Three Programs All Students Should Know How to Use

When applying for jobs, which skills to include on your resume is often contested among employers and hiring managers. Some suggest listing your computer skills, like those related to Microsoft Office. Others deem this unnecessary since they believe every job applicant should have such skills. However, there are a few Microsoft Office programmes all students should be able to maneuver by the time they graduate college.

Here are three programmes all students should be familiar with from Microsoft Office:

1. Excel

Many people consider Excel the most versatile and therefore valuable Microsoft Office product. It's used extensively in both schools and the workplace. Excel is a great tool in the workplace for scheduling employees. Small businesses often use this programme to keep track of their accounting and finances. Tracking and organizing any sort of data is easy using Excel. The best way to master Excel is to practice using it. If you're entirely new to Excel, there are many online tutorials out there to help you get started. Lynda is one of the most popular and easy to use.

2. PowerPoint

Businesses all over the country seem to love PowerPoint. Hiring managers are often delighted to know a job applicant knows how to use this programme. In college, you're sure to come in contact with PowerPoint. Professors often use it to create slideshows. It's a great way to share text and images in one place to a lot of people at once. Oftentimes, students are asked to create PowerPoint slideshows for class projects. In the corporate world, you often find companies using PowerPoint to cover and share work-related material at meetings. Knowing how to use PowerPoint is a valuable skill to know when entering an office or academic setting.

3. Microsoft Word

The most well-known Microsoft Office programme is Word. As it's the most popular way to create documents on a computer, you should be well-acquainted with some basic functions in Microsoft Word. It's good to know how to use headers and footers and build cover pages, all of which can enhance the look of your documents and keep you organized. Inserting comments in the margins is useful when reviewing documents. Many college professors use this function in Word to provide students with feedback on their written assignments. There is much more to Word than most users realize. When you use Word, be sure to save your documents under names you'll remember. Keeping your documents organized helps if you have to revisit or edit work.

If you acquaint yourself with the above three programmes from Microsoft Office, you'll be able to do most tasks required for entry-level jobs. There's always more to know and ways to improve in these areas, so try online tutorials for those aspects of the programme that don't come easily to you.