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Thread: London Based Excel Training?

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    London Based Excel Training?

    I'm trying to find somewhere in London (central ideal) which hosts introductory Excel training for some colleagues of mine (perhaps 5-10 or so).

    A Google search produces tons of results, but how does one tell the good from the poor?

    Have any of you had to send staff on training courses, or been on some yourself? - Any feedback (good or bad!) most welcome

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    Go for a company that has Institute of IT Training certification
    http://www.iitt.org.uk/

    I've had good experience with QA and New Horizons and Best STL in the past
    http://www.qa.com/
    http://www.newhorizonslondon.co.uk
    http://www.microsofttraining.net/index.php

    Any particular reason why you want classroom training?

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    are you wanting to do an in house program for any subject in particular?

    I know some people who specialise in doing excel for trading applications.
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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    I have a training company that does exactly what you specify. We tend to do training onsite, since it works out better /cheaper / faster for the client, but can do it off-site if you require.

    My clients include the biggest ad agencies in the country, so no shortage of references etc

    www.flatratetraining.com

    We also charge a flat rate per course, regardless of how many people attend, so it can work out very cost effective, and is easier for budgeting.

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    Some interesting thoughts people. My main motivation for doing it in person (either at a centre or our office) is that I'm not sure what happens online if people get stuck and need help - it's far easier to show somebody in person.

    We're not looking to do anything specific to our business, just basic Excel skills which everyone will benefit from.

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    it depends how you intend to do it in all honesty.

    From arranging training for quite a lot of very esoteric and hard core stuff it depends a lot on the person.

    Quite a few people prefer to go at their own pace, an online exercise is perfect for this, as most have visual "screen casts" which go hand in hand with the exercise showing the solution.

    But often the interaction of a class is good for people but only if they are willing to ask questions if they don't, there is little point.

    I would also advise against doing business with any training firm that has its entire website in flash or silverlight or similar. That is a big failure, which is completely un-acceptable in technology circles. Also re-emphasis the iitt certification link as mentioned above by cookie365.

    The other option is to find someone who is local and willing to do a weekly 2 hour after session. From my experience a lot of people fail to take in intensive class training. The other advantage is people can think up questions to ask the teacher, this should provide a much quicker return on investment for you.
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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. I just thought online modules would always get brushed aside "I'm too busy" etc where as somebody coming in or them going to a training location can't be put off if it's booked!

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    some online ones have this read a chapter (often watch a screencast nowadays), then do an exercise, followed by a quick online test.

    The manager gets an overview letting him see which minions have read the chapter, started the exercise and their passmark on the test.

    I'd recommend these, but they are often expensive for good ones, however compare it to the cost of one book per employee.

    If money is tight, an option might well be finding a local trainer might be an idea, a lady in my photography club does this for instance, but I'd still recommend combining that with a good couple of books for the work's reference library.
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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    Roughly how much would we be talking both time wise and cost wise for Excel 101 - think an introduction up to say basic vlookups / countifs / pivot tables etc - no VBA or anything advanced. I realise this could be a totally loaded question, but a look at some of the links above and course guides makes me think level 1 and level 2 Excel training at 'most' places might do this.

    It looked to be about £200 per day per person. I'm guessing online, with the bells and whistles you mention, would be cheaper? - With added flexibility too. I like the ability to monitor (and whip)...

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    I think online might well be your best bet. Times are tight right now so many of these companies have been hit by people not buying them, remember plenty of them have 80%+ margins for sales, so don't be affraid to haggle.

    If you've got one person (even if its you) who knows enough to help someone who gets stuck, online is probably the best option all round.
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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    You're starting to convince me dude - Perhaps I should take it first and do a dry run! - I'm sure I'd learn some stuff or correct some bad habits along the way too!

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    It seems that online training is flavour of the month when I've pitched the alternatives to those who asked me to look into it, so now I need to find decent online providers. Suggestions?!

    The monitoring side of things that TheAnimus mentioned would be a definite bonus

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    for basic stuff, i'm affraid not, I've only done this for hardcore geekery, and boring ass regulatory stuff (which funnily enough is often incorrect.... but thats a different rant).

    I would just have a google, first off look at the free stuff on the microsoft office website, make sure they aren't just copy + shift + pasting.

    Almost all of them will give you some simple sample stuff, and a course outline, then just find one that fits the budget, and gives you a long time window or allows students to download the stuff.
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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    Do the hardcore geekery sites not have moderately geeky sections or links to other bits and bobs?!

    I hear what your saying, ironically we can find most of the content we require for free, but the point here is forcing people to view this and actually do it, rather than send them links they ignore :/

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    Re: London Based Excel Training?

    7city and brainbench probably aren't what your after with this, I just assumed someone must have done one for this kind of market so I can't recommend one in particular sorry!
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