Are Excel Classes Worth It?

Microsoft Excel is the leading spreadsheet application in the world, with an estimated 750 million users. If you’re considering enrolling in a Microsoft Excel class, you may wonder whether it’s worth your time and investment. Advanced-level training options can require several weeks of commitment and cost hundreds of dollars. For most learners, especially those who use spreadsheets daily for work, the benefits gained from study far outweigh the costs. However, it’s essential to consider all the factors before enrolling in a program. In this article, several key factors will be discussed that can help you determine whether an Excel course is a good option for you.

Consider the Cost 

One important consideration of any training program is the cost of study. Generally speaking, Excel coursework ranges in price from several hundred dollars for short classes to a thousand or more dollars for more intensive, longer programs. If you’re interested in acquiring Excel training for use at your current job or mastering difficult skills like creating macros or forecasts based on data, chances are you’ll need to enroll in a course that provides hands-on training in these skills. While there are less costly study options for Excel students, including free online content, on-demand classes, and YouTube videos, these study options don’t include real-time instructor access, which can make it challenging to truly master advanced spreadsheet skills. Because so many Excel training options are available, all learners will need to decide on their own whether the cost of structured training is worth it and, if so, which program is best for them.

Advantages of an Excel Course 

Microsoft Excel has many applications for personal or professional use. It’s often used in the business sector for tasks like HR management, performance reporting, and operations management. This spreadsheet app is a powerful tool for statistical analysis, budgeting and accounting-related tasks, project management, and account management. Excel is especially useful for financial-related tasks, including expense tracking, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and loan calculation. It can also assist with inventory tracking and daily scheduling tasks. Even though Excel training can be expensive and requires a time commitment, there are many great reasons that some learners prefer to study in a guided, live learning environment. The following sections will take a closer look at several of these reasons.

General Benefits

One of the main perks of enrolling in an Excel class is that you’ll have access to a live instructor with real-world experience working with spreadsheets. These instructors are not only there to answer questions in real-time but to provide guidance and support along the way. By enrolling in an in-person or live online Excel class, you’ll be able to ask questions as they arise and receive immediate clarification and guidance. This is especially useful when working with difficult Excel skills or concepts. Those who opt for live online training can even share their screen with the instructor (with permission) for additional help. In addition to personalized support with spreadsheets, students who take an Excel class also benefit from the support of learning alongside other students, which can provide an additional sense of camaraderie and community. 

Real-World Training

Some Excel coursework allows learners to work with their own data, such as annual budgets or itemized lists of company bills. Coursework may even provide students with the opportunity to use real-time data. By learning how to handle actual data, it’s more likely that you’ll remember what you study and be able to apply these skills in the future when presented with similar information.

Better Data Organization

Each day, more data is created than ever before. Excel remains the most popular tool for organizing this information. When you sign up for an Excel class, you’ll learn different methods for organizing vast stores of raw data that are applicable to the project at hand. Knowledge of Excel’s advanced features will allow you to have additional sorting options that make data analysis and calculations easier and faster.

Collaboration

Another important Excel skill you’re likely to acquire if enrolled in a training program is how to use this industry-standard spreadsheet tool for collaborative purposes. Excel is a widely used tool for team projects or collaborative data projects. Coursework often teaches students essential collaboration features, such as how to manage and share Excel worksheets and workbooks, how to use this app’s collaboration and co-authoring tools with other users in real time, and how Excel’s linking and data integration features are used to combine data from different sources. These skills will improve your communication with team members and ensure that all team members work as efficiently as possible.

Data Visualization Training

Those who regularly work with data often are asked to share the insights they discover with other internal or external stakeholders in their organization. This is where data visualization training is essential. Most Excel training programs teach students how to present their data findings in a way that’s accessible to a non-technical audience. Learning to visualize data in the form of charts, maps, or diagrams not only provides a way to tell a data-driven story, but also offers a context in which to understand the data. During Excel study, you’re likely to explore various data visualization options, all of which can be executed directly on a spreadsheet. New versions of Excel and updates on this application provide additional visualization options, some of which will be covered during coursework.

Learning how to be a More Efficient, Productive Worker

The more you know about Microsoft Excel, the easier you’ll find it to perform many work-related tasks. Advanced Excel features like macros help spreadsheet users automate repetitive tasks, which leads to faster data analysis and fewer errors. Additionally, since some Excel features and shortcuts translate to other Microsoft 365 suite products, the skills you acquire during Excel study can help you streamline overall workflow and simplify the process of using spreadsheet data in other programs. 

Considerations When Deciding on Excel Classes

Excel coursework isn’t necessarily intended for everyone. The following sections will briefly explore some general and specific considerations you’ll want to weigh before committing to a live training program.

General Considerations

Enrolling in a live online or in-person Excel course will require that you adhere to a set schedule in which you’ll meet for class meetings, be asked to turn in work and practice the skills you learn, and meet the general program requirements. In-person study also means that you’ll need to live near a designated training facility, which is often located in or near major cities. This requires that you have a reliable form of transportation to commute to class. Those who have busy work schedules may find it difficult to budget the time for live coursework. If you’re interested in learning a specific Excel skill for a current or upcoming work project and need to acquire this training immediately, the pacing in a class may not adhere to your learning needs since you will have to progress at the pace the instructor dictates.

Level of Coursework Difficulty

Most people have worked with spreadsheets at some point in their educational or professional life. If you have an extensive background in using Excel for analyzing and visualizing data, odds are you won’t need introductory-level training. Instead, you’ll want to find intermediate to advanced-level classes that build on your prior knowledge. However, if you’re new to using spreadsheets or working with data, enrolling in an advanced-level program will likely leave you confused and overwhelmed with information. That’s why it’s essential to select the Excel coursework in line with your prior spreadsheet training (or lack thereof), as well as your ultimate goals for using this application.

Course Focus

Some classes in which Excel is taught provide instruction solely on this application, whereas other coursework is broader in scope. When deciding on an Excel course, you’ll need to consider whether you want to focus your entire effort on learning spreadsheet skills or hope to acquire Excel training alongside other related skill sets. If you’re interested in just studying Excel, for example, you can enroll in beginner, intermediate, or advanced-level Excel courses, some of which take one or several days to complete. You may even want to focus your Excel training more and opt for a class focusing on Excel’s formulas and functions, dashboards, or PowerPivot. On the other hand, if you’re interested in putting your Excel training to use in a data analytics career, you may be better off enrolling in an introductory data analytics program that teaches spreadsheets alongside other core data skills, such as SQL, Power BI, Python, or Tableau. 

What Skills Do You Want to Acquire?

No two Excel students are the same; each person has their own unique goals in mind when studying Excel. Some people may wish to acquire only basic spreadsheet skills, such as how to add or average monthly expenses or how to keep track of the hours you’ve worked in a given month. For these individuals, it’s not necessary to complete rigorous certificate programs or invest thousands in Excel study. A beginner-level, one-day program may suffice instead. However, if you’re hoping to acquire advanced spreadsheet skills for a work project, such as how to use VLOOKUPs or create PivotCharts, or prepare for the Excel Specialist Certification Program, you’ll have to select classes that cover more complex Excel skills.

Is it worth it to Enroll in an Excel class? 

Excel training is one of the most in-demand, versatile skill sets you can bring onto the job market. Since Excel is used in virtually all industries, most professionals will benefit from learning to work with spreadsheets. If you’re in a field like finance, accounting, data analytics, data science, or bookkeeping, Excel skills are a must. The following sections will explore which types of learners are most likely to benefit from spreadsheet knowledge and for whom this training may not be essential.

Who will find it worthwhile?

No matter whether you’re new to working with spreadsheets or a seasoned Excel user hoping to take your skills to the next level, you will likely benefit from enrolling in a live class. In addition to hands-on training on core data analysis and visualization techniques, you’ll also learn time-saving shortcuts and tricks to help you perform many daily Excel tasks with just a few mouse clicks. Additionally, the supplemental perks some courses offer, including 1-on-1 mentoring sessions that are included with certain certificate programs, career mentoring, or professional portfolio development, provide learners with benefits that extend well beyond the walls of the classroom.

Who might find it worthwhile?

While most people find Excel training useful, it’s not essential for every professional track or vocation. In some disciplines, such as academia or writing, Excel training can be hugely useful, but is not a required skill set. Graduate students, for example, would benefit from Excel training because it could help them keep track of research articles and citations for their dissertations. Teachers, too, may find spreadsheet skills valuable because they can help with keeping attendance or calculating grades. In writing, Journalists who need to keep track of quotes from interviews and sources for article-writing would likely find spreadsheet knowledge useful. Additionally, those who work in retail would benefit from learning how to use Excel to keep track of inventory and work schedules. That said, Journalists, teachers, students, or Retail Managers can usually perform okay without having to invest a lot of time or money in Excel training. For these individuals, a short Excel course may suffice, or even online training materials could be of value.

Who probably doesn’t need an Excel class?

Although Excel is used across industries and professions as a core professional tool, not all lines of work require spreadsheet knowledge. Some professions, such as those in creative fields like design, visual art, poetry, or dance, likely won’t require a background in Excel. Similarly, fields like construction or manufacturing line work generally don’t ask applicants to have Excel training to apply.

If you’re already an Excel user with years of experience working with spreadsheets, you may not need an entire program to teach you a specific skill you need for a timely work project. Instead, if you’re looking to master one particular skill, such as special formatting for calculating dates, on-demand lessons or YouTube tutorials may be more useful to help you gain this knowledge in a shorter amount of time and without the expense.

Learn Excel with Noble Desktop

If you’re interested in learning more about spreadsheets, Noble Desktop provides in-person and live online Excel courses. These classes are available to those who are just getting started using spreadsheets and professionals who want to acquire advanced-level Excel training. All Noble courses provide hands-on training in a small class environment and include a free course retake for up to a full year.

For learners interested in exploring Excel basics, Excel Level I: Fundamentals is an excellent learning option. This one-day program covers all the essential spreadsheet skills you’ll need to start working with this application. Participants explore basic functions, calculations, formatting, graphs, and printing. This program is intended for those who have little experience with Excel and want to become more proficient.

Excel Level 2: Intermediate is intended for those looking to build on their basic Excel training and take their skills even further. This short class covers topics like working with SUMIFs and VLOOKUP. Participants become familiar with using PivotTables to summarize data, split and join text, and sort and filter databases. As a prerequisite to enrollment, students should have completed Excel Level 1 or have a similar skill set, including basic knowledge of formulas, functions, formatting, and printing.

Noble also offers Excel Level 3: Advanced for students seeking to master this application’s complicated features. This program prepares learners to work with advanced analytics tools, write macros to increase efficiency, and use complex functions like INDEX-Double MATCH and VLOOKUP-MATCH. Those who wish to enroll in this program should have proficiency with spreadsheets that’s equivalent to Noble’s Intermediate Excel course, such as knowledge of IF statements, VLOOKUP, and PivotTables.

In addition to short courses, Noble also has a bootcamp program that offers more comprehensive spreadsheet training. In Excel Bootcamp, participants progress from Excel beginners to pros over the course of several days. This hands-on course combines beginner, intermediate, and advanced course training and leaves students with the skills necessary to work with functions and formulas, create macros, and work with PivotTables.