How to become an excel developer?

[rf2209]

Hi, I am new to this forum so I hope I have post this in the write place, I have been involved in trading FX for a number of years, more as a hobby than a career but I am now looking for some career advice from people with more experience in the industry - if this needs moving then please let me know.

I have spent the last three years working on large excel data sets both in a professional and academic environment and having self taught myself VBA programming I now reached a point where I would like to become a full time excel developer / analyst. I have also taught myself SAS and SQL packages to increase my employability and have a undergraduate degree in Economics (BSc) and have worked as an economist with bloomberg and thompson datastream packages.

I am currently looking for any advice that any current excel developer has regarding any further training that I may require to move into development professionally and I would be very grateful for any advice that anyone has to offer and if anyone needs any excel support please feel free to contact me.

Cheers

RF2209

 

[Rhody Trader]

I would spend some time looking at the job postings at a place like efinancialcareers.com to see what kind of qualifications employers are looking for in the kinds of positions you desire.

 

[DionysusToast]

Full time excel developer ?

I can think of nothing more horrific.

That is such a niche market that it would put you looking for jobs in an extremely small pool. A pool which is full of Indians that are willing to work for peanuts.

This would be a terrible career move IMO.

 

[lbranjord]

Full time excel developer ?

I can think of nothing more horrific.

That is such a niche market that it would put you looking for jobs in an extremely small pool. A pool which is full of Indians that are willing to work for peanuts.

This would be a terrible career move IMO.

Whenever I have to use the Excel developer tools at work I groan...

If you're good at it, it's a nice addition to your resume. I don't think it's a stand-alone type of skill though. Do you have experience with XML configurations and SQL? That would round out your skills nicely.

** Nevermind, just saw you have sql experience. Anyway, I'd say you should have an easy time finding a development role. Try to spread your tentacles out and apply for many different types of development.

 

[sahajtrader]

Full time excel developer ?

I can think of nothing more horrific.

That is such a niche market that it would put you looking for jobs in an extremely small pool. A pool which is full of Indians that are willing to work for peanuts.

This would be a terrible career move IMO.

Yes. Wrong choice if you are looking for a job for life, guaranteed by Obama, without any competition from developing countries - irrespective of whether you can do it or not. But that leaves pretty much nothing out there.

 

[kimo'sabby]

A pool which is full of Indians that are willing to work for peanuts.


You arrogant colonial b*stard! You leave the N. American indigenous types out of this. They may be willing to work for peanuts, but i'll take them indians over a cowboy like you anyday!

 

[lbranjord]

Obama is a swear word. Unlike Gingrich, which has a ring to it. 0% capital gains is on his agenda for stimulating economic growth. Businesses will have tons of capital to move will be able to employ finally.

How in the hell the government is going to operate without that cap gains income is beyond me, but they better find a way. I think there is a strong movement taking place and their actions will not be tolerated for another term.

If zero cap gains would take place, the only thing you'd have to do is keep your investments in long enough to go from income tax bracket to capital gains tax bracket (0). So hold a little longer, pay uncle sam Nothing.

A little off topic, but not too far... Sorry

 

[DionysusToast]

You arrogant colonial b*stard! You leave the N. American indigenous types out of this. They may be willing to work for peanuts, but i'll take them indians over a cowboy like you anyday!

Has to be said - your average peanut earning Indian would be well versed in the use of the quote feature, Tonto.

 

[zsawevv212]

When it's time to print your Excel worksheet, you may prefer that some information is left unprinted. For example, you may have some confidential information (such as employee salaries) in a column, or your sheet may have some intermediate calculations that the top brass aren't interested in seeing.
To avoid printing specific rows or columns, just hide them before printing. To hide rows, select them by clicking the row numbers (click and drag to select a block of rows; hold down Ctrl while clicking to select non-adjacent rows). Then right-click one of the highlighted border row numbers and click Hide. Use the same procedure to hide columns (but right-click a highlighted column letter to choose Hide).
When you're finished printing, you can quickly unhide all rows or columns by selecting the entire worksheet (click the blank gray box formed by the intersection of the row and column borders at the top left corner of your spreadsheet). Then right-click a row or column border and choose Unhide.

 

[andy213]

Hi, I am new to this forum so I hope I have post this in the write place, I have been involved in trading FX for a number of years, more as a hobby than a career but I am now looking for some career advice from people with more experience in the industry - if this needs moving then please let me know.

I have spent the last three years working on large excel data sets both in a professional and academic environment and having self taught myself VBA programming I now reached a point where I would like to become a full time excel developer / analyst. I have also taught myself SAS and SQL packages to increase my employability and have a undergraduate degree in Economics (BSc) and have worked as an economist with bloomberg and thompson datastream packages.

I am currently looking for any advice that any current excel developer has regarding any further training that I may require to move into development professionally and I would be very grateful for any advice that anyone has to offer and if anyone needs any excel support please feel free to contact me.

Cheers

RF2209

me too but I'm where you're at in a job working on large data sets knowing I'm good enough to do my own thing but not doing it yet - so mightn't give relevant advice - I like how you've taught yourself VBA because it's amazing what it can do next to regular excel and a joy to program in.

Microsoft offer "certified" qualifications, which for example I've got in Excel regular but not excel VBA but i'd imagine it's out there

But then you sound more than qualified - the trouble with these "off the line" developers is, and this is a fundamental truth in my experience - there's no depth to their knowledge, they can't think creatively around a problem whatsoever because they've never gone wrong and made mistakes, only been shown how to do it.

a creative approach to problem solving in my opinion is essential to good programming.

I may be biassed but being self taught knocks the socks off these college boys simply because if you stagger around a town trying to find where you are going, then once you get there you damn well know every street in that town so much better than the "formula" student who just got sent straight from A-B

Good luck.

A

 

[andy213]

I might also add, excel strains relationships and nobody understands, least of all the bird.

 

[trekker]

Don't be discouraged by the "veterans" of this forum. Obviously they know all. I found this forum while looking into doing Excel VBA as a second, part-time. "Niche" market or not, it's what I'm interested in - but it's not my bread and butter, so I'll survive.