Considering a career that requires strong PowerPoint skills? Learn how to validate your skills through PowerPoint certifications and certificate programs, and discover the career possibilities that come with mastering this widely-used presentation tool.
Key Insights
- Microsoft PowerPoint is a vital tool in nearly all professional industries, facilitating the creation of memorable and impactful presentations.
- While PowerPoint certification is rarely a job requirement, it can provide a competitive edge by demonstrating an in-depth understanding and proficiency in the tool.
- Individuals can become certified in PowerPoint by passing a proficiency exam administered by Microsoft, or by completing a certificate-granting training program.
- Those with limited PowerPoint experience might consider enrolling in a training course such as Noble Desktop's PowerPoint Bootcamp to acquire hands-on training and receive a certificate demonstrating industry-recognized skills.
- Experienced PowerPoint users may opt for the Microsoft PowerPoint Associate exam, which tests their ability to manage slides and insert presentation elements like tables and charts.
- Professionals looking to refine their PowerPoint skills for a certification exam may benefit from enrolling in a professional training program.
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If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate your skills in PowerPoint, you might be overwhelmed by the different certifications and certificate programs available. You might also have questions such as ‘Will I need to become certified in PowerPoint to get a job?’, ‘How can I become certified in PowerPoint?’, or ‘How much preparation will I need to become certified?’ This article aims to answer these questions so you can efficiently choose the right path towards a PowerPoint certification. Keep reading to find out more.
What is PowerPoint?
Microsoft PowerPoint is the most commonly used presentation software across almost all professional industries. PowerPoint is one of the most important parts of Microsoft’s Office 365 programs, alongside Word and Excel. PowerPoint lets users easily create vibrant and memorable presentations that quickly communicate meaning in a professional setting. Users can add animations, transitions, graphics, and other imagery to their slides, ensuring that they produce both communicative and impressive presentations for their audience.
PowerPoint is a slideshow editing tool designed to give users the tools they need to organize information, communicate effectively, and produce presentations for live delivery or without a presenter. PowerPoint makes the job easier and more efficient, whether you are managing important information in advance of a meeting, preparing a sales pitch for a potential client, or compiling important workplace policies and procedures in one place. This versatility has made PowerPoint an industry-standard tool in almost all professional contexts.
Read more about what PowerPoint is and why you should learn it.
What Can You Do with PowerPoint?
PowerPoint allows users to create vibrant and memorable visual presentations that can serve a wide variety of purposes. PowerPoint’s advanced features let users integrate dynamic animations and 3D modeled graphics into their designs, allowing them to create more complex presentations than simple text projected onto a screen. Whether you are attempting to keep an audience engaged during a critical seminar or make a sales pitch as memorable as possible, PowerPoint gives you the tools to wow your audience.
Some users will use PowerPoint to create informative slideshows that condense complex information into a single, easy-to-digest presentation. This makes the program ideal for both instructors and professionals looking to host informational seminars regularly. In fact, many online classes you take will use PowerPoint to highlight the main takeaways from a lecture. Some users, who need to persuade audiences such as entrepreneurs meeting with potential investors, will use PowerPoint to create memorable and persuasive presentations that convince their audience to invest in their product.
Certifications Vs. Certificates: What’s the Difference?
New PowerPoint users looking to get certified may not be familiar with the difference between a certificate and a certification. These are both methods of becoming certified, but they demonstrate proficiency in different manners.
Students receive certification after passing a PowerPoint skills proficiency exam, administered by Microsoft. This exam tests students’ PowerPoint knowledge and expects them to have prior skills training. These certifications often expire, requiring users to renew their credentials periodically.
Students who complete an industry-recognized certificate granting training program will receive official certification. It is akin to a diploma, reflecting that students have received significant hands-on training even if they don’t have on-the-job experience. These certificates rarely expire but tend to be much more expensive, as they cover the cost of professional PowerPoint training.
Top Certifications & Certificates for PowerPoint
Students with limited PowerPoint experience may wish to consider enrolling in a certificate-granting training course such as Noble’s PowerPoint Bootcamp. This course will provide students with hands-on training to master PowerPoint. In addition to the training, students will leave the class with a certificate demonstrating to potential employers that they have received industry-recognized skills training.
Students with prior PowerPoint training will want to pass an exam to become a Microsoft PowerPoint Associate. This exam expects students to have about one hundred and fifty hours of hands-on experience and tests a user’s ability to manage slides and insert presentation elements such as tables and charts.
Students looking to brush up on their PowerPoint skills in preparation for a certification exam may also wish to enroll in a professional training program.
Should I Get Certified in PowerPoint?
Very few professional jobs require an employee to be PowerPoint certified. While PowerPoint is commonly used in many professional settings, it is rarely central enough to an employee’s job responsibilities to make certification a critical factor in an application. However, becoming PowerPoint certified, alongside any other elements of the Microsoft Office suite, will demonstrate to prospective employers that an applicant has extensive skills training that can be of use in a professional setting.
How to Get Certified in PowerPoint
The best way to become PowerPoint certified depends on your experience with the program. Passing a certification exam is ideal for users with significant on-the-job experience but no formal training. Students with limited PowerPoint experience should enroll in a skills training program to receive the required training and earn a certificate in PowerPoint.
Learn PowerPoint with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop
Professionals looking to learn PowerPoint may consider skills development training through Noble Desktop. These courses, available in-person at Noble’s Manhattan campus and through live online instruction, offer hands-on training in designing and organizing information using PowerPoint. These courses, taught by expert instructors, will provide students with the experience needed to build evocative and memorable presentations. Even in online courses, class sizes are kept small so students can interact directly with their instructor for assistance and feedback.
Noble offers a PowerPoint Bootcamp, which teaches students, even those without prior PowerPoint experience, how to design compelling and evocative presentations. In this certificate-granting program, students will learn how to work with PowerPoint layouts, add animations and graphics, and handle layers, charts, graphs, and other objects. Then, students will receive advanced skills training such as creating reusable PowerPoint templates, utilizing multimedia features in a presentation, and recording a presentation for later use. These skills will take students from beginners to PowerPoint experts and prepare them for professional use of the program.
Since PowerPoint is a design tool, Noble also offers a PowerPoint Presentation Design course for students. This class focuses on the rhetorical and theoretical aspects of communicating through PowerPoint. In this class, students will learn design principles related to color, typography, graphic images, and other visual design elements. Whereas a bootcamp course teaches students how to use the tool to build presentations, this course will teach them how to design presentations, equipping them with the composition and design principles they need to make their presentations memorable and effective.
Key Insights
- Students looking to demonstrate to prospective employers that they are skilled in PowerPoint may wish to become certified in the application.
- There are two ways to become certified. Students can complete a certificate-granting training program or pass a certification exam.
- Certification exams are ideal for students with a large amount of hands-on experience with PowerPoint.
- Certificate programs are better suited for students who don’t have much experience with PowerPoint or want to hone their skills in preparation for a certification exam.
- Whether you are looking for a certificate program or looking to train for a certification exam, Noble Desktop offers PowerPoint training courses to help, available both in-person and live online.