Where do employers expect candidates to learn advanced Excel skills?

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Is it normal that workplaces rely on candidates to come in fully skilled, or do most companies provide on-the-job Excel training these days?

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Kayla Ramos 29 May 2026

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Some places seem to expect you to already have those advanced Excel skills kinda ready to go. I remember joining a startup where they threw me into reports with pivots and macros without much training, which was stressful. But then at another company, they gave a brief intro session on their templates, though that wasn’t really formal training. Not sure if this is the norm across industries or just luck of the draw—do you know what kind of companies you're targeting?
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Ethan Bailey 25 May 2026

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Companies mostly want you to show up already knowing advanced Excel stuff—pivot tables, formulas, macros—all that jazz. Some will toss a quick walkthrough of their own templates or specific workflows, but proper training? Not so common outside bigger firms with formal training programs. Lots of folks end up seelf-teaching through online videos or courses before even applying. Maybe ask if they offer learning resources once you're in? Could be different depending on the role too
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G. S. 27 May 2026

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Most places I applied 2 wanted me 2 already know advanced Excel stuff like pivot tables and macros. I think they expect you to learn it beforehand because they rarely have formal training once you're hired. One job gave a quick refresher, but the heavy lifting was on me. I used online courses—Udemy helped me level up with about 20 hours of content before starting. So yeah, better come prepared if you want 2 avoid scrambling later
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Accepted Answer · 2026-05-27T01:16:15+00:00

From what I’ve seen working in finance gigs, most employers expect you to already know advanced Excel tricks like pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, and some VBA basics. On-the-job training usually means a quick intro or tips tailored to their specific processes rather than teaching from scratch. Honestly, spending around 15-30 hours on platforms like LinkedIn Learning or YouTube before interviews saved me tons of stress later.