Get Active in Our Amazing Community of Over 451,000 Peers!
Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Case Partners to connect and practice with!
what excel skills do i need to start my consulting internship
Overview of answers
Upvotes
Best answer
Hi,
Sharing a few common functions that were the most useful for me:
- Pivot tables
- Lookups: Index Match, Index Match Match, V/H Lookup, or X lookup (in the newer versions of excel)
- Sums: Sumproduct, Sumif
- Goalseek
- Conditional formatting
In addition - do note that formatting and etiquette are equally as important (e.g. don't combine hardcoded numbers with formulas).
Lastly - you will never be able to prepare for all the unknowns and problems that you face while doing excel on the job. But really all you need is google and colleagues who are willing to help you → this will get you to the function/solution that you need 90% of the time.
All the best!
Was this answer helpful?
To add to the above:
-Sensitivity tables (1 input, 2 input)
-Text manipulation functions (len,left,right, etc)
-Conditional functions (if, sumif, etc)
-Search functions (please use index/match instead of vlookup as it is more robust)
Was this answer helpful?
Hi,
Depending on whether it is an MBA / Grad internship. For an MBA internship you are expected to know both basics and advanced:
Basics
- Fast excel - throw away your mouse and put some tape on your touchpad. Do everything with your keyboard!
- The main formulas (especially vlookup, column, etc)
- Pivot tables
- Nice formating
- Modeling - you need at least to know how to structure your sheets (Inputs, outputs, sources, versions, etc)
Advanced skills include:
- Financial modeling (making proforma statement)
- Valuation of projects / companies
Best!
Was this answer helpful?
Dear A,
It would be helpful for you to learn the business-focused Excel features.
In business, about 80% of your work will come from 20% of the functionality of the Microsoft Excel.
The core skills of a competent business Excel user are something like:
- Formatting & basic formulas
- Mouse-free Excel navigation
- Vlookups & conditional statements
- Data analysis - filtering, sorting, and analyzing data
- Data visualization - tables, charts, and dual axis charts
- What-if-analysis
- Pivot tables
If you can do these things, you’ll outperform 95% of people in the workplace.
To learn these concepts, you could:
- Learn the concepts online for free
- Take an online course
If you’re looking for something free, I’d recommend Googling & Youtube-ing those topics on my list. Tons of free material online. On Udemy you can also find some courses.
If you’re short on time, take a short business-focused online course.
I’d recommend the following business-focused course focused on mastering the 20% of functions that make up 80% of Excel work.
Best,
André
Was this answer helpful?
Related Cases
Expert case by Francesco
Style:
Our client is an Indian sugar producer exporting solely to Indonesia. Indonesia imports 5m tons of raw sugar per year.To make raw sugar, our client processes sugarcane at a cost of $25 per ton and they have a capacity of 1.5m tons per year. The only competitor that has lower production costs is from
...
Our client is an Indian sugar producer exporting solely to Indonesia. Indonesia imports 5m tons of raw sugar per year.To make raw sugar, our client processes sugarcane at a cost of $25 per t
...
(Open whole case)
2.8k
Times solved
Advanced
Difficulty
Premium + Coaching Expert
Content Creator
Ex-BCG Principal | 8+ years consulting experience in SEA | BCG top interviewer & top performer
356
Meetings
6,457
Q&A Upvotes
33
Awards
28 Reviews
