Microsoft Office Specialist Programme

Back in my A-Level studies, I was given the option to select a topic to study once a week and took part in the Microsoft Office Specialist programme. The programme included an understanding of the Microsoft software and a recognition of the features it has for future use, such as for personal work or for jobs in general.

I was awarded the ‘Master Specialist’ certificate at the end of the programme. The software included in the programme was Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and also ‘Expert’ versions for both Word & Excel. Microsoft Outlook was an option but I chose Access as I had prior knowledge of its usage thanks to my IT Diploma during GCSEs.

Software Applications & Tools

I have utilised different software programs in education, previous work and for independent experience. The list below are some of the applications that I have checked out over the years:

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Bootstrap
  • Microsoft Office Programs
  • Microsoft Visual Studio
  • Visual Studio Code
  • WAMP Server

Other applications I have also explored:

  • Google Analytics & AdWords
    • Analytics is designed to support businesses by providing statistics on webpages, demographics, the behaviour of visitors going from the landing page to an order, and also be able to setup specific campaigns from social media/newsletters. Google AdWords is for the Pay-per-click side. My experience with Analytics is better than AdWords but both are areas that I intend to explore more as they can be very useful for the marketing and business sector.
  • Linnworks
    • An e-commerce platform that provides support for retailers to store their products, customer orders and more. It can manifest orders, create template listings for multiple channels (Amazon, eBay, Shopify), and allow users to adjust orders or product listings. I have tried out two versions of Linnworks; the desktop program version which is no longer supported, and the online version known as Linnworks Net.
  • Mailchimp
    • A website platform that can create campaigns for E-Mails. During my previous job, my contribution involved creating a newsletter campaign that focused on the latest products and link them back to the main websites to generate sales. Once it has been published, you can track the progression and see if it appeals to new and regular subscribers.
  • ReplyManager
    • A website that gathers the E-Mails together for customer support. It can provide better management and make it easier to respond to different messages.
  • Survey Monkey
    • Designed to provide surveys for various individuals. Once live, you can track its progress and see how the responses are for each question, whether it’s a multiple choice or a simple Yes/No. Graphs and statistics are also available and if there’s enough responses, you can also setup a statistical analysis to see if the data presented is reliable.
  • WordPress Blog
    • WordPress has been primarily used for making blog posts as a hobby or writing news articles with the website Anime UK News (AUKN). Both do provide statistics on how well each post performs and where the viewership comes from. The Blog version is not the same as the developer version.

Programming Applications & Languages

I have learned a variety of applications and languages throughout my education and independent experience. For Web development this included the following:

  • HTML5 (HyperText Markup Language Version 5)
  • CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
  • JavaScript
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL

Basic understanding of PHP as well as older versions of ASP .NET have also been learnt.

Other applications I have also explored:

  • Git & Github
    • Git and Github are both commonly used by many web developers, designed to share various work and provide subversions of different projects. I do have a Github account but it’s not commonly used due to focusing on other areas, but I have tested out Git for being able to commit the work onto the Github site.
  • Node.js
    • While learning about new techniques in web programming I have also check out Node.js. Node.js had been suggested by many people for being able to run websites much faster than PHP, and stated it supports JavaScript on both ends of the design to run applications easier.
  • NPM
    • Alongside Node.js is its package manager NPM. NPM installs various Node packages through the command output and can help build/start projects that rely on Node, React and JavaScript. Examples of the packages that I have previously used through NPM include Clarifai, BCrypt-Node.JS, Nodemon, Heroku and Express.JS.