[Social-sciences-list] Free 30-minute lesson on Microsoft Excel Pivot Table

[Phil]

Hi everyone,

My name is Phil So. I am designing a course on Microsoft Excel Pivot
Table for blind and low vision computer users. I'm recruiting both
screen-reader and magnification users who are interested in receiving
a brief 30-minute Excel Pivot Table lesson over the phone for
absolutely free.  In exchange I'd be very grateful if you would give
me constructive feedback to help me improve the clarity and relevance
of the lessons. If you are interested in becoming a participant,
please send me an email at philso1003 at gmail.com.  You should have
basic knowledge of Excel but do not need to have any prior knowledge
about Pivot Table.
Thanks everyone! Please also read the information and article below
for more about Pivot Table.

Best,
Phil So

FYI, many professionals cite Pivot Table as one of the most important
and useful Excel skills to have. A search on job search site
Indeed.com for "Pivot Table" yields job results such as Research
Assistant, Operation Assistant, Program Evaluation Research Analyst,
Digital Marketing Assistant, Education Policy Analyst, Cancer Service
Program Coordinator, Payroll Analyst, E-Commerce Manager, Business
Analyst, Financial Analyst, Survey Research Assistant, Sales Analyst.
Click on the links below to see jobs that require Pivot Table:
Pivot Table and Research Assistant job search results:
http://www.indeed.com/q-Pivot-Table-Research-Assistant-jobs.html
Los Angeles general job search results:
http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22pivot+table%22&l=los+angeles


Lastly, below is an article called "5 Microsoft Word and Excel Skills
You Must Have to Succeed At Your Workplace". Pay attention to skill
#3!

“Get that report to me, ASAP!” That’s the line that can stricken many
office workers with abject terror and fear. Well, it doesn’t have to
be that way, if you can develop at least 5 essential Microsoft Office
skills.

What are these Microsoft Office skills?

If you are expected to write up any kind of report, analyze
information, or give occasional presentations, you’ll want to make
sure you’ve got these skills.

Microsoft Excel Skills

Skill #1: Make Use Of Autofill
You can save a tremendous amount of time with two methods of filling
in data in Excel. Skill #1 is the “autofill” feature –  filling out
numbered data in columns and rows.  While tutoring a realtor on how to
use Excel to replace his paper financial documentation, I learned
quickly that many people are not aware of this one, single feature of
Excel that can save hours of data entry. To use it, simply type
anything into the first cell that ends in a number.
Click and hold the lower-right corner of the cell, and drag the mouse
down the column. You’ll notice that the number on the right will
automatically increment for each cell.

Skill #2: Use Autofill For Formulas
Skill #2 to learn is using autofill for formulas. If you write a
function at the bottom of each column – for example averaging all of
the values in that column – you can use this same autofill feature to
do the same calculation at the bottom of each other column as well.
You’ve basically performed the identical formula for every column in
just a few seconds, and you didn’t even have to type another
keystroke.

Skill #3: Manage Data Easily With The PivotTable Tool
The third skill you really need to learn in Excel if you want to save
yourself a tremendous amount of analysis time is a tool called a
PivotTable.  PivotTable is accessible under the “Insert” menu. Just
look for the “PivotTable” icon. If you click this icon after
highlighting an entire table of data (including headers), the
PivotTable tool summarizes, organizes and analyzes that data and
brings it into a new sheet where you can manipulate that data in
various ways.
The PivotTable tool allows you to select the columns of data that you
want to analyze, and then choose how you want to manipulate the data.
Simply add them all up? Average them? Calculate the standard
deviation?

Using a PivotTable saves a tremendous amount of time. To accomplish
these same things in a standard Excel sheet would require all sorts of
functions and re-formatting data. PivotTables automatically do the
work, while you can spend more of your time studying the results.



Microsoft Word Skills

Skill #4: Format & Re-Use Headers
The reason headers are important is because once you have a good
header design for something like a letter or a certain type of report
that you have to fill out, you never have to design or create that
header again. You can save a document with all of the header
formatting you need, and save all of that effort the next time you
create the same document. Headers can be formatted by clicking on the
“Insert” menu and choosing the “Header” icon.

Once you review the header editing menu, you’ll see just how versatile
and useful headers can be. You can automatically have headers
alternate between two designs between even and odd pages, and you can
even break your document into sections and give each section its own
unique header.

This flexibility allows you to automate all of the repeat sections of
documents for the various documents you have to write up for your job,
saving a tremendous amount of time.

Skill #5: Manage Page Layout
The next Microsoft Word skill that every office worker should know is
how to set up and preview the page format of any document.
Understanding how to do this gives you the flexibility to make a
document look however you want, rather than being stuck with the
default settings for things like page margin size (which many people
have no clue how to change).
A few of the tools you should learn to format page layout are on the
“Insert” menu. Things like the “Page Number” tool, which will automate
and manage the page numbering for you.

The bulk of the page formatting options you need are actually on the
aptly named “Page Layout” menu.  If you’re writing up a newsletter for
your company, why mess around with manually trying to work out the
formatting into sections of the page when you can just use the
“Columns” tool found here to do this?

And that mysterious margin around the page that most people call their
local IT technician to learn  how to modify? Don’t bother calling,
just click on the “Page Borders” icon, go to the “Page Border” tab,
and click on “Options.”

You can set top, bottom, left and right page margins there. By the
way, on that “Borders and Shading” menu, check out all of the other
cool things you can do, like place border lines on any side of the
page, apply to only sections of the document, and much more.
Learning these MS Word and Excel skills, you’ll impress everyone in
your office – and most importantly, you’ll impress your boss!