WSO Excel Challenge Contest

Please embed the videos of you completing our WSO Excel Challenge to win a WSO T-shirt. Every month, we will be taking the fastest time and sending out a free t-shirt.

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132 Comments
 

Without a word of a lie, I can do this in less than 5 seconds! It's called the 'format' key (look for it in the top left of the home ribbon). You're wasting your time if you do this any other way. Add to which, you can set up defaults such as rounding to zero decimal places. When you highlight a set of numbers and click the 'comma' key in excel, it will, by default, adjust the formatting to how you've set it up.

 

Without a lie, I believe you. It's not really about copying format though, it's about navigating only using the keyboard to create a table that looks like the other one. It only takes 5 seconds to understand the main point of this challenge.

Never let success go into your head and failure go into your heart.
 

True. I was also confused at the start about why are they giving 2 minutes to copy the format when we can do it in less than 5 secs using Paste Special? Now I got it. It is just for beginners who don't know about it. So the ones who have already worked with excel will do it quite easily.

 
kmzz^^ ctrl-shift-4 and alt-h-9 are your friends

Regarding alt+h+9, you have to format the number/currency to have brackets around negative numbers, thus I had to use the CTRL+1 menu to format the number and changed the decimals while in there instead.

I used CTRL+SHIFT+4 in the video.

 

Total rookie here, so I imagine this has an easy answer, but when I do ALT+H+9, nothing happens. In fact, I need to do ALT+H+H just to highlight (ALT+H just takes me to the Home ribbon), and then I navigate to the color by the arrow keys. I'm using Excel 2010, same as you.

What am I doing wrong here?

 

I don't know if this is your issue, but sometimes computer companies like Dell, HP, etc fuck with keyboard shortcuts. Might affect Excel, but honestly I have no clue.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 
grainflow

I don't have much Excel experience but am starting to prepare for my new IB job with the WSO Modeling Lessons. I like this exercise.

I'm proud of myself, I just broke a minute... and May is a new month.

Under a minute is very solid...once you're under a minute I think it's probably best to practice other keyboard shortcuts that are frequently used in some of the models and templates we'll be sending you. And yes, it's a new month :-)

We'll be sending a free t shirt to both members in April since they were the first ones to get us started and both had super impressive times...

 

I'm trying to paste my link from my upload to Screen o matic, but it says I may not post links due to recent membership. Consequently, I cannot embed it, but here is the link: http://screencast-o-matic DOT com/watch/cI11b0Vv5O

Just replace the DOT and the space on both sides of it with an actual .

 
heister

alt + f4 will really speed up your times guys.

Bahaha

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Well, only thing I can say that Excel 2013 is a worthless peace of LAG :) 1x1 cm ctrl key on my laptop keyboard also doesn't help, but here's what I got, though only on a second try (1 big reason mentioned previously:):

 

I feel like whoever wins this also loses in so, so many ways. With that said I am undoubtedly the quickest. Just not in excel.

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.
 

not if the purpose, as explained in the email I received this challenge in, was to complete tasks in excel as quickly as possible so that you could get work done faster .... this really shouldn't take more than 10 seconds

 

I guess since I'm a newbie I can't embed video or add links, but here's the code for mine: NHAS6833E9Y. 51 seconds is insane. This one's about 1:10, but I can't see shaving twenty seconds off that.

 

attempted to do this on a mac, got stuck on the first step… apparently mac has no shortcut key for auto formatting the column (someone correct me if I'm wrong)

 

My attempt. Could've easily shaved 10 seconds off from the hesitation, but the fast mess from the previous attempt proved otherwise. Can't embed, here you go (unlisted): watch?v=C7sxcX94Tec

 

Here is my attempt: watch?v=EGRvHPnxFh4

Sorry I can't embed it because I am a new user here. But I completed the challenge in 27 seconds.

 

I couldn't find the original excel so I recreated it. Here is what I managed to come up with:

//

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

See my submission below. The number and currency formats do not look the exact same as demanded since I use a German system, but the commands performed are exactly the same. Looking forward to a t-shirt. :-)

Youtube: waj4SPRZJ2A

 

Hello, I got a macbook but I don't have the mac excel because it costs a lot to me. How can I do the test? Can I do it in google doc? Any help?

 

Here is my link. Under 13 sec.
Ctrl+shift+arrows to select alt+h+fp to copy format ctrl home to paste it into a1:d8 alt+h+o+i to auto-fit

 
Hi, I'm usually scared to post discussions because I've seen how people talk in trading chat rooms. Please be nice. I know the finance industry is tough and emotions shouldn't get in the way, but mental health is more important. :(
 

My new personal best! Under 30 seconds :) I am not sure why it doesn't show the formatting menus while I am formatting but that is why there are some pauses, but that's what I'm doing. Microsoft Screen Recording ain't it obviously...

file:///C:/Users/jatin/Videos/Captures/WSO-Excel-Challenge%20-%20Excel%202021-06-03%2029%20secods!.mp4

 

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