Jacob Becker, a sophomore planning to major in Finance and Econometrics, was SMU’s first student to receive the Microsoft Office Specialist certification in Excel as part of OIT’s Microsoft Office Certification pilot program. Prior to his certification, he spoke with one of his Finance professors as to how he could better prepare himself for his field of study. “After searching the SMU website, we stumbled on the announcement about the Microsoft Office Specialist program,” said Becker. I thought, “Why wouldn’t I want to do this?”
Jacob submitted his help desk ticket on September 24th to receive access to GMetrix practice tests. “Right away, I set my appointment for my exam.” Although study resources were posted on the SMU MOS website, Jacob decided to solely use the GMetrix training materials available. “I spent a few hours using the GMetrix training mode and took all three-practice exams. Each time I learned something new in Excel.” Jacob earned his certification in less than three weeks. His plan is to start studying for the Excel Expert certification and to earn his Microsoft Certified Master credentials this year. “I read that Microsoft Specialists tend to earn 10-15% higher wages on average”, stated Jacob. “I wanted to take this certification to help me broaden my knowledge of Excel since I will be using that heavily in my career and expand my opportunities in the job market so I can stand out”.
Congratulations, Jacob!
