Vent: Took me 3 job hops to learn you shouldn't list 'proficient in Excel' unless you know macros

I put 'advanced Excel' on my resume for 2 years and got grilled in an interview at a logistics firm in Columbus when they asked me to walk through a VLOOKUP. Turns out 'advanced' to me just meant making pretty charts and sorting columns. Why does nobody warn you that one vague word on your resume can get you totally exposed in front of a hiring manager?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel5932mo ago

@the_zara nailed it but what even counts as "proficient" anymore

william_carter26d ago

Wait, are we really gatekeeping VLOOKUP in 2024? I feel like "proficient" just means you know enough to not break the spreadsheet, and you can Google the rest when you hit a wall.

the_zara2mo ago

VLOOKUP is barely even advanced... macros are where it gets real.

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