IT Training

National IT Learning Centre
www.nitlc.com
Telephone: 01636 612226
E-mail: enquiries@nitlc.com
Trentside Business Village
Farndon Road
Newark
Notts
NG24 4XB

IT Training Companies:  National IT Learning Centre

The company mission statement is as follows:

Our Purpose is to move individuals from their current situation to one that offers a brighter future, better prospects and improved lifestyle taking advantage of the opportunities within the IT sector.

Our Strategy is to deliver relevant, high quality learning, knowledge, skills and qualifications via a blended learning and multi-channel approach to meet the needs of individuals and businesses in the UK specifically and by contributing to the long-term prosperity of the UK in general.

Our Vision is to be a top IT training company whilst maintaining our brand image as a provider of high quality IT training putting the student first. We will harness the talents of our team to organise our resources and processes to the benefit of all our stakeholders. In a nutshell our mission is to deliver our promises.

Additional Information For The National IT Learning Centre

National IT Learning Centre was originally founded in 1992 so have nearly twenty years’ experience and are pioneers in IT & computer training and career development.

Being the first to offer Microsoft qualifications via distance learning, NITLC are proactive in making sure that students can obtain the very latest national and international qualifications from such vendors as Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco, CIW and Adobe.

To ensure students are matched to the appropriate course, NITLC have developed an exclusive profiling system that identifies strengths and matches them to an appropriate career track and level of qualification. Results are validated by the Student Services Manager and discussed with the prospective student as requested.

As the emphasis is on career change and progression, all courses include a free career service from day one. This includes online career advice and job searching via a partnership with CW jobs, CV writing service, advice and preparation for interviews, and a complete package of support throughout and even after the course duration. NITLC do not guarantee jobs as it is felt that this is not appropriate. However the guarantee is that support will be given in every way possible.

Course delivery is via Blended Learning; a flexible mix of home study, online resources, hands-on workshops, exam preparation software and extra onsite tutorials as needed. Tutorial support via phone and e-mail is unlimited, and students have exclusive 24/7 access to an online Student Net portal.

As most students enrolling with NITLC are looking to change careers and therefore may not be experienced in IT generally, there is the option to attend a ‘Kickstart’ half-day workshop right at the start of the course. This gets students off on the right foot and enables them to meet the team at headquarters and utilise the facilities straight away. For added convenience these workshops are held on Saturday mornings to alleviate the need for extra time off work in the students’ current role.

Study Plans for each course based on an average of 5, 10 or 15 hours of study per week enable each student to work to targets and goals, and these are completely adaptable to suit any change in circumstances.

All courses are continually reviewed and updated as soon as practicable, therefore enabling students to obtain the very latest qualifications. Flexibility is key, and a consultation with the Student Services Manager can be held at any time to discuss progression, timeframes, changed priorities or upgrades to qualifications. Although a fixed course duration is set at the outset, students can endeavour to complete well within this if necessary. Conversely extensions are very often granted as life can get in the way of even the best laid plans and goals.

Courses include Technical and Systems Engineer, Web Designer and Developer, Applications Programmer (all of which can be taken to four different levels to suit aptitude, ambition and study time available), Database Administrator and Cisco Networking Engineer.

The company’s headquarters are in Newark, Nottinghamshire, so are central for students from all over the country.

Microsoft Excel is more than likely the most commonly employed spreadsheet application throughout the modern world, and a powerful application it is too.  This equates to Excel Training Courses being some of the moer popular courses on the planet.

Functioning as a computerised ledger sheet, the spreadsheet can perform multiple tasks such as data reports, charts, tables, graphs and formulas.

Excel is not the most technical of software programs however to get the most out of it you should certainly be considering attending an Excel training course.  Employers will look for their staff to have knowledge on the basics of Excel, most will expect you to know how to perform calculations and generate reports.

The employer looks for these skills as it ensures them that you are capable of tasks such as the creation of budgets, payroll, numeric data and inventory lists.

If you feel you are at that level already then IT Training Scotland would recommend you attend a course at intermediate excel training level or an advanced excel training level.  This level of intermediate and advanced Excel training courses would teach you skills such as the creation of advanced formulas for calculations and other techniques from worksheet organisation, table date not to mention using pivot tables and the creation of advanced charts.

Microsoft Excel Training Courses Classroom Centre

Excel Courses
Basic Excel Training
Intermediate Excel Training
Advanced Excel Training

To attend an Excel training courses simply fill in the contact form on our contact page with your details and IT training Scotland will be in touch to discuss your specific Excel training requirements.  We will look for a course that fits your level and we have qualified Microsoft certified trainers on hand 24 hours of the day to help you.

When you decide to take a computer course with us such as an Outlook training course there are many options available to you.  You can train in one of our many centres across the UK, at the top of this page you will see the city’s we deliver our Excel courses.

We are the only company in the UK who can deliver this training at all the above venues.  All of the above sites run regular instructor led classes on both Excel 2007 training and Excel 2003 training.  Not only that, our Excel courses run every week ensuring we can fit the class around your schedule.

The most common method of delivering our training on Excel is the traditional instructor led classroom training.  The individuals or employees will arrive to our location and we will use our facilities for the delivery of the IT courses ensuring that each delegate has the best possible learning experience.

One of the many advantages of instructor led classroom based Excel training courses is that our training centres are optimised for the delivery of the training.  There will be no interruptions or distractions from other people.  Just an area to focus on learning new skills to help you either find a new job or progress your career in the job you have.

We can also deliver the training at your location.  We will send out one of our Microsoft certified trainers to your site and will have the course delivered in your office to your own staff.

Another method of training that can suit your situation would be on-line learning.  We offer the training in a hard copy such as a CD/DVD format or you can access our learning portal to take the training over the internet so if Excel on-line training is for you, we can deliver.

The best IT training companies will be able to deliver IT training catered to the specific requirements of a company or individual looking to do the training.  It is little wonder then, with the flexibility IT Training Scotland offers in aspects such as location and method of delivery our Excel courses are quickly turning into the most popular course we have ever delivered

How affordable Excel Training Can Benefit You and Your Business and the disadvantages of internally training your staff

Hundreds of small businesses for some reason choose to train their own staff on Excel internally.  The reason they usually find is that their training budgets are too small for any external training course.  The cold truth is that these small businesses are actually losing more money by trying to train their own members of staff.

This usually means that lost work will equate to lost revenue.  Training your staff from within your company will mean you are losing the work of two individuals; the trainer and the student.  As most small business do not have access to a dedicated Microsoft trainer it means they now have an experienced employee taken away from their tasks to mentor and train the new worker.

These lost hours can cost a lot to a company however the loss often can go beyond the duration spent internally training new staff.  Training internally can often disrupt normal work flow of the business.  If the experienced member of staff may try to keep up with their day to day work then the student will get a poor Excel training experience.

Internal Excel training usually doesn’t teach the basics of Excel, instead it will usually focus on how specific spreadsheets work.  The person trying to learn Excel through an external training course with IT training Scotland will always learn the ability to improvise and come up with better solutions.

Our students will always learn more than just the basic procedures when on an Excel course.  Our instructors have a professional detailed knowledge of the software and we pride ourself on the fact that students and job seekers who attend our Excel courses will always go back to the workforce with ability’s that will benefit everyone in the company.  Each tutor also has an external laptop battery incase any of you wish to bring in your own notebooks.

At first for a small business external training may seem less productive when compared to a large company.  However, the opposite is true in this case.  External IT Training courses such as our Excel training courses are actually a sound investment in a small businesses future that will make the company stronger for the future.

It is without any doubt that a training course in Microsoft Excel will give you many advantages when it comes to finding a job and career progression.  These courses are not only important to your own professional development but todays Excel training is incredibly affordable too.

Once you understand the concepts taught in both the basic Excel training and the intermediate Excel training courses then you should consider attending advanced excel training courses with IT Training Scotland.  The advanced Excel course will allow you to finally master all that there is to know on Microsoft’s famous spreadsheet software and will ultimately allow you to get more work done in less time than ever before.

To book any course with us, use the contact form at the top of this page or if you are unsure the level of ability you or the person you are booking the Excel course is currently at, then please get in contact with us using the form above and we can get them set up with a free consultation with one of our Microsoft certified trainers, to assess their knowledge and identify any skill gaps any students may have.  All with absolutely no obligation to attend a course with us.

Advanced Excel Training Course Duration

1 day (9:30am – 5:00pm)

Course Delivery Options
Instructor led classroom
Online
Onsite
1 to 1 tuition

Average Course Cost
£199+VAT per person with discounts available on group bookings

Course Location
Training centres throughout the UK

How to book an Excel training course
You can find training centres through Yell.com, Google, Thomson Local, 192.com etc

Excel Courses
Basic Excel Training
Intermediate Excel Training
Advanced Excel Training Courses

We take great pride in our advanced Excel courses because we always find that the knowledge passed on to each delegate has helped them hugely in the workplace.  Whether your business is in accountancy, sales, production, HR, or any other industry for that matter we know that Excel will be used in the day to day running of the company.

And if anyone from any workplace has attended an advanced Excel course with us they will immediately have a huge competitive advantage over their business rivals as this course will allow the students to use Excel to its fullest potential and will make your business more productive and efficient.

If you are on the fence about advanced Excel training courses then we at IT Training Scotland would like to remind you that the offline & online help function that Excel has can only take you so far, and to be put simply and advanced class such as this one will always give you so much more than any offline or internet resource with the sheer fact that you will have a fully certified trainer there to help you answer any questions you may have at any point during the day.

It is finally important to remember that IT Training Scotland provide information and guidance on training solutions for both advanced Excel 2007 training as well as Excel 2003 advanced training.

Why Advanced Excel Training?

Even in today’s work environment, the majority of office staff only use Excels basic functions and use it for nothing more than a spreadsheet for simple bookkeeping.  Little do most people know that their is so much more to this program and understanding it will yield truly fantastic results for any business or jobseeker alike.

Put simply, our advanced Excel course will make you aware of features and functions you will not have even known existed.  These features and functions are sure to make you more productive and will allow your business go from strength to strength.

There is no doubt that in today’s society, the majority of business survive on the manipulation and analysis of data and 9 times out of 10 they use a spreadsheet program such as Excel to achieve this.  It has no doubt been said many times before that Excel is an incredibly important tool and it is more than capable of helping many companies with their data analysis and queries allowing those that use the program to view and manipulate data in a huge amount of ways.

Many individuals however, only scratch the surface of this program because they have not had the proper professional training that is required to get the most out of the software.  It is for that fact that advanced excel training courses will help the company, jobseeker or any individual overcome any disadvantage they may already have and allow themselves to take their use of Microsoft Excel to a whole new and advanced level.

If you wish to attend any intermediate Excel training courses, we at IT Training Scotland would like you to ask yourself if you have first been able to use Microsoft Excel to its biggest capabilities?  If the answer to that question is “No”, then this course will not only allow you to work faster, it will also let you to become more productive in your day to day tasks.

There is little doubt that the vast majority of employers and businesses today require staff to have had some decent hands on experience with Microsoft Excel, to really stand out from the crowd, one must really come to terms with the many different features of this important piece of software from Microsoft.

Intermediate Excel Training Course Duration

1 day (9:30am – 5:00pm)

Course Delivery Options
Instructor led classroom
Online
Onsite
1 to 1 tuition

Average Course Cost
£199+VAT per person with discounts available on group bookings

Course Location
Training centres throughout the UK

How to book an Excel training course
Use the contact form at the top of this page

Excel Courses
Basic Excel Training
Intermediate Excel Training Courses
Advanced Excel Training

You will no doubt already be aware that Excel is way more than your run of the mill spreadsheet software, Excel is of course the most important data analysis and manipulation tool in existence with many different qualities running under the hood.

You name it Microsoft Excel has it!

To make sure you keep your skills up to date and to a level that would benefit any business it is recommended you attend one of our intermediate Microsoft Excel training courses.

As with all our other computer training courses we always feel the student will of course learn Excel, and more importantly retain a lot more information if they come to one of our live instructor led classes.  With our Microsoft Excel tuorials you will go through step by step and thought out exercises, have hands on experience being taught by a certified Microsoft trainer and most of all you will take away with you knowledge such as the following:

•    Execute formula analysis for different error and dependence situations
•    Put into operation custom made and sophisticated filters to a directory of records
•    Learn how to execute tables using controlled formula referencing
•    Construct 3D equations and formulas across many different spreadsheets
•    Describe specific styles and amalgamate them together across work-books
•    Administer named ranges
•    Change tracking for your shared documents and work-books
•    Summarise any data with outlines and subtotals

The above is just a small amount of what you will take away with you from the intermediate excel training course, for a full intermediate Excel training outline click on the course outlines above.

The Intermediate Microsoft training course make sure the person that attends the lessons becomes more aware of the many amazing data organisation and formula tools that are already available to them.

We aim to make the student understand and give a better outlook into important data for the company.  And by understanding and grasping how to create different macros and get rid of monotones recurring tasks, the student shall be able to confidently manipulate and change data with minimal presses of a button

Not only that, this Excel course aims to provide the delegates with knowledge they will take back to the workplace and that they will be more knowledgeable, confident and efficient in their work

What Do You Get if You Learn Excel Intermediate?

• Improve on your knowledge gained from the basic Excel course
• Discover formulas that link worksheets & workbooks
• Use of the “if” function to allow Excel to make decisions
• Conditional formatting
• Worksheet template creation
• Use built in security features to protect data
• Improve knowledge into data and automation
• Learn how to start plotting trend lines
• Create graphs
• Build graphs
• Customise graphs
• Much, Much More …

Who Should Attend

People that should attend the intermediate excel training course should ideally have had some minimal experience working with excel or have already attended our basic Excel course.  If you are still unsure what level you are at, please get in contact with us for a informal chat where can meet with one of our Microsoft certified trainers with absolutely no obligation to buy.

By now we all know the importance of Microsoft Excel in the workplace.  Some companies today simply would not be able to operate if it was not for this little spreadsheet program practically running their business.  That is why it is always important for these companies to invest in their staff and it seems that basic Excel training courses are the ideal way to allow someone new to the workplace (and indeed the office environment) a helping hand in understanding their way around this vital software program.

Basic Excel Training Course Duration

1 day (9:30am – 5:00pm)

Course Delivery Options
Instructor led classroom
Online
Onsite
1 to 1 tuition

Average Course Cost
£199+VAT per person with discounts available on group bookings

Course Location
Training centres throughout the UK

How to book an Excel training course
Use the contact form at the top of this page

Excel Courses
Basic Excel Training Courses
Intermediate Excel Training
Advanced Excel Training

Companies investing in computer training courses for their staff is of course nothing new, it is a part of any business to invest in teaching its staff the latest software technologies if they wish to grow as a profitable organisation.  As many office’s today use the Microsoft Windows operating system, staff in those companies will no doubt require Microsoft training courses at some stage.

If we look at some of the Microsoft programs that are in frequent use in office’s all over the UK today:-

• Word
• Excel
• Access
• Outlook
• Point
• Publisher
• InfoPath

With the above programs found in the vast majority of business today, there is little doubt over the need for Microsoft Office training.  The program that is most popular out of all of the above is Microsoft word, this program is however relatively simple to pick up and Microsoft Word training is only ever truly required for people wishing to really understand the technical editing capabilities of it.

Microsoft Excel is the second most common program and unlike Microsoft word, has a very steep learning curve to it.  That is why it is important for people to learn Excel from the basic to the advanced stages to fully get the most out of the program.

Do You Need Basic Excel Training?

Investing in training courses no matter what the course may be can be a costly exercise if you realise mid way through the class that you already know what is being taught.  IT Training Scotland takes pride in finding you a course that you can learn from and use that knowledge to your advantage in the workplace, the last thing we want is for you to spend money in a basic Excel course when you may have benefited more from attending an intermediate class.

So to find out if the basic level of training is right for you we will briefly cover the main training exercises & aspects you will study from the basic level course.  If you feel you can improve your knowledge in these areas then the basic course is perfect for you.

Document & Spreadsheet Creation

Attending the beginner Microsoft Excel training course you will be familiarising yourself with the basic tools of the software.  This is of course a fantastic way for you to gain in confidence as you learn more.

Creating documents & spreadsheets in Excel is a basic fundamental task that any user will need to know if they are going to use this program and put it to any use, this is where you create a spreadsheet that will allow you to organise and analyse any data that you wish to input into the document.

An Excel spreadsheet consists of rows and columns in which the user can enter any data they see fit in the cells displayed below.

Image courtesy of http://images2.store.microsoft.com/prod/clusterb/productAssets/US/EN-US/Office_Excel_2007/US_Prd_ss_full_Office_Excel_2007.jpg

The beginners Excel courses will show you exactly how to create a spreadsheet and input information and data for you to confidently produce documents of data from a blank canvas.

Performing Basic Calculations

Once you have data in your spreadsheet it is then up to you what you can do with this data.  Microsoft Excel allows the user to create his or her own custom calculations.  This is a very powerful feature and is vital to understand as once you know how to calculate data to your own specific requirements it can open up the doors on the possibilities on how you use the software.

Performing basic calculations is an important part of learning Excel and is always recommended that you understand how to do this before you undertake any of the intermediate or advanced Excel classes.

Data Manipulation & Editing

Once you understand the above it is important to then take on board the ability you as the user has to edit & manipulate the data on screen for your benefit.   Once you have confidence in creating spreadsheets and basic calculations it is then important to see what effect any changes you make to the data will have on the overall document structure.

If you wish to book on to the basic Excel training course or any other computer software training course then please get in contact with IT Training Scotland.  It is also important to note that we are currently running a promotion on our Microsoft Excel classes where you can get a 2nd course half price!  For example if you wished, you could attend the basic course then move on to the intermediate and get a 50% discount!

IT Training Scotland provides full migration training on any aspect of Microsoft Office 2007.   We also have hundreds of courses that cater to the individual programs found within Office.  Courses such as advanced Excel training to basic Outlook training.

The ambitious, ground-up rebuild of Microsoft Office Standard 2007 presents drastically different interfaces and new file formats.  The new Office looks so unlike its predecessors, it’s likely to spark intense love-hate responses from users.   If you’re patient, eager to try the latest tools, and willing to relearn most of what you already know about Office, then you may relish the challenge of Office 2007.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 can produce more-polished documents and presentations, and Outlook’s new scheduling abilities make it a handier communications hub.  Professionals who want to impress clients and co-workers with attractive reports, charts, and slide shows will find this a worthy upgrade.  First-time Office users may have an easier time than veteran users getting their bearings.

The new era of Office affects even those who don’t upgrade, and a conversion tool is needed to let older Office versions open Office 2007′s default, Open XML files.  Office 2007 does offer complex features that you can’t yet find elsewhere.

The Interface You Will See On One Of Our Microsoft Office 2007 Training Courses

Once you open each Office 2007 application, you’ll see a radically different, blue interface that’s brighter than in the past.  Word, Excel, and PowerPoint arrange features within a tabbed Ribbon toolbar that largely replaces the gray drop-down menus and dialog boxes from a quarter-century of Office software.

The Office logo menu, docked in the upper left corner, bundles many commands from the old File and Edit menus.  Outlook lacks the logo button and adopts the Ribbon only within its message composition and scheduling windows.  There’s a core set of always-on tabs, as well as contextual tabs that hide until the software detects that you need them.  For instance, the Picture Tools Format tab only shows up when you click on an image.

The Office 2007 programs, which share a new graphics engine, strongly emphasize ways to decorate documents.  Pull-down Style Galleries let you preview how new fonts, colour themes, chart styles, images and such appear before you apply the change.  This is great for selecting from menus of fonts or page templates.

At the same time, however, the “intelligent” shape-shifting may bewilder those who don’t realize that they must click a style to apply a formatting change.  In most cases, the preformatted styles only present colours within the same range already used by your document.

On the one hand, newbie’s to Office software, particularly young, visual learners, may find the 2007 interface easier to master than Office 2003.  Icons label most of the commands, and many expand into pull-down menus.

Get Used To The New Features Office 2007 Brings On Our Microsoft Office 2007 Training Courses

Many of the changes to Office 2007 feel skin deep.  By that, I mean that there’s a strong emphasis on making documents, spreadsheets, and presentations easier on the eyes.  You can adjust the brightness of images, for instance, add 3D effects such as drop shadows and glows to pictures and charts.  And many of the features that might appear new are simply easier to stumble upon in the new interface.  The useful Document Inspector provides old and new ways to clean up hidden metadata in files.  But don’t expect too many new features.

Word 2007 offers some basic tools that you’d otherwise look to in desktop publishing programs such as Microsoft Publisher or Adobe InDesign.  A host of new templates as well as preformatted styles and SmartArt diagrams let you dress up reports, flyers, and so on with images and charts.

We find that the Ribbon layout in Excel improves its usefulness for working with complex spreadsheets.  For instance, researchers can access all the formulas in handy pull-down menus.  You can make deeper data sorts and work with as many as a million rows.  It’s easier to find the Conditional Formatting for drawing heat maps or adding icons in order to display data patterns.  Plus, along with the other glossier graphics throughout Office, Excel charts get a facelift.

PowerPoint 2007 is vital if you depend upon professional-looking slide shows to help close a deal.  The new template themes are more attractive and less flat-looking than those of the past, although there’s little new in the way of managing multimedia content.

Among the four main applications in Office, Outlook 2007 provides the most practical improvements.  To start, it lets you drag tasks and e-mail messages to the calendar, a long-awaited feature that makes scheduling more simple.  The new To-Do Bar’s task and calendar overview and the ability to flag an e-mail for follow up at a specific time are terrific for time management.

When sending e-mail attachments from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the Outlook composition window opens with all of its formatting options.  Integration has improved throughout the applications.

Note that when you open older Office files with the 2007 applications, you’ll work in the Compatibility Mode with fewer features until you convert files to the new format.  And as with the release of Office 1997, you can’t open a file with the new extension right away when using earlier versions of the programs.  Those who are running Word 2003 or 2000 and need to open a Word 2007 DOCX file have to download a one-time Compatibility Pack.

Should You Attend A Microsoft Office 2007 Training Course?

Should you get IT training when you upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007?  With more programs depending on the Office 2007 suite to display information it certainly would be advantageous to know the features of this product before using it in the workplace.

In addition to that, If you’re style-conscious and want to play with new document templates, then Office 2007 should please you.  Outlook outshines its predecessors if you need to lean on it daily to manage meetings and tasks.

The radical new interface of Office 2007 applications is here to stay.   If you are interested in attending one of our Microsoft Office 2007 training courses or any of the indavidual programs found within office such as Word, Outlook or Excel training, then please fill in the form on our contact page and one of our experienced team will be in touch.

This tips and tricks article has been produced by the expert trainers at iTrain Scotland with a specific aim of giving you an insight into the remarkable number of shortcuts which are available in Microsoft Excel 2007. These shortcuts, tips and tricks will allow you as a user of Microsoft Excel to squeeze so much more from the software, empowering you to become far more productive, efficient and smarter when you are working with Microsoft Excel 2007.

Microsoft Excel 2007 Training Shortcuts

We will begin by looking at our trainers’ most favourite shortcuts in Microsoft Excel 2007.  The term shortcuts in relation to Excel in this article refers to the use of either Keyboard shortcuts in Excel (i.e. the use of the keyboard to access functions and perform actions which would otherwise take longer using the mouse) or the use of the Function Keys (The Keys at the top of the Keyboard F1 – F12) to perform shortcuts in Microsoft Excel.

1.  Hold down the CTRL and the ¬ Key (This is the key to the left of the number 1 key) - to show or hide all formulas on your worksheet This tip allows you to reveal all the formulas in every cell on your worksheet at once, which helps you identify which cells contain formulas, what the specific formula is, and allows you to see patterns in lots of adjacent formulas.

2.  Press SHIFT F11 to insert a new sheet within an excel workbook(NOTE: make sure you press SHIFT F11 and not CTRL F11, as CTRL F11 will insert a Macro worksheet which will not work properly).

3.  Select all of your data and press F11 to produce an instant chart(NOTE: You may want to sort your data before you select it. Do this by clicking the SORT button on the Ribbon).

4.  Press F2 to edit a cellThis will allow you to edit say a formula without having to type it from scratch or the need to click into the formula bar.

5.  Press F9 to recalculate formulasYour spreadsheet is set to recalculate every time you enter new data or edit a cell, however pressing F9 will recalculate the whole spreadsheet instantly.

6.  Press CTRL and the TAB key to move between worksheets.

7.  Press CTRL and the * key (use the * on the number pad or CTRL SHFT 8) to highlight a complete range of data (i.e. a data table).

8.  To hide/unhide a row(s):

• To hide a row(s), select a cell(s) and press CTRL 9.
• To unhide a row(s), select the cells containing the range of the hidden row(s) and press CTRL SHIFT (.

To hide/unhide a column(s):

• To hide a column(s), select a cell(s) and press CTRL 0.
• -To unhide a column(s), select the cells containing the range of the hidden column(s) and press CTRL SHIFT ).

Microsoft Excel 2007 Tips

Now we will look at our trainers’ favourite tips in Microsoft Excel.  These are generally useful bits of advice which allow you to access hidden function in Excel or simply work out solutions to problems which are commonly found when using Microsoft Excel.

1.  To edit a cell double click into the middle of the cell

2.  Right click on the Sheet navigation tabs to display a menu of all sheets in a workbookThis tip allows you to see a list of all your sheets in the open Workbook.

3.  After selecting a group of cells containing numbers, look at the status bar (at the bottom of the screen) for a running total of whatever you highlight (i.e. SUM)You may have already noticed this, you can however change the way this displays from Summing numbers to Counting cells, giving you the Minimum or Maximum of the range of cells selected or displaying the Average.  To do this, after selecting a group of cells, right click on the displayed Sum at the bottom right of the page and choose a different function: Sum, Average, Min, Max, Count.

4.  To Zoom in and out of your spreadsheet (i.e. increasing the screen magnification) hold down the CTRL key and roll your mouse wheel forward (to increase magnification) or backwards (to decrease magnification)

Formula Specific Tips For Excel 2007

The shortcuts and tips above relate to the general use of Microsoft Excel 2007.  Here we have included a handful of the formula specific tips which our trainers have selected as the most frequently asked for.

Date & Time

1.  Age: To work out someone’s age given their Date of Birth (DOB) the following formula can be used:

=INT((TODAY()-A1)/365.25)

Where their DOB is in cell A1.

This formula can now be copied down to calculate ages on a whole range of DOBs if you have a list of people’s DOBs.

2.  Converting Time to Decimal: To convert a list of times (formatted to the time format e.g. 14:35) to a simple number, the following formula can be used:

=(A1-INT(A1))*24

where A1 is a cell containing the time.

Text

1.  Use the ampersand (&) symbol to join two text cells together:

=A1&B1

where there is some text in cells A1 and B1(TIP: use a space inside “ “ to put a space in-between the word(s)):

=A1&” “&B1

2.  Use the following formula to extract someone’s first name from a cell containing their whole name:

=LEFT(A1,FIND(“ “,A1))

where their whole name is in Cell A1, put a space in-between the “ “

3.  Use the following formula to extract someone’s second name from a cell containing their whole name:

=RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-FIND(“ “,A1))

where their whole name is in Cell A1, put a space in between the “ “

Conclusion

The Microsoft Excel 2007 shortcuts, tips and tricks you have now learned above are an example of the things you will learn when attending a Microsoft Excel 2007 Computer Training Course.  If you found the information in this article useful, you may well benefit from attending one of our courses.  Our trainers are very skilful in giving you the tuition which you require to use Excel in exactly the way you need to use it.

Our Microsoft Excel courses can cover a whole range of subjects specific to your working needs.  The following list is an example of just some of the topics covered in our Excel training courses:

Important tips for power users

• Managing large data collections
• Managing data tables more effectively
• Summarising data using new functions
• Creating powerful conditional formats
• Creating more attractive charts
• Controlling printouts more carefully

Reordering and summarising data

• Organising data into levels
• Looking up information in a data list

Combining data from multiple sources

• Consolidating multiple sets of data into a single workbook
• Linking to / from data in other worksheets
• Linking data from Access or other data sources

Analysing unconventional data sets

• Finding optimal solutions with the solver
• Analysing data with descriptive statistics
• Varying the data to get required results through the use of goal seek

Creating dynamic lists

• Analysing data dynamically with pivot tables
• Importing data from other sources
• Creating dynamic charts using pivot tables and Smart Art

Collaborating with colleagues

• Sharing data lists
• Managing comments
• Tracking and managing colleagues’ changes
• Protecting workbooks and sharing with user privilege
• Authenticating workbooks

iTrain Scotland offers a wide range of Microsoft computer training courses including specialising in Microsoft Excel 2007 courses.

Courses can be delivered in our excellent Edinburgh computer training centre or alternatively delivered on-site at your premises (with the optional use of our mobile training suite). For more information please refer to our website www.itrainscotland.co.uk, e-mail excel@itrainscotland.co.uk or call 0131 272 2790. You can also use the contact form below to send iTrain Scotland a message.

There are many different articles on this site ranging from Excel training courses, to IT training, to project management and PRINCE2 etc. We are now pleased to add to that wide ranging list by talking about SDI Emotional Intelligence Training Courses.

We all know that good communication is the key to fruitful relationships in all areas of our lives. However, there is a particular obstacle to this, in that we all see the world through a different set of lenses. Our individual view of the world determines our behaviour and communication and how we then interpret the behaviour and communication of others. Everything we observe is filtered through our own value systems, which means we can sometimes misinterpret the actions of others, thus causing conflict.

Have you ever been on a motorway and had a driver right up against your back bumper, flashing their headlights to get past. What do you think at that point ? Probably something quite negative and unprintable ! You might stay put in your lane to block them (with or without an appropriate gesture !) or be intimidated to move over. How would you feel if you knew that person had a sick child in the car and was rushing them to hospital ? Probably a much different emotion, and you would gladly move over?

Therefore, imagine how relationships could be improved if we knew what was driving what people do and say? Imagine what it would be like to truly understand what makes us and others tick.

Psychologist Dr Elias Porter developed a simple to use method for people to gain emotional intelligence and understand their own “motivational value systems” (MVS) and interpret the MVS of others.

It is called “SDI” (Strength Deployment Inventory) and is a hugely effective way of improving relationships, managing conflict, improving team performance and providing insightful training for customer service, sales and many other relationship based activities. Because of the need for supreme teamwork, it is actually used as a compulsory part of basic training in the RAF.

In a nutshell, individuals or teams complete a questionnaire identifying how they would behave in a number of situations, both when they are feeling good about themselves and “on form” but also when faced with conflict, stress and more negative emotions.

From the questionnaire, their “Motivational Value System (MVS)” is identified in the form of a colour or blend of colours. The MVS is the deeply held values that drive a persons behaviour, which can change when the person is faced with conflict or stressful situations. It is thought that a persons MVS is formed at an early age ; “show me the boy and I will show you the man”. It is unlikely to change unless an individual goes through a major life-changing experience. However, that does not mean that behaviour and personality do not change. We as humans have a great ability to adapt, but the theory is that our deep down values remain fairly constant through life.

By recognising your own MVS colour and that of those around you, you are able to understand better what drives behaviour and how to interact with people positively and effectively.

SDI also allows us to be more self-aware and manage our strengths and weaknesses. Have a think about this statement. “A weakness is often an overdone strength in the eyes of someone else”. For example the strength of thoroughness if overdone, could be seen as the weakness of slowness by someone with a different value system.

Depicting the MVS in colours makes SDI memorable, easy to apply and fun to learn. It creates a common language for those who have been “SDI’d” to explore why they and others behave, communicate and react to situations the way they do.

So how does the training work ? SDI is ideal for team based training but also for one to one coaching, particularly if an individual is having problems with relationships and communication. Firstly delegates complete the SDI questionnaire to identify their MVS. In a team based session all the MVS results would be plotted on a wall chart for the team to take away.

Each colour or blend of colours would then be explained to the group who can also spend time reading up on their MVS and that of colleagues in the course pack. A discussion can then take place about the profile of the team, what strengths each colour brings to the party and where the teams “blind spots” could be.

The training is rounded off by using the new-found insights in some group exercises, dividing the delegates into groups of particular MVS values. Some fascinating and fun sessions usually ensue as you see the different value systems interacting and debating.

So how does this benefit an organisation with their staff attending SDI Emotional Intelligence Training Courses? Employees will have increased emotional intelligence,which will improve the quality of working relationships and reduce conflict. Improved relationships and teamwork will no doubt lead to increased productivity, creativity and a positive impact on bottom line profit.

So to summarise, although unfortunately people do not come with instruction manuals, there is SDI !!

If you would like to find out more about the SDI, Target HR are accredited to facilitate the SDI model in both 121 coaching and group workshops and would be delighted to talk to business owners and managers about how it could help improve their business performance.

If you wish to know more on SDI Emotional Intelligence Training Courses please contact Les Potton Chartered FCIPD ACII on 07533 161310 or les@target-hr.co.uk. You can also use the contact form below.

Budgets stretched or cut, but still needing to train your staff?  Then Microsoft Online Learning might just be the cost effective solution to your problems!

Common Training Problems

Employers –

• Has your training budget been reduced?
• Do you need to get more for less?
• Do you have a geographically spread workforce?
• Is your nearest training centre miles away?
• Do you incur additional costs associated with courses (accommodation, subsistence, mileage/fares) which make it too expensive to train?
• Do you have staff who need just “byte size chunks” of training and not a full day’s course?
• Do you get value for money?
• Can you measure your return on investment?

Employees –

• Do you require training to be better able to do your job?
• Do you just want to learn new skills?
• Your company is unwilling to invest in its employees?
• Do you want to keep up with the latest technology?

This may sound familiar but unfortunately it is very much the case especially in small to medium size businesses.  It costs a lot of money to get trained properly (as well as time out of the office) and most people find this prohibitive if they have to fund it themselves.

Online Training Solution

A convenient and cost-effective solution to the problem is to do Online Learning.  Learn whenever and wherever you want at a time and place convenient to you.

Official Microsoft Online Learning is educational material, produced and written by Microsoft’s product developers, designed to help the user grasp the essential benefits and components of key Microsoft technologies. It can be used in parallel with, or instead of, other training materials such as books.

Benefits – Cost

• Low purchase costs:  For individual titles e.g. Excel Pivot Tables or whole series e.g. MCSE
• Reduced indirect costs:  All courses are web-based, your employees can train at their own pace, at work, at home, or anywhere in fact.  This reduces the indirect costs of off-site training, such as hotels, travel etc.  Furthermore, statistics show that approximately one third of all online learning usage takes place outside standard working hours.
• Pay only for what you need:  Enliten IT’s training needs analysis tool is available freely to anyone interested in our online training courses.  The results will provide you with an informed choice of what training each staff member requires.

Benefits – Manage Learning

A comprehensive reporting system allows you to effectively manage the online training courses.

• Progress tracking:  You can access progress reports freely online, at anytime, to track the development of anybody enrolled on a training course within your organisation.  Reports are mapped to your organisation’s structure, allowing managers to monitor their staff’s learning progression.
• Learning Management System:  The progress of trainees is managed by our Learning Management System (LMS), which can also be fully branded to your business, the LMS allows you to add your own additional content and fully manage the entire training programme.

Benefits – To Business

• To further the IT training budget:  When you need maximum IT training coverage across your workforce, Microsoft online training courses provide the cost efficiency required to achieve your goal.
• To extend the reach of training:  Not every business is stationed in one building; many are spread across the UK or across the world.  Microsoft online training courses allow a business to track the course progression on any employee, no matter where they are.
• Speed:  Once purchased your staff will begin learning within 20 minutes and have access to their on-line course for an entire year.
• Flexibility:  There is no limit on the number of times you can access course titles and you can re-do titles as many times as they like (you can even download them and use them when not on-line).

If this all sounds interesting then Enliten IT now offer a solution you may want to consider for your organisation.

Microsoft Office 2003 Library

Enliten IT currently have a special offer for the full official Microsoft Office 2003 Library (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Project, Visio, FrontPage, OneNote and InfoPath).  Once purchased you will have access, to all of the titles listed below for the period of a year.

• Course 4100: Core Training for Access 2003
• Course 4106: Core Training for Excel 2003
• Course 4101: Advanced Training for Excel 2003
• Course 4104: Core Training for Outlook 2003
• Course 4107: Advanced Training for Outlook 2003
• Course 4103: Core Training for PowerPoint 2003
• Course 4105: Core Training for Word 2003
• Course 4102: Advanced Training for Word 2003
• Course 4111: Core Training for Project 2003
• Course 4112: Core Training for Visio Standard 2003
• Course 4108: Core Training for FrontPage 2003
• Course 4109: Core Training for OneNote 2003
• Course 4117: Working with Forms Using InfoPath 2003
• Course 4113: Designing Forms Using InfoPath 2003
• Course 4110: Core Training for Professional Enterprise Edition 2003
• Course 4116: What’s New in Professional Enterprise Edition 2003

Enliten IT offers hundreds of official Microsoft titles (end user and technical), for more information on such things like Excel training classes & IT training please refer to our web site Microsoft Online Training or email info@enliten-it.com or call 0845 108 5481.

IT training courses are even more important today than they ever were.  Unfortunatly that online mba degree program will only take you so far, to get further in business you will need staff trained professionally in IT.   As we live in the technologically advanced world of business, it is important for job seekers and established members of your IT staff stay on top of the latest software developments and advancements.  There is no question that Microsoft controls the market when it comes to server and desktop applications, which is why it is crucial to keep up to date with technologies.  The best way for you to learn in any specified IT discipline is to attend IT training courses and gain the relevant qualifications.

Attending an IT training session will also help make life easier for you too.  You will never need to worry about someone who would be considered to be more technologically advanced coming in to take your job because you will have already have the professionally recognised certifications required for a top career in IT today.  An IT course will keep you ahead of the game and most importantly it will maximise your earning potential by giving you the knowledge and understanding taught by a certified IT trainer.  Did you know the average salary in 2009 for an IT manager is £42,000 per annum?

IT Training Courses are Essential in Today’s Market

If you are looking into finding an excellent job that brings many different job opportunities to select, then it is essential you get the correct IT training.  The reason why IT training courses are a necessity is simply because of the sheer number of available jobs within the UK IT market right now.  You may think that in a time of recession that the jobs will dry up, not so in the IT industry.  It is recession proof.

Not know what this is? Time for an IT training course.

There will always be new technologies being released by software companies that companies all over the UK will be implementing on a yearly basis.  For those companies to stay at the top of their business they need to employ qualified IT professionals to help them develop, maintain and implement IT systems.

There has been research by the Learning Skills Council that concluded that jobs in the IT industry are the most secure positions, even in today’s economic climate.  This is great news when considering that there are large organisations over the country collapsing yet it doesn’t put any dangers on the IT sector.  There are a few reasons for this.

With industries facing job losses today and the major high street names that are shutting up shop, there has never been a better time for IT professionals to gain even more skills that are in high demand.  IT courses offer excellent prospects for the IT professional as the market for employment still shows a serious requirement for expert IT staff in many companies and organisations

If you have your doubts over the validity of what I have just said, then I can prove this to you by simply asking yourself to visit any of the leading jobsite/recruitment websites out there and search for the number of specialised IT jobs.  You will find that the number in the IT sector greatly outnumbers that of any other sector.  This may be news to you but in fact, this has been the case for the past five years and will not only remain to be the case but that number will actually grow due to the current economy.

The IT industry (despite today’s climate) will continue to grow and it shall always have a lot to offer the trained IT professional.  Attending IT training courses will without doubt help you succeed in your career goals.  If you are in the IT industry, book yourself onto an IT course right now running daily at our many UK training centres.  Remember, we have over 4000 technical and application classes running daily.  We have information on nearly course imaginable from MCSE courses to Excel training so fill in the form and take your career to the next level!