Does anyone else feel like the bar is continually being raised when it comes to technical Excel skills? Back when I first started out, you were considered “advanced” if you knew VLOOKUP and could build a decent PivotTable. Excel was simpler back then and it wasn’t difficult to stand out and become “the” go-to Excel person in the office.
Nowadays, the expectations feel very different and there are just so many more tools to learn! Should you focus on Power Query, Power Pivot, DAX, Python, VBA, APIs, AI copilots? What about Python? And you’re just expected to pick it up along the way…. no wonder it feels overwhelming. Even for those of us who’ve been doing this for a long time.
But remember; the goal isn’t to know EVERYTHING. The real skill is learning how to learn; staying curious, adaptable, and willing to put in the work. People often ask me how I manage to stay up to date with it all and yes it’s not easy, and I’m not sure I do! It’s hard to find the time. My personal strategy is that whenever I see content pop up from certain people, I make a point of making sure I watch the entire video (albeit on double speed), or reading the whole article. People like Microsoft MVPs Mark Proctor, Leila Gharani, Mynda Treacy and George Mount to name a few. I know their content is always going to be accurate, interesting and relevant.
The tools WILL keep changing. Last week, we got two new Excel functions; IMPORTTEXT and IMPORTCSV and I’m still trying to get my head around when and how to use them. The bar WILL keep moving and we need to be able to stretch, experiment, and evolve with it. And that’s what keeps this work interesting. So, if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with all these new features, or you feel like everyone else has magically “levelled up” overnight, you’re not alone. It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself a beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Just start where you’re at.
This article was published on LinkedIn. Read the comments here.
