Microsoft Office Specialist Study Guide Office 2003 Edition (Epg - Other)

Rating:
Summary: Good, but could have much better.
Review: I debated about giving this book three or four stars. It does have several great qualities, but I final decided to just give it three. If I had reviewed this before take the certification tests I might have given it four, but I've just finished taking the tests and I believe the book only deserves three. The book is a great review of all the office products, but I believe it could do more to help us to actually pass the certification tests.

The book does provide an excellent review of all the products, so if you just want to review then I recommend it highly. If you do not already know Microsoft Office, I do not believe this book will be much help to you because I believe the information is too packed, but if you're reviewing or updating your knowledge it should serve you well. It touches on most everything, and the disk has tons of practice files and there is a practice at the end of each section. I rate it high for all that.

But I have just taken different college level classes on all the office 2003 applications. And I wanted a book to help me get certified on them. Believe me the certification tests are not easy and simply making an "A" on your course work, which I did, will not assure you of passing them. The free practice test from MeasureUp was of some help (finding my way in the MeasureUP web site took some doing, but the test did have the look and feel of the real thing) in that it let me see what I could expect; it alone might be worth the price of the book. But after taking the real tests I realize this book did not help me much. I did work through the whole book, and I feel that I know all the programs well but I failed the Excel Expert and the Access test. I did pass the Excel Core and the Word test (the Word test was by far the easiest).

There is one change that I think could have made the book a truly great winner and would helped me a lot. The practices at the end of each section, and there are a lot of them, simply tell you what do, taking you through it step by step. It would have been much better if each practice had presented you with a problem in the same format as the certification tests, giving you a chance to work them yourself, then given the step by step solution.

If you want help passing the test you might want to look at the disk on "shop.certiport.com." I only recently discovered them and have not used them but they look like they might be a lot of help.


Rating:
Summary: One Book For All of Office
Review: Microsoft words it well - In today's job market, it is not unusual for a single job posting to attract several hundred applicants. Whilt that is good news for employers, it can be very discouraging for job seekers. Putting Microsoft Office Specialist on your resume helps you stand out as a job candidate with the necessary computing skills to get the job done.

This book is really three books in one. First it is a good reference to everything you can do with Word, Excel, Access, Outlook and PowerPoint. With each of these subjects, it is a bit turse. That is it quickly tells you what you need to do to accomplish the task. It is not a first time learners book. Second it is a tutorial on the exam itself. While you need to know Word to be able to pass the test, the orientation of the book to just what to study to pass the test is important. The third part is a practice test that is laid out in the same way and is of approximately the same difficulty as passing the actual certification test.