Do you aim to become a certified Microsoft Office Specialist and prove your proficiency in using Microsoft Excel 2016 to your employer? If you already know the fundamentals of Microsoft Excel, then passing the Microsoft 77-727: Excel 2016: Core Data Analysis, Manipulation, and Presentation exam will be a breeze. Upon passing this test, you can obtain the Microsoft Office Specialist: Microsoft Excel 2016 certification that will validate your in-depth skills needed to get the most out of Excel.

About The MOS: Microsoft Excel 2016 Certification

The Microsoft Office Specialist: Microsoft Excel 2016 accreditation is an intermediate-level certificate. It acts as proof that certified individuals have a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of Microsoft Office Excel 2016. To be specific, the certification verifies one’s abilities to carry out any given task on Excel such as creating and managing worksheets, tables, charts, workbooks, as well as data cells and ranges.

What Should You Know About The Microsoft 77-727 Exam?

The Microsoft 77-727 certification exam has an allocated duration of 50 minutes. The test will consist of 35 questions that comprise various tasks such as creating and editing workbooks with multiple sheets. A candidate’s knowledge of using graphic elements to represent data visually as well as utilizing workbooks for professional-looking budgets, team performance charts, sales invoices, financial statements, and data-entry logs will also be tested. As this is an internationally recognized exam, the test-takers are offered multiple language options from English to Thai or Dutch when sitting for this test. To schedule the test, the candidates need to go through the official exam webpage, fill in the registration form, and pay a fee of $100.

What Areas Will You Be Tested On The 77-727 Exam?

The main goal of the Microsoft 77-727 evaluation is to validate that you know the principal features and their correct applications within Excel 2016. The following paragraphs focus on an overview of the exam blueprint.

• Managing and creating worksheets and workbooks

  In this domain, you will be given projects in creating workbooks, worksheet-related tasks from adding one to an existing workbook to copying and moving worksheets. Other tasks include changing the worksheet tab color, order, themes, inserting headers and footers, customizing options such as hide/unhide worksheets, columns, rows, modify document properties, changing workbook views, etc. You can also expect questions pertaining to navigating and searching for data within a workbook and configuring worksheets and workbooks for printing.

• Managing data cells and ranges in Microsoft Excel 2016

  The main task given for this section is inserting data in cells and ranges, formatting them, as well as organizing and summarising data. The aim of this domain is to measure your abilities in the basics of replacing, cutting, copying, and pasting data, inserting, filling, and deleting cells in addition to merging them. Apart from that, you might also be asked to do tasks related to using Format Painter for formatting cells that need to be aligned, applying conditional formatting, applying number formats, cell formats, or style.

• Creating and operating tables in Microsoft Excel 2016

  In the framework of this exam section, you will not only need to create tables but show you have the skills in managing them as well as converting them to a cell range. In addition, you will need to demonstrate that you know how to remove table rows and columns when necessary. The domain also requires you to prove that you can apply table styles, manage them by configuring the style options, sort data by multiple columns, alter sort order, filter, and remove duplicate records.

• Using formulas and functions to perform operations

  This domain is one of the hardest sections of the certification exam as you will need to summarize data by using functions, perform conditional operations with the help of functions and format, as well as modify text by using functions. In this section, you will be judged on your ability to execute calculations with the use of MIN and MAX functions, calculate using the COUNT, SUM, and AVERAGE functions. Besides, you will need to be capable of carrying out logical operations by using the SUMIF, AVERAGEIF, and COUNTIF functions for statistical analysis. You might also be given tasks to insert references or formatting text with various functions.

• Creating charts and objects in Microsoft Excel 2016

  After making tables, you need to showcase you can organize that data into charts. The last section will comprise tasks related to making new charts, adding data series, analyzing data with the help of Quick Analysis, formatting charts and modifying chart elements, inserting images or shapes, as well as modifying object properties in various formats.

What Are The Benefits Of Passing The Microsoft 77-727 Exam?

If you are pursuing a career that entails using Microsoft Excel, after passing the 77-727 exam you become a Microsoft Office Specialist and gain a certification, which is certainly worthwhile. A designation such as the MOS: Microsoft Excel 2016 is a mark of excellence that validates your abilities to perform Excel-related tasks essential to businesses across different industries. Achieving this validation will increase the productivity of the company you work for as you get to collaborate with many different departments to perform duties related to Microsoft Office. While becoming a Microsoft Office Specialist is the most general career opportunity associated with the Microsoft 77-727 test, there are other paths that you can follow.

What Career Paths Can You Take After Obtaining The MOS: Microsoft Excel 2016 Certification?

Besides Microsoft Office Specialists, there are plenty of Excel-related jobs that benefit from professionals with this accreditation such as Data Analyst Engineer, Data Warehouse Analyst, and Senior Business Data Analyst.

If you are looking to be an all-around Microsoft Office Specialist you can improve your skills in other aspects of the Microsoft Office suite such as word processing, data entry, presentations by completing the exams related to the other Microsoft applications. For instance, by passing 77-728 exam you can upgrade your skills in Excel 2016 and gain the MOS: Microsoft Excel 2016 Expert certification that refers to the advanced level. Growing in your professional life will help you increase your annual paycheck. Whereas a typical Excel job pays approximately $54k per annum, according to Payscale, you can earn more by completing additional exams for better job prospects in the Microsoft Excel field.