What to Learn After Office 365

Office 365 is a cloud-based suite of productivity programs and collaboration tools businesses use worldwide. Learning Office 365 has been known to increase job prospects and advance careers. If you already know how to use Office 365 and want to advance your career further, you might consider learning computer science, cybersecurity, or project management, which build off of Office 365 mastery. We’ll cover these areas below, so you clearly understand what skill you want to tackle next. 

What is Office 365?

Office 365 (also known as Microsoft 365) is a cloud-based subscription service that includes Microsoft Office’s suite of programs along with other online services such as free cloud storage and web hosting. Since Office 365 functions with the cloud, users always have access to their documents so long as they have an internet connection. The service is compatible with PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones.

Microsoft Office is a popular suite of productivity programs that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. These programs are used worldwide by businesses across industries for their ease of use, accessibility, and collaboration features. The programs offer a variety of functions, such as word processing, spreadsheet creation, promotional material design, and team management. Office 365 combines these valuable programs into a single service that offers the advantages of online document sharing. Microsoft Office cloud services include Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange.

Read more about what Office 365 is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Office 365?

Office 365 gives users full access to Microsoft Office’s suite of programs. These include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. These programs allow users to create professional documents and reports, spreadsheets and databases, presentations, emails, and promotional materials. Office 365 also provides Microsoft Office cloud services, including Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange. Businesses worldwide use these programs for workplace productivity, team collaboration, and management. 

Office 365’s collaboration tools allow teammates to edit documents simultaneously in real-time online. Teammates can use the Teams app to text chat with one another and ask questions without leaving their computers. Documents can also be assigned to teammates as tasks and linked in their virtual calendar or Microsoft Planner, making them easily accessible and trackable in their workflow. Documents are shared easily with a link without downloading or emailing files. Office 365 is an essential business asset for facilitating collaboration within and across departments. 

As an online service, Office 365 offers several advantages. Users can access Office 365 from any device without needing the program installed. This enables users to work anywhere they like and prevents them from being chained to any singular device. Files and documents can also be stored online without taking up computer storage. Updates are applied automatically to the software without users needing to download them manually. The online features of Office 365 go a long way toward improving accessibility and usability.

Computer Science

Those who pursue education in Office 365 can become skilled in application development or desktop administration. Application Developers design, build, and maintain applications within Office 365. This might entail customizing SharePoint features and creating extensions of Microsoft Teams and Office. Desktop Administrators maintain the Windows operating system, including managing devices, updates, connectivity, policies, and data protection. Administrators need to be familiar with Windows and non-Windows operating systems and devices.

Microsoft offers Office 365 certifications in becoming a Developer Associate or Desktop Administrator Associate. Both of these positions fall under the field of computer science. Professionals who wish to advance beyond Office 365 can dig deeper into computer science with Noble Desktop’s computer science courses. Options include full stack web development, software engineering, or python or java development. These fields focus on application development, operating system management, database management, and machine learning. 

Microsoft 365 Developer Associates are expected to have some experience in UI design. Noble Desktop’s UI Design Certificate can assist professionals in pursuing this field further. Those interested in pursuing a career in UI design can dig even deeper by combining the study of UX design with UI in Noble Desktops UX & UI Design Certificate.

Cybersecurity

Mastery of Office 365 can lead to a career in cybersecurity. Microsoft offers Office 365 certifications for becoming a Messaging Administrator Associate or Security Administrator Associate. The Messaging Administrator oversees the security of email messaging. They plan and manage email architecture, troubleshoot problems, and monitor receipts and permissions. The Security Administrator implements and manages security and compliance solutions for the entire Office 365 environment and any hybrid environments. Job responsibilities include identity, data, and threat protection. 

Professionals wanting to advance their cybersecurity skills beyond Office 365 can review Noble Desktop’s cybersecurity classes. Introductory courses are available for Cybersecurity & Networks as well as the Cybersecurity industry as a whole. Office 365 experts can upgrade their cloud computing security skills by learning Cloud Computing with AWS for Enterprises. Classes also feature cybersecurity with Python. Thus, there are several paths a professional might pursue in cybersecurity after Office 365. 

Project Management

Professionals who become proficient in managing teams through the Office 365 environment might pursue a career in project management. Project Managers are responsible for managing a project from ideation to execution and monitoring. They oversee the budget, project goals, task delegation, deadlines, and team dynamics.

Microsoft offers an Office 365 certification to become a Teams Administrator Associate. This position is responsible for managing effective employee collaboration within Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and other programs within Office 365. Individuals seeking further training in project management may consider Noble Desktop’s Project Management classes. You’ll learn the various stages of project management along with effective strategies. Courses on becoming professionally certified in project management are also available. 

Learn Office 365 with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers in-person and live online training in Office 365. Courses include training in Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook. You can choose between individual classes of various skill levels or bootcamps, which offer in-depth, comprehensive learning. When it comes to becoming an expert in a new skill, bootcamps are a fast and affordable alternative to college. Noble Desktop’s classes are small, taught by expert instructors, and include free retake options.

The Excel Bootcamp guides students from beginner to expert techniques. You’ll learn functions, formulas, Pivot Tables, macros, and additional expert tips and tricks. By the end of the course, you’ll be a true Excel master. The PowerPoint Bootcamp is a similar course that provides complete mastery of the program. You’ll start with the basics of customizing images, shapes, text, and animation before moving on to advanced techniques such as template creation, importing charts from Excel, and inserting multimedia. By the end of the course, you’ll be a wizard at creating professional and visually stunning presentations and slideshows.

If you like the idea of the comprehensive learning offered by bootcamps and are looking for further training in Office 365, NYIM is an affiliate school of Noble Desktop. It provides a Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp that covers the four major programs – Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook.

Key Takeaways

Once learning Office 365, an individual could choose to specialize in several fields:

• Computer science is a key skill in managing and customizing Office 365 applications that can be further developed into an application development career for web, mobile, or desktop.
• Computer science is also involved in maintaining the operating systems on which Office 365 is used and can be developed into a software engineering career.
• Expertise in securing Office 365 information systems and the overall environment could lead to a career in cybersecurity. 
• Proficiency in Teams and SharePoint could be developed into a project management career.