on the power of visual aids that they can provide by making slideshows in Microsoft PowerPoint.

The tech industry uses Microsoft Word for the purpose of professional communications, as well as during the drafting of microcopy and other written elements of apps. When it comes to documents that are user-facing, Word is also useful for technical writing and creating documentation to accompany programs and devices. Accounting, budgeting, purchasing, and other finance-related departments in tech companies use Microsoft Excel heavily. In some cases, professional data analysts in the tech industry may use Excel or Access for data processing as well. In addition, technological innovators might also create PowerPoints to help them sell or demonstrate new ideas to investors or stakeholders in a pitch meeting.

If you want to work in government, Microsoft Office will be a critical software suite to be able to use. In particular, Microsoft Word is industry-standard for word processing of official documents, including legal papers, memos, speeches, and policies. Any department that is tasked with processing government funding will need to use Microsoft Excel. Policy presentations, too, are often accompanied by PowerPoints showing charts and graphs to support the argument by showing the policy’s projected effect. Some government organizations may also use Outlook and Teams for professional purposes, depending on the level of security required, and they may also use Access for data storage and processing.

In the financial services industry above all, Microsoft Excel is vital. This program can be useful for processing any numerical data, and it is especially well suited for anything that has to do with money in any form. If you want to work in financial services, then, you will most certainly need to be familiar with Excel. You’ll also want to pick up skills in Microsoft Word, for internal communications and memos as well as customer-facing documents.

The insurance industry uses Microsoft Excel particularly heavily. In insurance, professionals must do complex calculations projecting statistics like lifespan, probable medical expenses, and the relationship between the statistics and the premiums these companies choose to charge. These calculations are also used to determine whether to grant or deny a claim. Communications, both with the public and internally, will likely be drafted in Microsoft Word. The company might also use Microsoft Outlook as an email client, or store customer data in Microsoft Access. The statistical calculations in Excel might also be presented as projections or for data-driven decisions, in which case the presenters might use PowerPoint as well.

Real estate professionals will likely use Microsoft Word to draft copy for promotional materials, record the terms of legal agreements with customers, manage notes on what different deals offer, and reach out to clients in either direction. These companies will likely also manage their finances using Excel. A professional who has put together some possible options for a client might also use a PowerPoint with images of the different properties to show their relative advantages.

Professionals in the manufacturing industry must be familiar with the Microsoft Office suite as well. In addition to the most frequent uses of Microsoft Excel, like accounting, the manufacturing industry needs to use Excel for several other purposes, including to track production, monitor processes for safety purposes, and identify which products are popular, as well as which ones need improvement. It can also help supervisors assess whether workers and processes are effective, and give them a way to determine how they can be improved. As in other industries, Microsoft Word is also very important for creating internal and external documents and communications in the manufacturing industry.

In the aerospace industry, Excel is very important for processing data and generating visualizations. This helps industry executives understand the results of research and identify what avenues to pursue. Naturally, it is also useful in all financial aspects of the industry. PowerPoint is important, too, as it facilitates presenting new ideas and designs to stakeholders and investors. Microsoft Word is used for everything from drafting advertising copy to writing out patents.

The clean energy industry uses Excel to process data, which then lets them generate the charts and visualizations they need to prove that their energy solutions will be practical, successful, and efficient. Since this industry depends so much on convincing investors and stakeholders that a specific method will be effective, PowerPoint presentations are an important tool as well. Marketing copy, patent applications, press releases, and many other public-facing documents, as well as internal communications and memos, are all drafted in Word. Access may also be used to store and process data, and many aerospace organizations use Outlook and Teams as well.

In education, teachers and professors are often known to extensively use Microsoft PowerPoint to create slideshow presentations that will give them visual aids to accompany their lectures and lessons. Students and educators alike use Microsoft Word, too, to produce a range of written materials. These might include handouts, assignment sheets, study guides, reports, and essays, among other documents. Professionals whose careers involve accounting and purchasing for educational institutions will rely heavily on Microsoft Excel. Quite a few of these institutions use Microsoft Outlook for their email and calendaring purposes, too. In addition, schools and universities might employ Microsoft Access to manage student data.

Microsoft Office Careers in Boston

Microsoft Excel is a highly desirable skill for many finance-related careers in Boston, including Accountant, Financial Analyst, Investment Analyst, Retail Manager, Sales Manager, Cost Estimator, and Purchasing Analyst. An Accountant will file financial documents for a company and take care of their bookkeeping. In Boston, this role typically pays an average of $80,000 a year, or between $45,000 and $85,000. Financial Analysts use data for the purpose of identifying business opportunities and evaluating the success of financial endeavors. In Boston, this role typically pays an average of $75,000 a year, or between $55,000 and $105,000. An Investment Analyst is a type of finance professional who analyzes data to make investment recommendations to clients. In Boston, this role typically pays an average of $85,000 a year, or between $60,000 and $175,000. Responsible for managing a retail business, Retail Managers need to keep track of profits, losses, and overall financial data. This role typically pays an average of $60,000 a year in Boston, or between $35,000 and $115,000. Sales Managers are in charge of the sales department for a business, so they need to track the performance of different salespeople and products. In Boston, this role typically pays $100,000 a year on average, or between $40,000 and $165,000. Cost Estimators collect and analyze data to discover how to make a process or product more cost-effective for a company. In Boston, this role typically pays about $80,000 a year, or between $45,000 and $130,000. Purchasing Analyst is a career that involves evaluating the effectiveness of a company’s purchasing decisions. In Boston, this role typically pays $60,000 a year on average, or between $50,000 and $110,000.

In addition, Excel is useful for more advanced and abstract roles such as Data Analyst, Economist, Statistician, and Operations Research Analyst. A Data Analyst has the career role of analyzing large quantities of data for the insights they can provide. This can include summarizing and visualizing the data as well, and Office is useful for all of these. In Boston, this role typically pays about $85,000 a year, or between $55,000 and $125,000. The career of an Economist is one that involves large-scale analysis of how the economy works, including a wide range of possible research topics and methods. This role typically pays $105,000 a year, or between $75,000 and $130,000, in Boston. A Statistician specializes in generating and analyzing statistics. In Boston, this role typically pays an average of $115,000 a year, or between $85,000 and $125,000. The job of an Operations Research Analyst is to analyze data about a company to make recommendations to leadership about future practices, policies, and procedures. This role typically pays about $75,000 a year in Boston, or between $45,000 and $125,000.

Other roles that would find knowledge of Microsoft products useful include Administrative Assistant, Project Manager, Office Manager, Desktop Publisher, Digital Marketer, and Quality Analyst. In Boston, an Administrative Assistant, who helps companies and offices stay organized and on top of their administrative processes, makes about $60,000 a year, or between $35,000 and $80,000. A Project Manager is in charge of planning and executing multiple projects within a single company’s business processes. In Boston, this role typically pays an average of $95,000 a year, or between $65,000 and $140,000. An Office Manager has a similar role to an Administrative Assistant, but typically has broader organizational duties. Holding this role in Boston typically pays about $65,000 a year on average, or between $40,000 and $85,000. A Desktop Publisher’s role involves using computer software to design and format various printed and digital materials, which can range from brochures or magazines to online content. This role pays about $60,000 a year on average in Boston, or between $30,000 and $80,000. A Digital Marketer works on online marketing campaigns, including designing, managing, and reviewing them. In Boston, this role generally pays about $75,000 yearly on average, or between $40,000 and $105,000. A Quality Analyst, who is responsible for auditing a company’s products and processes to find opportunities for improvement, will make approximately $105,000 a year in Boston, or between $80,000 and $145,000.

These skills might also be helpful to a Construction Manager, Human Resources Manager, Office Clerk, and Software Developer. A Construction Manager, who is in charge of operations on a construction site, makes around $101,000 a year in Boston, or between $60,000 and $135,000. A Human Resources Manager is in charge of personnel for a business, which involves a lot of tracking data. This role pays around $95,000 a year on average, or between $60,000 and $130,000, in Boston. An Office Clerk is a generalist in office operations, which, in Boston, pays approximately $75,000 a year, or between $55,000 and $95,000. The specialty of a Software Developer is to code and test software. In Boston, this role typically pays approximately $130,000 on average a year, or between $75,000 and $165,000.

Should You Pursue a Certificate or Certification

Those who are considering earning a certificate or certification in Microsoft Office may find themselves confused about the difference between the two, since they sound so similar. So, what is the actual difference between a certificate and a certification? A certificate is a credential granted by a school or institution to signify that a student has completed a course or program there. What it represents, then, is the completion of the program. It is not an assurance of a specific level of skill. By contrast, a certification is an external document, which typically represents that the student has passed an exam. These exams are typically administered by a shared board in the field, which prominent institutions have agreed to accept as significant. In other words, earning a certificate shows that you have studied a subject, while achieving a certification serves as evidence that you have attained a specific level of mastery in it.

Now that you’re aware of the differences, you may be wondering which one of the two, a certificate or a certification, would be the best choice for your particular needs. Certificates, because they come at the end of an educational program, can often be a good option for those just getting started in the field. So, if you need to learn the craft as well as get a credential in it, you’ll most likely want to pursue a certificate program first. However, if you are already seasoned as a professional, but would like to improve your career prospects by being able to share concrete proof of your skills. Do you want to do both? Well, there is good news for you—a certificate program can often be sufficient to prepare a student for a certification exam as well. However, if you are seeking to get a certification out of your certificate program, you’ll most likely need to put more time and effort into it than you would otherwise, to make sure you become properly qualified to show mastery.

Top Microsoft Office Certificate Programs in Boston

Microsoft Office is a highly popular and widely used suite of programs that are employed by individuals in a vast range of careers and industries. The software within Microsoft Office is typically considered to be the industry-standard product within their respective categories of software functions. And although anyone’s resume can say that they are “proficient in Microsoft Office, ” earning a certificate will allow you to demonstrate that you truly are an expert in how to use the Office software product or products that are industry-standard in your specific field or career. Having a certificate helps you sell your qualifications to employers or clients who would like evidence of your skills before hiring you.

Ed2Go: Microsoft Office Specialist Associate Certification Training

Professionals in Boston should pursue this course if they are ultimately looking to gain a Microsoft Office Specialist Associate Certification. The course is designed to prepare the student for the certification test. Instruction covers multiple Microsoft Office suite programs: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Each unit starts with the basics of the software, so one doesn’t need previous experience to get started. Then, the unit proceeds to intermediate and advanced functions of the particular program, followed by an exam to assess the student’s progress. This system makes certain that the student is ready for the official certification exam by the time they complete the training.

There are no prerequisites for this course. The instructional materials necessary for the course are provided by the school when the student enrolls. Students gain access to expert instructors, which is essential when they have questions or need feedback. As a complement to the instruction itself, the student advising team can help the students at Ed2Go with career-related and job market prep questions.

Noble Desktop: Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp

The Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp at Noble Desktop includes PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, and Excel.

The PowerPoint unit starts with how to create slide layouts, plus ways of adding and adjusting content on a slide. Students learn how to work with diagrams, shapes, objects, tables, and charts. They also discover how they can add transitions to their presentations. Then, they learn how to design custom themes, add animations, and incorporate video. They also explore how they can build and customize charts, as well as how to bring in tables from Excel. The unit concludes with how to manage an extended, complex show, as well as how to collaborate with others on your PowerPoints. Using Outlook, students discover how to set up rules and search folders, manage complex scheduling, organize contacts, and track exchanges. Then, they move on to discover how to configure mail accounts, and do advanced filtering.

In the Word unit, students begin by learning how to navigate and format documents. They discover strategies for working with tables and bullet points, as well as lists and citations. They also learn how they can add images to their Word files. Next, they explore the tasks of working with multiple documents and tracked changes, creating reference tables, using forms, and doing mail merges. At the end of this unit, they wrap up by learning how to make custom style sets and templates.

The course dives significantly farther into Excel than any other program. It starts with functions and formatting, as well as workbook management tools. Students learn how they can turn their data into line, column, and pie charts. They also discover how to split and join text, validate data, and name specific ranges in their sheets. Adding on a bit of coding, they also learn how to use logical statements and database functions in Excel. Next, they learn how to summarize data using PivotTables, as well as how to combine multiple charts into one. The course wraps up by covering cell management, date formatting, advanced functions, and analytical tools. Then they learn how to use macros for reporting.

Noble Desktop has a reputation for expert instructors and is known for its small class sizes. It offers 1-on-1 mentoring, and you are provided with a proprietary workbook when you finalize your enrollment. Students also get comprehensive career services.

General Assembly: Excel BootCamp

The Excel Bootcamp at General Assembly’s Boston location gives students there an in-depth knowledge of the most vital skills available in Excel. It starts with the program’s terminology and how to navigate within it. After that, students learn about formatting and data organization within the program. The course explores conditional formatting and formulas, plus hiding and grouping. Students work with math functions, logical functions, reference functions, and text functions. They learn how to use filling and how to define names. Along with this, they explore more recent additions to the program such as PivotTables. Next, they discover charts, trendlines, and secondary axes. The course concludes with an exploration of the program’s auditing tools.

General Assembly’s program includes providing career guidance to its students. The school also holds a variety of networking and career advancement events for students and graduates to attend.

NYC Career Centers: Microsoft Office Fundamentals Bootcamp

The Microsoft Office Fundamentals Bootcamp at NYC Career Centers gives Boston students an introduction to several important Microsoft programs. It starts off with Excel, providing a unit in which students learn about how they can use formulas, charts, and tables in the program. They also discover the Excel workflow, including formatting workbooks and worksheets. The course includes learning about some simple hotkeys to keep things running smoothly. With PowerPoint, students discover how they can incorporate different types of content into their presentations, including text, tables, photos, icons, charts, and shapes. Next, they explore the most important techniques and tools for success in using Microsoft Word. The course wraps up by providing students with instruction in how to make the most of email and calendaring in Microsoft Outlook.

This course has no prerequisites. You’ll get access to an experienced instructor in a small-class format. Software and remote setup for that software are included with enrollment in the course.

Ledet Training: Microsoft Excel Bootcamp

In Ledet Training’s Microsoft Excel Bootcamp, students discover how to use Excel tables. They create and modify workbooks and worksheets. They also explore ways of managing worksheet data, including reorganizing and summarizing it. And they learn about data more broadly, including how to combine it from multiple sources and analyze alternative datasets. Next, they explore PivotTables. They discover how they can print and share their workbooks, use a single formula to span multiple worksheets, and consolidate their data. And they’ll also learn how to do iterative calculations, as well as what-if analyses. In addition, this course covers how to use the Scenario Manager, as well as incorporating financial functions and data filtering.

Later in the course, students will learn how to work with shapes, charts, and objects, in addition to text. In the process, they’ll also discover tables, styles, templates, and conditional formatting. The course covers the advanced functionalities of PivotTables, too. It also explores auditing skills, including formulas and tracking precedents and dependents. Students discover how to link to external data. And they learn how to protect internal data one enters. Students use track changes, work with macros, and integrate Excel with Word to export data.

ONLC Training Centers: Office 365 Power User

The Office 365 Power User training is one of quite a few Office courses that are available at ONLC Training Center’s Boston location. This training is the most comprehensive program offered there, in terms of quickly becoming effective at using various Microsoft Office programs. These software include the file-sharing system OneDrive for Business, as well as the email client Outlook. Specifically, this course covers how students can make the most of Outlook by using the Planner, To-Do, and Flow features. Students also learn how to use Teams effectively as a remote collaboration tool.

There are no prerequisites necessary for this course. In addition to the in-person courses offered in Boston, it is also available live online for students who find that delivery method a better fit.