What is the best way to learn the ins and outs of Microsoft Office programs?

LadyJane

@scottalanmiller I am a "normal" and I am not sure how having a certification will help me help others. Perhaps it is in the training that I am best served. And for that I do not need a certification to study up.

scottalanmiller

Even if you don't need certification, the process if studying for a cert can be a great way to learn a product or technology.

IRJ

@scottalanmiller said:

Sorry. The cert is MOS.

It used to be called MOUS when I got it back in Office 2000. Its definitely a good cert to have. It doesnt really spark much interest on my resume, but It comes in handy when I am working in Excel or Word.

IRJ

@LadyJane said:

@scottalanmiller I am a "normal" and I am not sure how having a certification will help me help others. Perhaps it is in the training that I am best served. And for that I do not need a certification to study up.

KnowledgeNet offers very reasonable Microsoft Office Course for end users. They also offer MOS training
knowledgenet.com/category/end-user

Dashrender

O'Rielly's is currently selling all of their MS Press books for 60% off - full non DRM ebooks. I picked up Excel and Outlook 2013.

IRJ

@Dashrender said:

O'Rielly's is currently selling all of their MS Press books for 60% off - full non DRM ebooks. I picked up Excel and Outlook 2013.

Its alot easier to get an end user to participate in online training vs reading a book, though.

scottalanmiller

@IRJ said:

@Dashrender said:

O'Rielly's is currently selling all of their MS Press books for 60% off - full non DRM ebooks. I picked up Excel and Outlook 2013.

Its alot easier to get an end user to participate in online training vs reading a book, though.

Very true. Depends for whom the training is being acquired.

Dashrender

@IRJ said:

@Dashrender said:

O'Rielly's is currently selling all of their MS Press books for 60% off - full non DRM ebooks. I picked up Excel and Outlook 2013.

Its alot easier to get an end user to participate in online training vs reading a book, though.

You're absolutely correct - but if this is for someone who's reading these forums.. there's a good chance they'd be at least willing to flip through a book, even if they don't read it cover to cover.

scottalanmiller

@Dashrender very true.

RoguePacket

General thought of the MOS cert is a good way to differentiate those who say "I know Microsoft Office", and the ones who can actually use Excel pivot tables, outlines in PPT, mult-level page numbering it Word, and generally using macros.

@LadyJane said:

What is a MOUS certification?

Microsoft’s map for the intermediate, expert, and master level—

@scottalanmiller said:

@Katie said:

@scottalanmiller What is the purpose of that over a singular certification? I mean - is there a point to a "beginner" Excel cert? Or is it like the A+ certs?

There is a cert path for "normal" people and an extra, higher cert for people who are seriously hard core into the applications.

Good thing about going through the material is being exposed to the names of the features. Makes googling/searching for their particulars easier.

Microsoft tends to have tons of free stuff on their site...but can be difficult to find. MS IT Academy is a low cost option fairly widely available—

http://www.microsoft.com/education/itacademy/

As always, try a local library for books. Technical books in my area libraries get overlooked. Having a foundation of the MS Office programs from even a version or two old MS Office (2010/2013 vs 365) books ought be better than most users.

scottalanmiller

I could see a lot of larger organizations using MOS certified people as internal trainers or doing application deskside support.

Dominica

I second the Lynda training.

RoguePacket

Lynda.com is great. Huge recommendation is to have two monitors—one for Lynda.com, and the other for the application of interest. Mobile app is helpful for the soft skills modules.

To keep current, keep an eye on modules with "Tips" or "New Features" in the title.

They have many companies & universities as clients, and a few delivery models for those scenarios.

scottalanmiller

Lynda works well on iPhone or iPad too.