VLookup Question

[carlosyanes]

Hello all.

I need some help in looking up a value on a worksheet where the item being looked up can be in 1 of two columns.
For example, if I'm looking up "John" but the word "John" can be listed on either Column A or B, what formula can I use to have it search both columns for the matching value?

Thanks for your help.

Carlos

 

[texasalynn]

Excel 2003
	A	B
2	John	6/12/2012
Sheet1

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
B2	=IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(A2,Sheet2!A3:D11,3,FALSE)),VLOOKUP(Sheet1!A2,Sheet2!B3:D11,2,FALSE),VLOOKUP(A2,Sheet2!A3:D11,3,FALSE))

Excel 2003
	A	B	C
3	Mills	John	6/12/2012
4	Mary	Bly	5/15/2011
5	Tom	Chance	7/2/2012
6	Kary	Miles	10/2/2012
7	Carol	King	9/25/2011
8	Karla	Walters	7/18/2011
9	Kirby	Downey	8/14/2010
10	Bill	Miller	9/9/2009
11	Mike	Brewer	11/24/2011
Sheet2