Advice on VBA certification and career path

[detangler]

Hi, please bear with the long introduction but it's necessary for a proper response to my question:

I've had a B.S. degree in Computer Information Systems, with a concentration on Systems Analysis and Design. I've been working for about 6 years now but mostly as a business analyst which translates to basically managing project communications between end-users and programmers. I have not needed to do any programming till I found myself at my current position with a much much smaller company (~120+ employees) where they are trying to automate several tedious manual processes done mostly in Excel. And let it be known that 90% of the Excel knowledge that I now use for work, I did not learn in school.

So now I’m trying to learn VBA on my own and was looking specifically for an Excel VBA certification. I didn’t have much luck searching and didn’t want to go with just some unknown websites because I’m trying to get work to pay for it. Any recommendations? I saw a post recommending a good training site: http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=103832&highlight=certification
What do you think of their certification exam? Is this a respected site in the VBA community? In your opinion, would the certification help define my proficiency in VBA programming since I have not had any real-world programming experience but would like to develop my career path in this direction: a data geek using mostly Excel and Access.

I am also going to get work to pay for the Mr. Excel Power User Bundle. Please tell me if I’m heading in the right direction. I do have other specific questions to ask later. Thanks!!

 

[Smitty]

The certification program is the only one of its kind on the 'net, although unlike my response in that post, it's not free; but the price is more than reasonable. I'd pay to have that on my resume!

VBAExpress is run/sponsoroed/was the dreamchild of Anne Troy, the author of "Dreamboat on Word", the definitive MS Word book, and she has a great deal of credibility in this world. If you check up on it, VBA Express has the intent of being the single best VBA resource on the 'net and it's doing a great job so far.

Many of the VBA users here are also members there, myself included.

Other than playing with the recorder and asking questions, both here and there, John Walkenbach's VBA books are excellent www.j-walk.com

As for career-pathing, many found themselves using VBA by accident to make processes more efficient and in the process created either invaluable niches for themselves in their particular environment (like me), or actually branched out into private consulting, like Mr. Excel.

Hope you find the path that suits you the best! I always go with an old phrase I learned in ranching: "Salary is just a benefit to a job you enjoy..."

Smitty

 

[starl]

Nice answer, Smitty! I'm thinking we may use this question for future answers to such.

Just want to add a few things:
Anne and I were part of a Microsoft discussion and VBA became a part of it - #1 Question - when was MS going to offer certification that covered VBA. Their answer - NEVER.
Which is a reason Anne started her own certification.
As for Anne's qualifications to know what goes into certification - she is the writer for Brainbench's Word Certification Exam and has been for several years.

VBAX may still be in its infancy, but it is fast growing and is becoming a central point for VBAers of all kinds. And - MS may not be involved with the certification yet, but I think they may nose around eventually - what VBAX provides is unique and needed.

And, as for the Power User Bundle - I think it's a good combination of information - from basic user to programming. I mean.. look at me. Two years ago, I didn't know VBA much. I was helping cleanup the workbooks for the 1600 CD. By the time I finished my share (around 300 I think), I had substantially increased my VBA knowledge and started doing little jobs for Bill. Last year, I co-authored a book with him!!! So, if you need to proof of the usefuleness of his products - look at me! *lol* oh, and I also edited a lot of his other stuff - which taught me how to do Excel basics, including Pivot Tables.

 

[miconian]

...and yet, the vbaexpress cert is all online, even the testing, right? That is going to make it seem a bit weak to HR types who don't know what VBA means. I am tempted to go through the course when I can afford it, but I think that anyone I encounter who has heard of vbaexpress will be able to know just from talking to me whether or not I have a clue.

 

[Anne Troy]

Hi, all!

Wow, Smitty, such great words!! Thanks!!

But it's true...

We are sooo honored to have the people that I believe to be the best VBA programmers in the (internet) world at VBAX.

The certification tests will be online and we'll probably make some offer to company supervisors such that they get a discount if they want to take the test to find out what it's about.

Also, we're probably going to offer the cert test free to XX number of people once it's ready, and they'll tell us (and likely tell everyone else too) whether the certificate is worth having.

We're taking the responsibility of being the first to offer it VERY seriously. (Rumor has it that the owner of some huge Excel site--ahem--may want to license it.) And we also figure that once the test is up, we'll have some MS people taking it incognito.

We do plan to put it up on Office Marketplace, where people put 3rd-party stuff, so they'll know about it then if not before.

VBAX is also planning on offering Microsoft Office training and certification. However, we plan on having it be harder than the "Specialist" training that MS offers. Heck, I used to TEACH that training and I'm not MOS certified. That cert is pretty much a joke, IMHO. But no offense to anyone who has it--you have to work to get it. It's just that you can get that cert without any real-world experience with the app, and that's not right.

Anyway, anybody can direct their questions about VBA certification to me or to DRJ (also a member here and there), who is writing the VBA training and cert test.

We have to provide the testing online. Otherwise, it wouldn't be nearly as available as it ought to be. You'll see. It'll be good. We offer only XXX seconds to answer each question, so it's not like you can easily look up the answers. Also, I don't know anyone who knows all VBA off the top of their head so, if they look it up, who cares? A huge part of VBA is knowing where to look for help. Anybody disagree with that?

Oh, and you don't HAVE to take the training to take the test, but we highly recommend it.

Here's the link: www.vbaexpress.com/training.htm

 

[DRJ]

Also, I don't know anyone who knows all VBA off the top of their head so, if they look it up, who cares? A huge part of VBA is knowing where to look for help. Anybody disagree with that?

I know I don't know everything, but the key part is knowing how to find out the things you don't know. There are so many constants, properties, methods, and objects that it would be practically impossible to memorize everything.

But if you start with a strong foundation and learn the basics it becomes easier and easier to add to that foundation.

Before I started this training I was surprised to find out that MicroSoft wasn't offering or planning to offer any type of VBA certification. It strikes me as very strange given how powerful the program is. There also isn't much in terms of training avalable on VBA. Most of what I have seem assumes that you have a good knowledge of VBA to start with. Unfortunately for anyone who has never heard of VBA or just copied a macro here or there that type of training is just too much.

What we decided to start with was an actual introduction to VBA and build on that. So if you never even heard of VBA or if you have used it a little here or there, then this is the place to start.

Lesson 1 is available for free so you can see if you like it before you buy the training. There are 10 lessons in this course and 8 are completed and available today. The final two should be done in a couple weeks.

If you have any questions about this training you can direct them to me, or Anne (Dreamboat) or Zack (firefytr).

 

[detangler]

Hello all!

Thanks for all of your great responses and the sharing of your own experience! I now feel pretty good about my path. I've received the Mr. Excel Power User bundle last Friday and have started reading Guerilla Data Analysis. They are all excellent books, filled with great tips and tricks... And yes, the Walkenbach books (especially his book on charting)... are total life savers!!!

Thanks also for recommending the VBA certification. (Of course, some of you might be speaking at the risk of sounding biased :wink: ha, ha, ha...) But I do have a pretty good feeling about it since although I have not been around the community for long, I always see you guys around, helping people out.

VBAX is also planning on offering Microsoft Office training and certification. However, we plan on having it be harder than the "Specialist" training that MS offers. Heck, I used to TEACH that training and I'm not MOS certified. That cert is pretty much a joke, IMHO.

You're right.... I was planning on getting that certificate but after I've completed the Step-By-Step book, I realize that I'm already a ways beyond that level. It's a shame but I do want a piece of paper so badly! I guess I'd better off saving my money for the VBA cert.

Hope you find the path that suits you the best! I always go with an old phrase I learned in ranching: "Salary is just a benefit to a job you enjoy..."
Smitty

Nice saying... I hope I can find that one day!!

 

[Anne Troy]

detangler: You may not have to save your money. Once the cert test is created, we're going to need some beta testers. You might want to get in touch with DRJ and see if we can't get you on the list...

...then it would be free.

 

[Jack in the UK]

Originally posted by Dreamboat:

Also, I don't know anyone who knows all VBA off the top of their head so, if they look it up, who cares? A huge part of VBA is knowing where to look for help. Anybody disagree with that?


Very ture i will go with that !

Add a little time and play and your besurprise what you can pick up and do - beside the fun that can be had, everone can do a bit, just how far you decide to go i guess

Jack

 

[HalfAce]

For what it's worth, I've been using Excel for about 10 years, mostly self taught. I've seen the training program DRJ wrote.
Don't let him & Anne fool you. He does too know everything.
I couldn't recommend it more highly if it were written by MrExcel himself.

Dan