best way to learn new / up to date software packages?

[margaritasbythesea]

I feel the need to update my IT skils. At home and at work we are still using old versions of word and excel -2007 ish- My options seem to be -
1.I have looked for local evening courses but they either seem to be web design or photoshop

1. buying the new versions and a book and setting myself pretend stuff to do
2. Internet tutorials - these also seem to be quite basic and quite slow. Are therecany that are 'professional' standard.

I currently work part time for a small charity as PA/ office manager but need to go full time in this sort of area. What sorts of computer literacy are desirable at the moment, and how do I get there?! Thanks

Please?

If you know Word and Excel 2007 well you don't need training on the new versions. They really aren't that different. I would go for option 2 but not bother buying the book. You will probably find them very straightforward.

Really? I feel so out of itjust putting those on my cv. Reassuring.n

how o I know if I know them well? I couldn't remember how to do mail merge yeserday!

I think Microsoft have realised some people struggle to remember how to do mail merge, especially if they don't do it very often. You now start by clicking on Mailings which is in capital letters at the top of the screen. It then walks you through the process.

Whether or not you know them well is really a matter of opinion. There are plenty of free exercises for both packages online that you can work through. You may also want to take a look at Powerpoint and create a few presentations as that is a skill that may be useful.

Thanks. My problem with it was that I co u ldnt find the label size. The n u mber on the label box was no help. Will have to sort it out next working day.these little problems take so long to work out and leave you feeking sheepish.

I love you tube for quick guides, so it's worth looking there for a few videos in certain tasks like mail merge or excel graphs etc.

If you take a look at TWiT.tv ("This Week in Technology"), they advertise Lynda.com (online training videos) and there are many other sites which link to Lynda and all give a 7 day free trial (after that you'd pay US$ 25, about 16 quid, for a month).

See TWiT.tv and then hit the Lynda.com link

Must admit I have not used it myself, yet, but given there's a free trial, if you can spend a few hours a day to 'reskill' on a subset of software, eg the bits of MS Office you're unfamiliar with. Not sure of how "in depth" they are, sorry, but given it's free to try, worth a look, I hope.

Have a look at this link as it gives you a free download on Avery Labels and also a link to how to do Mail Merge www.avery.co.uk/avery/en_gb/Templates-%26-Software/Software/Avery-Wizard-for-Microsoft-Office.htm

Sorry don't know how to hide the long link behind a word lol