Photo of Chris Hotten

Although I have spent many years working with spreadsheets across different jobs, my One Awards Computing Diploma gave me the opportunity to receive formal recognition of the knowledge and skills I have built up over a period of time. In order to show evidence of this, I was tasked with making a spreadsheet that would demonstrate an understanding of multiple functions, data types and analysis/forecasting tools that a company would expect to be used on a daily, monthly and yearly basis.

Microsoft Excel icon

The assignment was to produce a workbook for a movie rental company with a physical store that is looking to move into online streaming. This task also required two presentations to be created, which would prove that the criteria had been not just been fulfilled, but exceeded. The workbook would need to be structured in a logical and fluent manner, and also display clear evidence that it makes use of the following items in order to prove my understanding of working with spreadsheets:

--- Features ---

  • Absolute and Relative cell referencing
  • Array formulas
  • Automatic subtotals
  • Basic and complex formulas
  • Comparison operators
  • Custom filters
  • Data consolidation
  • Data validation across multiple fields using data validation, including a drop-down list
  • Different types of graphs and charts, labelled and formatted correctly
  • Fill handles
  • Freeze panes
  • Hyperlinks
  • Importing and exporting data
  • Linked external data
  • Multiple linked spreadsheets
  • Nested functions
  • Object linking
  • Outlines
  • Pivot tables
  • Sorting by multiple columns
  • Visual cell styling
  • What-if analysis

--- Data Types ---

  • Currency
  • Date
  • Number
  • Text

--- Functions ---

  • <THAN
  • >THAN
  • AND
  • AUTOSUM
  • AVERAGE
  • COUNT
  • IF
  • MAXIMUM
  • MINIMUM
  • OR
  • ROUND
  • SUM
  • TREND
  • UPPER

Presentations

I was asked to produce a comprehensive presentation which contained annotated screenshots showing how I implemented multiple functions within my work. Each example is from my own workbook, highlighting its use and purpose.

Functions Presentation

Screenshot of Functions Guide Screenshot of Functions Guide Screenshot of Functions Guide Screenshot of Functions Guide
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I also produced a guide (similar in style to the ‘For Dummies’ books) which explains how to find and correct errors that appear within incorrectly-entered formulas. This used deliberately created examples from my own workbook in order to show a genuine understanding of each error.

Error Guide Presentation

Screenshot of Errors Guide Screenshot of Errors Guide Screenshot of Errors Guide Screenshot of Errors Guide
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⇓ Downloads ⇓

File Type Information Download
Excel Workbook created for Diploma course. Created using Excel 2013
Folder Contains workbook and associated linked files for operation

▶ Tutorials ▶

Listed below are all my self-produced tutorials relating specifically to spreadsheets

A full list of my tutorials for all subjects can be found here

My YouTube channel can be found here

*To open links in a new tab, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the link*

No. Description Link
1 Awaiting upload
2 Awaiting upload
3 Awaiting upload
4 Complete playlist