standard office for assistants arboreus ebook

8/8/2019 Standard Office for Assistants Arboreus eBook

1/11SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE

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Standard Office Software


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EPSO AST Pre-Selection Secretarial Skills: Standard Office Software

Arboreus Online EU Training Study Materials

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Office (EPSO) EU civil service recruitment exams, study materials and online courses on European Affairs.


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EPSO AST Pre-Selection Secretarial Skills: Standard Office Software

This Online EU Training study material is intended as preparation help for the European

Personnel Selection Offices (EPSO) Assistant competitions:

AST1 (EPSO/AST/111/10) these are secretarial positions where anyone with the

right qualification can apply from any of the EU's 27 Member States as long as their

main language is one of the following: Danish, German, English, Spanish , French,

Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish or Maltese;

AST3 (EPSO/AST/112/10) these are secretarial positions where anyone with some

relevant work experience can apply from any of the EU's 27 Member States regardless

of what is your main language! Positions will be available in the following fields:

o Statisticso Finance / Accounting

o Human Resources

o Communication / Information Technology

In the pre-selection or admission phase of the these competitions, candidates are required

to take a Secretarial Skills test intended to measure the skills needed to perform the

following duties:

organising and coordinating meetings, including compiling files and working documents,

answering, filtering and transferring telephone calls, handling correspondence,

managing email boxes and functional mailboxes, managing timetables, supervising the schedule and ensuring that deadlines are complied

with,

providing general administrative support, in particular for document management,

preparing and managing missions; managing absences,

presenting and checking documents (page layout, formatting and tables),

drafting (secretarial level) draft notes, letters and reports,

in translation departments: receiving, managing and processing translation requests, in

particular preparing, processing and finalising documents, mainly using translation

software.

The exam also includes the following test types:

-Accuracy Test

- Organising and Prioritising Test

- Verbal Reasoning

- Numerical Reasoning

- Abstract Reasoning

Practice tests are available for all the test types featured in EPSO AST competitions on

Online EU Training check our online test packages today:

http://www.eutraining.eu/eutest_packages




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Spreadsheet Software

What is a Spreadsheet?

- an electronic spreadsheet is a large grid of columns and rows

-a box where a column and row intersect is called a cell

- each cell has a unique address

- most spreadsheets label columns using letters, and rows using numbers the cell at the intersection of column C

and row 5 is cell C5

- the most commonly used spreadsheet software is Microsoft Excel

- most spreadsheet software programmes have some type of control panel

- the control panel

displays information about the act ive cell

has a space where the user can type information into the active cell

it displays menus for activities such as saving, printing and loading, as well as in some cases a list of

special built-in f unctions

Spreadsheet Data

- any entry into a cell can be 1 of 3 possible items: a label

a number

a formula

- a label: a word used to describe information in your spreadsheet

e.g.: if you wanted to calculate a budget for office expenses, you would create a list of those

expenses labels

paper

pens

computer supplies

stamps, etc.

these words describe the numbers in another column or row

- numbers: the actual expenses for the office supplies

- in order to add up a total of all the expenses at the bottom of the list, you need to enter a formula: a combination

of cell addresses connected by mathematical symbols

e.g.: A1 + A2 + A3

Formulas

- in order for a spreadsheet to distinguish labels, numbers and formulas, most spreadsheet software programs use

special predefined characters so that the user can specify the difference

- if you type in a special software-defined character such as = as a first character, the spreadsheet assumes your

entry is a formula

- the simplest formula is one that moves the data from one cell to another

e.g.: lets say you entered the fol lowing formula in cell A1: =Sum(A2)

whatever amount appeared in cell A2 would also automatically appear in A1




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- the use of parentheses is an important aspect of formulas

e.g.: a formula such as =Sum(A1:A10) would provide a total of all the numbers in cells A1 through A10

when combined with other mathematical symbols for division, multiplication, and subtraction, a

formula containing mult iple sets of nested parentheses could be created

e.g. =Sum(((A1:A10)*A20) A30)

- in order to create a formula correctly, you must know the order in which the mathematical operations will be

performed by the computer- the natural order is to perform any calculation involving

exponents f irst,

followed by mult ipli cation and division,

then addition and subtraction

Formulas can get complicated. In order to learn more information about spreadsheet formulas, you may visit either of the

following websites:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HP052001271033.aspx

http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/excelformulas/ss/formula_begin.htm

Automatic Recalculations

- one of the nice features of a spreadsheet is the ability to recalculate formulas automatically if you change any of

the numbers in the cells included in the formula

- this recalculation feature is extremely useful for performing a what-if analysis

- the feature allows you to build what are sometimes called spreadsheet templates:

e.g.: if you create a spreadsheet to keep track of petty cash or a project budget, once you create the

spreadsheet and the formulas, you can go back and change the labels and the numbers and have a whole

new spreadsheet with a lot less work

Functions

- spreadsheets have a variety of built-in functions that can replace complicated formulas

- one of the simplest is the sum function

- functions are identified by first typing either = or @ depending on the particular software and then the

function name this lets the software know that the entry is a function and not a label

- functions are available for many different mathematical, and financial formulas

Other spreadsheet functions

TEMPLATES

- to help get you started , many spreadsheets have built-in templates, which are pre-built spread-sheet models for

common applications in an office such as budgets and financial analysis

- by loading a template, you can edit the spreadsheet to customise it to your particular needs

- this can be a great t ime saver




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SPREADSHEET MACROS

- macros are another great t ime saver

- a macrois a way to minimise repetit ive keystrokes

- you can create a macroby

selecting Macro from your spreadsheets control panel

you are then asked to type in the keystrokes you want to record

once these are recorded, you are asked to assign a simple keyboard command to trigger the macro

many spreadsheets come with built-in macros that you can customise and access with special keyboardcommands

For more information on spreadsheet macros, visit http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/m/g/macro_def.htm

WORD PROCESSING

- basic features of a word processing programme:

create documents

edit and format documents

print documents

- other features:

spell-checkers

style and grammar checkers

mail-merge features

the abili ty to store documents electronically

use of macros

Mail merging

- one of the most useful business-related features

-mail mergingallows you to create a single form letter and to merge it with a list of names and information tocreate individualised letters

e.g.: you might want to send a personal letter to your colleagues telling each one about your offices

new plans and ideas

first, you create a document containing the names and addresses of your contacts

then, you create a form letter with special symbols inserted where or commands inserted where the

customers name and address and the greeting would normally go

these special symbols or commands are determined by your particular word-processing software

these commands link the form letter with your address list so that, when you print out the form letter, it

automatically picks up elements of the list, such as name and address, and positions them in the proper

place

the result is individualised letters by the dozens or even hundreds, while you t yped only one

- the software manual outlines the steps for your particular programme

To learn more about Microsoft Words mail merge feature, visit the companys tutorial webpage:

http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC102778121033&pid=CR100654561033

Macros

- many word processors utilise macros to help customise and shorten repetitive processes

- a macrois a way of recording a series of keystrokes or commands and recalling them by using a single

keystroke or key combination




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- macros can also be created for a series of command choices from a menu such as those required to select special

formatting

- word processors such as Microsoft Word call these special formatting macrosstyle sheets

- style sheetscan be very helpful when the format changes often within a document

- by highlighting a particular block of text, you can assign a name to this style, and it will be assigned a place on the

ruler or pull-down menu, where it can be easily selected in the future

More on Words macros at: http://wordprocessing.about.com/od/ workingwithmacro1/l/blmacrointro.htm

DESKTOP PUBLISHING

What is desktop publ ishing?

- desktop publishing allows you to create

brochures

fliers

newsletters

advertisements

and manuals

without having to visit a print shop.

- many administrative assistants use desktop publishing software to create high-quality publications that can be

printed one at a time in the office or taken to a local print shop for mass duplication

- many desktop publishing programmes have predefined templates that allow you to add your own text and

graphics to quickly customise a publication

- you can create your own

letterhead

business cards and business forms

- while it is similar to word processing in theory, desktop publishing focuses on the layout of text and graphics on

a page

- some sophisticated word-processing programmes such as Microsoft Word can be used for desktop publishing

Desktop Publishing Software

- there are five general types of software used for desktop publishing:

word processing (Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, etc.)

page layout (Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, Microsoft Publisher, etc.)

illustration (Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW)

photo and image editing (Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photopaint)

font and image management utilities (Adobe Type Manager, Bitstream Font Navigator,

ThumbsPlus, HiJaak)

- these programmes make up your desktop publishing toolbox

Types of Desktop Publ ishing Documents

advertising information

direct mail

holiday messages




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ident ity packages (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, note cards, notepads, Rolodex, cards, fax forms,

custom invoices, etc.)

The Desktop Document

- while there are a variety of processes and procedures involved in desktop publishing, the basic techniques involve

six different areas:

design

-determine document format and type

- create rough drafts

- select fonts

- conceptualise and brainstorm

- select colours

- select images

setup

- select a template

- set up columns and grids

- set page size and margins

- set up master pages

-create paragraph styles

text

images

file preparation

printing

Graphic Formats and Their Applications

BMP Screen display in Windows

EPS Printing to PostScript printers and image setters. Best choice for resolution printing

of illustrations.

GIF Screen display, especially for the Web. Best choice for publishing illustrations and screen shots online.

JPEG Screen display on the Web. Good choice for online publishing.

PICT Screen display on the Macintosh and for printing to non-PostScript printers.

TIFF Printing to PostScript printers. Good choice for high-resolution printing of images.

PDF (Portable Document Format) PDF files include all the PostScript information necessary to make sure

your desktop publishing documents are truly portable.

USING POWERPOINT

What i s multimedia?

Multimedia in a computer context is defined as the integration of more than one medium, such as

animation

audio

graphics

text

and video.




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Presentat ion and Authoring Programmes

- multimedia presentation and authoring software are tools that allow the user to bring all the multimedia

components into a coherent presentation or product

- while there is some overlap between presentation and authoring tools, a comparison of the two is valuable

Presentat ion programmes like Microsoft PowerPoint are typically called slide show programmes. They

are simple to use and basically present information in a linear fashion, one slide after another.

Authoring programmes have the distinct advantage of allowing more sophisticated branching. They

also allow numerous media elements with overlays and logic attached.

Using Microsoft PowerPoint

SLIDE SHOW KEYBOARD COMMANDS

+ENTER Go to slide

B, . (period) Black/unblack screen

W,, (comma) White/unwhite screenA,= Show/hide pointer

S,+ Stop/restart automatic show

ESC, CTRL + BREAK, - (minus) End show

E Erase screen annotations

T Use new time

O Use original time

M Advance on mouse click

H Advance on hidden slide

Hold both mouse buttons Go to Slide

for two seconds

Mouse click on space bar Advance to next slide

Press BACKSPACE Return to previous slide

Planning a presentat ion

- consider the following guidelines as you plan your presentation:

Determine your goal and objectives- What do you hope to accomplish? Is your goal to persuade or merely to inform?

- Persuasion may require gett ing your audience emotionally involved in your argument, getting them to care.

- If you are simply making a report, you may want your audience to remain objective, clear-headed, and somewhat

emotionally detached.

- Define your objectives. What topics will support your thesis.

Keep it simple

- Regardless of the purpose of your presentation, always try to keep it simple and focused.

- A simple, clear message can be delivered with a greater impact to your audience and is more likely to achieve

results.




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Design for f low

- Outline your content in a topical format with a beginning, middle, and end. Try to keep your ideas focused and

organised toward a logical conclusion.

Design for drama

- Timing is everything. Design your presentation with a dramatic curve in mind. Peak your audiences interest

toward the end and deliver the central conclusion of your message when you have everyones full attention.

Plan your media selection

Think and plan ahead

- If you plan to use handouts along with a screen or slide show, consider whether you want to give them out before

or after the presentation. If you give the audience handouts before the show, they can follow along, write notes

directly on the handouts, and have an immediate reference should they have trouble seeing the screen. In some

cases, however, saving the handouts till the end may help avoiding giving away any surprises you may have

planned.

Consider the subject matter

Consider your audience

- both subject matter and audience should help you determine the tone of your presentation

Consider the size of your audience

Consider the environment

Practice

You can find a good number of further useful t ips on the Internet for using PowerPoint.

Read a list of 10 dos and donts at:

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/technology/business-software/presenting-with-powerpoint-

10-dos-and-donts.aspx#Powerpointtips


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