GradPower

Microsoft Office and Excel are teaming up with Certiport to bring the Certiport 2010 Worldwide Competition on Microsoft® Office.

This contest offers students a chance to showcase their skills of Microsoft Office and Excel. And let’s face it- almost every student in the country needs to know the basics of both programs. Students use Microsoft Word on a daily basis. PowerPoint and Excel are used for projects, presentations and data collection countless times throughout a semester. If your skills exceed your friends in Microsoft, this opportunity could be for you.

This contest is for students who pass a qualified exam and are enrolled in a degree-seeking academic institution. It will take place in Park City, Utah on August 8-10^th, 2010. The contestants will be chosen from state and regional competitions held all over the world. All the students will be competing for scholarship money (up to $6,500 USD) and a chance to put Microsoft Office World Champion on their resumes.

Knowing these programs is an important tool and gift to have in the workforce today. Being both proficient and certified in Microsoft Office and Excel helps gain a leg up on the competition when trying to get a job. Entering its ninth year, the competition is the premier event for students to prove they have met the performance requirements that companies look for in potential employees.

“Industry certification programs validate that students have the expertise needed to compete in the global workforce,” said Quinn Sutton, Certiport’s Senior Vice President of Marketing. “Our worldwide competition is designed to be a catalyst, creating a competitive environment to encourage more students to seek certification. These students, in turn, will become competent employees able to fulfill workforce opportunities.”

For more information on the Microsoft Office Certification Process, click here. For rules, regulations and more information on the contest, click here.

A list of the qualification exams are below.

• Microsoft Office Specialist CORE Word 2003 Exam
• Microsoft Office Specialist CORE Excel 2003 Exam
• Microsoft Certified Application Specialist Word 2007 Exam
• Microsoft Certified Application Specialist Excel 2007 Exam

Source: Certiport.com

Tags: contest, job search, students