Brad Breeding seems to have one of those happily-ever-after stories we all love to hear: After deciding on a career change, he pursued an MBA at Tulane University, graduated with distinction, and landed a great job as a financial analyst for Wal-Mart.
Although Brad’s happy ending is due largely to … well, Brad, he doesn’t mind sharing a little of the credit with his Microsoft® Office Excel® certification. He, in fact, almost gushes about its value in this video interview. (BTW, is there a better certification than Excel for business students?)
It’s been two years since Brad got his MBA degree from Tulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business where he was one of the first to achieve Excel certification. That got me wondering, just how does he feel about his certification now? So, I decided to ask him.
Brad says he didn’t get everything he knows about Excel from the certification training, but it gave him the “confidence and critical-thinking skills” to keep learning on the job.
“As Excel users know, many of the business problems that we face on a daily basis involve knowing more than just a list of functions or graph types. The Certiport curriculum gave me a foundation that has allowed me to parse complex analyses into manageable pieces and then visual demonstrate my findings with other decision makers.”
While he doesn’t have the certification hanging from his cube encased in a neon frame, Brad also says the certification helped give him credibility at the outset of his new career.
“Early on, my cohorts used my certification status to test me, and I am pleased to say that I passed muster on many occasions. My credentials make it is easy for me to share my Excel-related revelations in a clear and concise manner.”
Just one more question, Brad: Any advice you’d like to offer me on achieving Excel certification?
Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
Posted by: Dissertation Literature Review | October 12, 2009 at 04:09 AM