Excel University Graduate Certification + Breakout Puzzle :)
I am super excited to announce the next Excel University course! It is an Excel certification course, so upon completion, you’ll be a Certified Excel University Graduate. I want to cover some of the high points in this post, and then provide a link with additional information.
Plus, I’d like to share my next Excel breakout puzzle 🙂
What is the certification?
The Excel University Graduate Certification program is an intensive training course that results in a certification designed to recognize Excel proficiency, especially as it relates to accounting and finance professionals.
Basically, you get awesome at Excel and the certification demonstrates it!
Students who complete the program can use the official Certified Excel University Graduate designation and badge on their resume or cv, and add the certification to their LinkedIn profile.
When is it offered?
The certification program is offered twice per year, in the spring and fall semesters. Due to the level of instructor involvement during the course, enrollment is limited to 100 students. If you are subscribed to the Excel University blog, you’ll automatically be notified when registration opens, otherwise, you can use the form on this page to be notified.
What is covered?
The curriculum is essentially Excel University Volumes 1-4.
- Freshman year (Volume 1) covers the foundations and helps you build reliable, recurring-use workbooks.
- Sophomore year (Volume 2) talks about formula-based reports, including functions such as VLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, SUMIFS, EOMONTH, and many others.
- Junior year (Volume 3) digs into the details of how to build effective PivotTable reports.
- Senior year (Volume 4) demonstrates how to create efficient internal-use workpapers.
Note: students that complete the Full Excel University Volume 1-4 Courses outside of the certification course automatically qualify for the certification. Just email me and I’ll provide you a link to download your certification.
What is the delivery format?
The course is organized into 16 lessons. Each lesson contains an hour-long prerecorded webinar, homework activities, a quiz, and additional resources.
The course is on-demand, so you login and work at your own pace during the one-year enrollment period.
You can pause, rewind, and replay videos as needed. You have full access to all course materials during the enrollment period, even after completing the exams.
What about CPE?
The certification course qualifies for 40 CPE credit hours. CPE is earned incrementally, as you pass each of the 4 exams.
- Freshman (Volume 1) year earns 6 CPE hours
- Sophomore (Volume 2) year exam earns 12 CPE hours
- Junior (Volume 3) year exam earns 10 CPE credits
- Senior (Volume 4) year exam earns 12 CPE credits
More information?
For more information, please check out the Excel certification page or contact me anytime…thanks!
Excel Breakout Puzzle
And, here is the next Excel breakout puzzle. Now, I heard from many of you that my last breakout puzzle was too easy. So, I’ve kicked this one up a little bit. Enjoy!
If you figure out the code, please share it by posting a comment below.
Solution
Here is the solution video.
Excel is not what it used to be.
You need the Excel Proficiency Roadmap now. Includes 6 steps for a successful journey, 3 things to avoid, and weekly Excel tips.
Want to learn Excel?
Our training programs start at $29 and will help you learn Excel quickly.
41381
Neat trick, how did you do that?
Conditional formatting 🙂
I mean in step 2
Data validation 🙂
The code is 41381. That one was tricky. But I figured that one out and not the simple one you did last time. =). I employed the “Go To” or ctrl + G to get right to AD177 cell. First I thought I needed to enter in the 1372 or 177 as the key but that wouldn’t work. Then I started using ctrl + G to go to each listed reference. Then it finally hit me to combine the missing references. Of course, I tried CBL1376 first. Great work!
Good idea! 41381, of course… 😉
So I clicked on the video, like a duffus, before I actually tried working through the puzzle, thinking what the heck is he talking about? Why was I supposed to figure this out when he already gave me the answer? Bahahaha. Then I saw the note above the video. Doh! But that’s ok, I had more fun figuring out how the whole conditional formatting worked with the formula. Now that is something I would not have come up with on my own. I guess I have to spend more time learning the usefulness of formulas or something.I am assuming that somehow when the Row formula is used in conditional formatting that it somehow changes what happens. When I used the absolute reference to B6 it would highlight the whole row, whereas if the absolute reference was only to the row (B$6) it would only highlight the cell of the column I was in. So I am getting it right but not completely understanding what I am doing.
Ah…Conditional formatting with formulas opens up tons of cool possibilities. I have a blog post that covers the basics here: https://www.excel-university.com/excel-conditional-formatting-based-on-another-cell/
Thanks
Jeff
Since I was trying to be “Excel-y” I used Concatenate, in col E, to build the cell references. Then in col F I used CountIFs. If there was a count (of 1) there was a not a match the count was zero. The 2 not matching were the correct ones to find the Key. Unfortunately, I didn’t figure out what to do with the key. Theses are great fun. Keep them coming.
I mistyped. A count of 1 meant there was a match. Zero result meant there was not a match. Thanks.
I love these! I took the shortcut and clicked F5 to ‘goto’ AD177 since it was faster than scrolling 🙂