Your students probably know how to create tables and charts and perform basic calculations in Excel. Maybe they’ve even taken MyEducator’s Excel Educator course and are familiar with PivotTables, modeling, and statistics.
But do these future professionals know that Excel is capable of even more powerful data analysis and visualization techniques? Among many sophisticated tools available, Excel is reported to be the most widely used tool for data analytics. Its ease of use, extensive range of data exploration and visualization options, and ubiquity makes Excel an ideal platform for analyzing data and presenting the results. Even when other tools like R or Python are required, Excel is often used for the initial data exploration and visualization. It is truly the jack-of-all-trades for everyone from beginners to experienced analysts.
As a subset of business intelligence, data analytics focuses on organizing and understanding patterns in data to inform business decisions. Both basic and advanced data analytics skills are highly sought-after in the job market—and not just in the technology sector. Data analysis has been integrated into just about every platform and every application in various fields. Whether in marketing or management, the ability to analyze data and think critically about the information is key to helping a company meet its goals.
Let’s see what the data itself has to say. A 2020 study by Zety found that recruiters and hiring managers named analytics skills the number one most important hard skill for prospective employees. Monster’s Future of Work 2022 Global Report listed IT skills as the number one most important hard skill desired by employers as well as the area where there is the biggest skills gap in prospective employees. HRForecast ranked data analytics number two and data visualization and exploration number three on the list of top IT skills businesses are pursuing, and some of the top skills everyone will need by the year 2025. It’s clear that familiarity with data analysis gives job candidates an edge over the competition—and you can help your students gain that edge.
MyEducator’s Data Analysis with Excel resource provides advanced, in-depth training for students to truly excel in the field of business intelligence. It uses the same intelligent grading engine as our Excel and SQL Educator resource that automates the grading process and provides students with immediate and clear feedback.
Here are just some of the various kinds of analyses that students learn to perform in Excel:
- What-if analysis
- Sensitivity analysis
- Scenario analysis
- Break-even analysis
- Multidimensional analysis
- Trend analysis
- Optimization
- Predictive analytics
- Forecasting
- Data preparation
- Regression analysis
- Decision analysis
- Statistical analysis and comparisons
- Simulation
Data analysis skills open up a new world of career possibilities for students. Help them level up today by learning Data Analysis with Excel!
References
Buffett, Jacques. “Top Skills Employers Look for in 2022.” Zety, March 9, 2022. https://zety.com/blog/skills-employers-look-for
Monster. The Future of Work: 2022 Global Report. https://media.monster.com/marketing/2022/The-Future-of-Work-2022-Global-Report.pdf
Zavyiboroda, Maryna. “Hard and Soft Skills Needed for the Future Jobs: An Overview.” HRForecast, June 10, 2022. https://hrforecast.com/a-complete-guide-to-top-job-skills-needed-for-the-future-jobs/
