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Are you planning for a virtual icebreaker for your team? Want to know how to plan one? Need help with some of the best software tools to make it effective? Here’s the right page for you – read on!

 

Working remotely necessitates positivity in enhancing productivity, trust, confidence, and efficiency of both the remote professionals as well as the companies hiring them. Besides the professional bonding with the remote team, it is also essential to strengthen the emotional bonding too.

One of the mantras of a successful team is to boost both the physical and mental strength of the members. But the question is how to achieve this bonding with the remote team members present at different time zones of the world. The answer is virtual icebreakers, powerful tools to get acquainted with each other and build up a strong rapport. 

The article will assist you to understand the definition of virtual icebreakers, the need for a virtual icebreaker along with its benefits in remote team building, and various virtual icebreaker games and activities.

Read: Remote Meeting 101: How to have better remote meeting?

Virtual icebreaker or online icebreakers

Virtual icebreakers can be games or activities that enable interactions between the remote team members in an informal mode. They ensure seamless conversations between individuals and build up strong interpersonal relationships among team members.

They can even be simple questions being interchanged with each other. The members feel relaxed and comfortable and a sense of belonging to the team. The virtual icebreakers are essentially leveraged during online video conference calls and web meetings while the members are placed in different time zones. 

Important Tips:  You need to understand when to use virtual team icebreakers and when to use not. There are situations when the icebreakers might not be correct to use. Hence it is essential to be aware of the appropriateness of their usage.

Types of virtual icebreakers

Below is a summary of various types of virtual icebreakers,

1. Meeting Icebreakers

Icebreakers are the best way to encourage connections and bonding in a team. Team meeting ice breakers can strengthen ties and help stimulate better brainstorming and foster an atmosphere of inclusion. Some ice breakers for team meeting are,

• One Word Game = Divide the team into smaller groups. Ask them to find one word to describe their group.
• Birth map – Hang a map of the country or world on your bulletin board or share one during your online call. Ask people to place a pin where they were born or raised. These team introduction ideas can help highlight the diversity in the group.
• Would You Rather – “Would you rather”, is a great opening activity for the meeting. Some common virtual questions are:-“Would you rather questions have only summer or winter in your life”? “Would you rather hike or watch a movie”?

2. Fun Icebreakers

According to a report published in 2017, only 24% of workers feel connected to their peers. This figure will be much higher where employees work in remote settings. The survey showed a large majority of employees feel isolated. Fun icebreakers may fuel feelings of camaraderie. It is an effective technique to build tighter bonds and learn more about their colleagues. Some fun ice breakers are,

• Charades – This is a classic game is one of the best icebreaker games. You can play whether you have a large team or a small team. The goal is to describe an object, book, or movie using your acting skills.
• Find 10 things in common – This game can be great ice breakers for a meeting, especially for large organizations. These can be virtual icebreakers over Zoom. You divide people into separate groups (usually department members). The task is to find 10 things that all share.
• Human Rock-Paper-Scissor – Most of us have played rock paper scissors as children. The staff is sub-divided into teams. Each team comes up with a particular body signal for Rock-paper-scissor. Teams can then have faceoffs with a best of five series.

3. Team Icebreakers

Team icebreakers are designed to lower people’s guards in a social setting. Team icebreakers help to fast track familiarity and ease the socializing process. HR professionals are always looking for how to get a new icebreaker? Some team icebreaker are,

• Baby Photos – These icebreakers for virtual team meetings activity require a bit of preparation. Send a request for a baby photo from each team member. Place the photos on the digital board with a number for each photo. People guess which photo belongs to which team member by writing a name beside each corresponding number.
• Turning over new leaf – this involves the team physically meeting. The team is divided into groups of 3 to 4 members. The members stand on a blanket. The goal of the exercise is to flip the blanket without members leaving the blanket. If one person steps off the blanket, they need to restart the whole exercise.
• This is better than that – Team members choose random items from their office or home. The team members select one of the objects they would take to a deserted island.

4. Work Icebreakers

Encourage your employees to participate in a work meeting ice breakers to improve team speakers.

• Your favorite – This works for both offline and online icebreakers participants to discuss their favorite food, drink, etc.
• Speed meeting icebreaker – the goal of this meet and greet game is to meet their colleagues similar to the speed dating concept. The activity is a great way to find common ground.
• First Job – In this ice breaker game online, the participant describes their first job and what they learned.

5. Professional Icebreakers

Research shows that colleagues who are closer perform better. Here are some professional ice breakers you can use for your organization.

• Live-poll is a great way to make meeting ice breakers lively. Several tools like Slido lets audiences or team members participate anonymously. The tools are interactive and easy to use. You can ask a mix of fun and relevant topics. These icebreaker tools are free.
• Virtual happy hour – Virtual happy hour has emerged as innovative ice breakers in the recent lockdown. It is a fun time where people can drink and be themselves. Happy hour is one of the many virtual icebreaker activities you can do with your team.
• Employee spotlight – Every meeting can feature one coworker before the normal agenda starts. The person in question gives a short participant can share pictures of their family, present a song, etc. These virtual team icebreakers help the team to learn more about one another.

6. Presentation Icebreakers

Even if you have an informative presentation, you may find presentation icebreakers help your audiences get actively informed in your presentation. The audiences may be more receptive to the message.

• Introduction with a twist – Presentation ice breaker often starts with the presenter introducing themselves before the presentation, this is similar but with a twist. Here the participants are asked to introduce themselves and state something unusual. Later the presenters ask questions from the introductions. The participant who remembers maximum detail wins.
• String together a story – Storytelling is a powerful ice breaker for presentations for meetings. You can start with the first sentence and ask the first participant to continue. Each person gets to decide which direction the story will take.
• Problem-solution icebreaker – Another ice breakers for presentations are to present a real and hypothetical problem and ask people to give their solutions.

7. Conference Call Icebreakers

As working from home or working from remote locations has become the norm, more businesses use conference calls to encourage/ remote working teams to connect and bond. Here is a list of conference call ice breakers you could use,

• Play a game of Pairs – This is one of the popular conference call icebreakers. The participants select a player who is also attending the call. They describe or show the other participants their footwear. The participants select another player to show their footwear. If they match the participants try again.
• What’s out of your window – ask people to reveal their view outside their windows. Does their window overlook a garden or a bustling street? This is a great excuse to view the participant’s home office or get them to walk around their room.
• Take part in a poll – Another popular ice breaker for conference calls ice breakers are asking call participants to take part in a poll. Some popular poll questions are:- Do you enjoy working from home? Tea or Coffee?

8. Drawing Icebreakers

Drawing lets people tap into their creativity. We have listed some drawing icebreakers are,

• Squiggle Birds – In this activity, a team member will have 5 minutes to convey their ideas by drawing.
• Collaborative face drawing – this is popular ice breaker activity for work. You divide teams into smaller groups. Each member draws a feature of a person. Pass the paper around till everyone has drawn a feature.
• Iterative team drawing – the objective of the game is to draw the best reproduction of a toy/statue within certain constraints.

9. Motivation Icebreakers

• The 5 of anything icebreaker – this is an ideal way to begin a motivation ice breaker session. The participants can share 5 things that motivate them. To make the activity fun you can ask participants for their 5 favorite novels, 5 favorite scary movies, etc.
• Name the throwback – Create a playlist of songs that were popular during a certain period. You should try to cater to the average age group of the team. Split your team into smaller groups. Play a snippet of the song and ask the team to guess the song. These are some fun break the ice games you could try.
• Choose your favorite – pose virtual meeting ice breaker questions like which talent would you like? what is best to eat pizza? You can have color-coded options for each answer. Asking fun questions can serve as ice breakers.

10. Zoom Icebreakers

Zoom has become a great medium for communication for remote teams. With social distancing norms in place, several regular social gatherings are now happening online. Here are some Zoom icebreakers you could use,

• Social distance Bingo:- You don’t need a bingo board instead assess what activities were done by having people raise their hands. Some of the sample questions you can ask: Who slept through noon? Who enjoys baking? Who Binged watched Stranger things?
• I Spy – You can use the Gallery view on Zoom that allows you to see everyone. You use someone painting on the background or hat to play the “I Spy” game. Other people guess where the object is hidden. The game ensures everyone participates.
• Netflix Series you are currently binging – Being prolonged lockdown binge-watching Netflix series seems to have become the norm. Everyone on the Zoom call takes turns to reveal the series the Netflix series they are watching. People with similar tastes can connect, and people will get suggestions on what to watch next.

11. Social Media Icebreakers

• Group chats:- Social media icebreakers are fun and let people interact.
• Video players – icebreaker videos for meeting allows people to have fun and can keep them occupied before the meeting starts.

12. Faculty Meeting Icebreakers

There are various icebreaker online games and activities you can do to improve interaction during a staff meeting. It is an excellent way to start faculty or parent-teacher meetings.

• Animal imitation – in this ice breakers game online the teachers are sent random animal names using a randomizer. The staff member enacts the movement and sounds associated with the animal.
• Famous Faces – this is a fun interactive game and popular faculty meeting ice breakers. The staff member selects a celebrity name that other members can see. They guess the celebrity identity by asking virtual ice breaker questions to their colleagues.
• A penny for your memories – These can be ice breakers for parent meetings. The members take out a penny from their purses or wallets. Each member reads the year on the penny and narrates a memory from that year.

13. Facebook Icebreaker

Facebook is a social media tool that can be used how to break the ice online.

• Say Hello – Saying hello is one of the best social media icebreakers.
• Personal comment – Post a comment when you find you have something common with your new friends.
• Holiday post – Sharing a post of holidays even if you don’t celebrate is a great Facebook icebreaker.
• Comment on the content – Comment on the content on Facebook posts. You could always ask follow-up questions.

14. Collaboration Icebreakers

Collaboration icebreakers go a long way for the remote roups and feel more comfortable working together while collaborating.

• Pick a song – Ask each team member to pick a work-appropriate walk-up song. Play it and ask the rest of the team members to guess whose song it is. These collaboration icebreakers energize the employee when they hear their song. They learn something about your teammates.
• Breaking the stereotype – this is a great icebreaker game online or offline, where teammates start with a single statement “I [true description] but I [negate a stereotype related to the description]. This is a quick activity suitable for a virtual platform.
• Mrs. and Mr. Wright have emerged as popular icebreaker video games. You tell a fun story. Invite your team member to stand in front of their cameras and perform your certain move every time you say a word.

Read: 8 Simple ways you can combat remote work loneliness

Ice breakers game online

Below is a summary of some of the famous virtual icebreaker games and activities,

1. Icebreaker Shoes

This activity is one of the most popular icebreakers for virtual team meetings. You can ask the participants to take a picture of the shoes they will be wearing during the meeting and share it with everyone. The pictures must be uploaded before the start of the meeting.

Once the meeting initiates, you can ask each of the participants to elaborate on their shoe selection and the reason behind the selection. An interesting aspect of discussing shoes is the participants may even mention their hobbies or interests, for example, running shoes would elaborate on an individual’s desire to run marathons.

You can even ask the participants to take a picture of some important objects placed on their work desk. It may be a memento, a gift, a photo stand, etc. The participants can discuss the significance of the object in both their professional and personal life. You can learn about the character traits of a person through this conversation.

2. Two Lies and a Truth or Two Truths and a Lie

This game is generally conducted in small groups since the participants require some time to think and answer. The participants are either asked to note down two truths about themselves and a lie or vice versa.

The host or the meeting coordinator receives the information from everyone and then distributes them among the participants. Each one needs to guess whether the facts mentioned by others are correct or not. It proves the intuitive and reasoning power of the individuals and a great way to understand the team.

3. Time Machine

Time Machine is a very common game followed even in schools and colleges to reenergize the thinking and innovative power of students. The game is also very effective in the professional world, acting as one of the creative virtual icebreakers for remote teams.

The host or the meeting coordinator asks the participants to think of a time in the future or past where they want to travel if they were mounted inside a time machine. Once they guess the time, they need to share the place where they want to visit and whom they want to meet. For each of their answer, they need to share the reason behind their choice.

4. Culinary Interests

Sharing culinary interests is a fun game to play as an icebreaker for remote teams. Each participant needs to share their favorite dish either by cooking themselves or a picture. They can share the recipe or ask others to guess the recipe.

If you have a team located in different parts of the world, the culinary game is an excellent method to be acquainted with the food habits and authentic cuisines of a place. 

5. Location Mapping

With remote team members being present in various parts of the world, you can perform a simple exercise of location mapping. Point the location of each participant in a world map and place it in front of everyone on a shared screen or online web meeting at the start of the conversation.

The participants can visualize the location of others and may start interacting promptly on some trending news about a place and so on. You can even put forward some questions regarding the location of each participant and any particular significant and prominent aspect of the place.

Read: 14 Best Remote Job Sites: Start your job hunt at the right place!

Icebreaker questions for virtual meetings

Virtual icebreaker questions can be fun or deep. The answers can help reveal facets of a person’s personality. They give insights into working styles and how they collaborate. We have listed some common ice breaker questions for virtual meetings for you,

Virtual ice breaker questions

Question 1: Where are you from?

This is an excellent icebreaker. It gives you some background knowledge about your coworker and allows them to connect with others through common geography. 

 

Question2: What is one item that you cannot live without?

This question helps to show what the participant values. It allows you to discuss to use and design of the product.

 

Question 3: What is your favorite childhood movie?

You can follow this question by asking what were their thoughts while watching the movie and what did they feel? It can give you an understanding of the experiences that are memorable to the participant.  

 

Question 4: If you were an animal, what would you be?

The animal chosen can be revealing on what traits the participant finds desirable and Why?

 

Question 5: If you could have dinner with anybody in history, dead or alive. Who would it be and why?

The participant can choose a historical, literary, artistic, political, sports, or entertainment figure. The question can help reveal why the candidate gets inspired by the candidate. 

 

Question 6: If you can travel to any country in the world, where would you go?

The answer can show the previous travel experiences. It can show their openness to new cultures and experiences.

 

Question 7: What is your guilty pleasure?

The answer can show their values and how comfortable they are about sharing their weaknesses.

Question 8: What is your unusual talent?

It is an opportunity to learn more about a person. It can show you how the person views themselves and understand their strengths. 

 

Question 9: What unusual or quirky thing do you do regularly?

The answer can disclose shows self-confidence in revealing vulnerabilities. These traits may help you solve workplace problems.

 

Question 10: If you were stranded on a deserted island, what band or music would you want?

Do they like music? The answer can show their hobbies and tastes outside work.

Virtual meeting ice breaker questions

1. What was your previous role?
2. What do you like most about the company?
3. Do you enjoy working in your current role and why?
4. How was your first experience at work?
5. Can you share some funny incidents with your supervisor?
6. Which incident at your workplace imbibes a feeling of pride within you?
7. What contribution of yours resulted in a significant change in your team’s goals and objectives?
8. What are your suggestions for improvement in the current program?
9. Example of any good team activity a person has conducted in the past

Must Read: How To Build And Sustain Trust In Remote Teams

Do’s and Don’ts of using Virtual Icebreakers

Although virtual team icebreakers are effective in building up a strong team bonding and culture, yet they need to be leveraged at appropriate situations and moments. Only then you can realize their benefits in team building. Enlisted below are the situations when leveraging virtual icebreakers will turn out to be advantageous,

1. Team members operating remotely at different time zones with negligible chances of being engaged in a face to face conversations, discussions or meetings.
2. Introducing the remote team with each other in a web meeting or a video conference call
3. Scheduling meetings and discussions between culturally different people with varied skills and experience
4. Cross Team collaborations involving teams from different departments or divisions
5. Hackathons or workshops which generally extend for long durations, attended by people placed at different hierarchical levels

Now let us discuss the situations when it is not advisable to use virtual icebreakers. The scenarios are enlisted below,

1. Interactions between team members already sharing a good rapport, not mandating the need of introducing virtual icebreaker activities
2. Meetings and business discussions with customers who consider informal conversations as unprofessional
3. Analyze the complexity of a meeting wherein virtual icebreakers may consume a valuable amount of time instead of being a boon

Read: Team Communication 101: What is it & How you can crack it!

Few Golden Rules for selecting Virtual Icebreakers

Before selecting or deciding on the virtual icebreaker activities to imbibe a feeling of strong team culture, you need to remember a few golden rules as enlisted in this section,

1. Decide the purpose and the need for icebreaking exercise. It helps you to plan the sessions, activities, and games effectively. The icebreaker sessions need to be productive to ensure the members trust each other and collaboratively solve issues or problems.
2. Finalize the time to be invested in the icebreaker activities, normally to occur for no more than a duration of 5 minutes. The objective must not be to hijack the meeting time but only to ease the comfort level of the members.
3. Gather information on from which place your remote team members operate. They may be working from home or in a coworking space. Sometimes they may be attending the meeting while on move in an airport lounge or a café. The information is needed to ensure they are focused and cooperative to mingle with their teammates.
4. Decide the mode of communication, a video conference call or an audio call. You need to analyze the interest and comfort level of the team members while selecting the media. Some may not like being visible in a video for the introductory meeting.
5. Think of providing basic information about the participants to all the team members in advance. In the case of customer meetings, it is better to share customer roles and critical behavioral activities with the participants. This action facilitates the icebreakers for virtual team meetings.

Suggested Read: Managing Remote Teams: 13 tips that will come handy

Benefits of virtual icebreakers for remote teams

Icebreakers have proved to be very beneficial for remote meetings as they not only help to churn the human brain but also help in developing a strong bonding between the team. The members are easily introduced to each other, which paves the way for a smooth and seamless work culture in the near future.

The games and activities create a relaxed and stress-free atmosphere, encouraging all to participate and communicate with each other. The brainstorming exercises encourage active interaction between each other, developing a sense of togetherness and unity. It will eventually result in working collaboratively in achieving the company’s goals and objectives.

Icebreakers induce the creative minds of individuals to nurture their brains and actively engage in games and fun activities. The team members inculcate a feeling of trust and confidence. They feel motivated and comfortable working in the future.

Suggested read: Best Remote Working Tools That Make Life Easy

Icebreaker apps and best icebreaker tools

There various icebreaker online games, tools, and apps that can be used as an icebreaker for virtual meetings,

1. unremot – unremot.com is a fantastic platform where you can meet virtually using unremot virtual watercooler joints and cafeterias. This has proved to be a boon for remote collaborations. You can have ice breaker activities like play ice breaker games online before the remote colleagues start to collaborate.
2. Drawful 2: Research shows there are several benefits of doodling such as helping concentration, spur creative insight, alleviate stress, and improves the memory of the meeting. Drawful 2 is an interactive software allowing participants to virtual doodle through a room code.
3. Pop Quiz: Pop quizzes are a great way to get the competitive spirit before a virtual meeting. The pop quiz allows everyone to participate. Some online games online provide pop quizzes like AhaSlide. The virtual meeting games are perfectly suited for remote teams. There are icebreaker apps such as Trivia Crack and Quiz app. Trivia Crack allows participants to spin a wheel and select questions from multiple categories.
4. You Nailed It: You Nailed It is a wholesome activity done together. It is a simple activity where team members appreciate the member who has worked very hard and performed well. You do not have to get into specifics. It gives a boost of confidence to the team member who has been putting in the extra effort.
5. Wealthy Walrus:- Wealthy Walrus is fun icebreakers for meetings. The app starts on the principle that the Walrus begins with $14 billion to distribute, the catch being you have to perform ridiculous acts. The participants have the option of selecting yes or no. The results of all the participants are tabulated.

Suggested Read: Synchronous & Asynchronous Communication For Remote Work

Tips on how to plan virtual icebreaker activities

Some important tips which you must remember before structuring the virtual icebreaker activities

1. The recommendation is to limit the duration of icebreaker activities to 5 or a maximum of 10 minutes
2. Analyze or scrutinize the background of the participants, their cultural background, and their location before deciding on the ideas for icebreakers 
3. Do not force a person to be part of the icebreaker sessions, even allowing them to opt-out if they feel insecure or uncomfortable
4. Select your questions cautiously as you may deal with members from different communities or cultures where there may be polar differences on any topic
5. Encourage all the participants to speak out their ideas and feelings, the recommendation is to call out names so that no one feels left out
6. Ensure there are no conflicts between participants while the games are being conducted

Hiring a Chemist? Need to know how and where to find the best candidates? Here is a comprehensive guide to finding the best Chemists. Read on!

How to hire a Chemist

Organizations and startups are innovating at a fast pace with the advancement of science and technology. The healthcare and food companies are working hard to produce good quality products. Therefore, worldwide companies began hiring cosmetic chemists. These freelance chemists will help the organization in making new products.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the growth rate of employment of formulation chemists and scientists is 7% from 2016-2026. The industrial sector pharma, oil, and gas will hire a chemist to fulfill various purposes. In the future, chemists will have better employment opportunities in worldwide renowned industries.

Also Read: Hire Graphic Designer | Know before you start

Hiring market for a Chemist

Many formulation chemists have been employed on a full-time basis in large organizations. The median salary of a cosmetic chemist is $78K-$81K annually. It is according to the latest records revealed by BLS. As the economy is growing, many chemists started providing their services as freelance cosmetic chemists.

The charges of cosmetics chemist and skincare chemist are around $500 to $5000. In the United States, the job market for contract chemists grows 6.5% annually from 2016-2026.  Around 88,000 chemists are working in the United States and there is a need of around 10,000 in the coming years.

For the chemist position, the competition will be strong in the future. Those with master’s, doctorate degrees, work experience, and certifications from the American Institute of Chemists/National Certification in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering have been hired for chemists’ jobs.

In recent years, the government agencies in the USA food department and pharma companies have hired chemists. Still, the demand for in-house chemists for hire has declined in the manufacturing sectors.

These companies started outsourcing research and development projects. During the economic slowdown, the layoffs of chemists in the pharma companies are limited. Some chemists with advanced degrees teach students in high school, technologists, and chemical technicians in different organizations.

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Top 15 recent job titles for Chemists

The top formulating chemists can work well in any work settings that given to them in the company. We have prepared a list of recent job titles for chemists are,

1. Analytical Chemist

An analytical chemist works in service-related jobs provided to them in government and industrial sectors. To get a job in the entry-level position of an analytical chemist, a person should be qualified with Bsc or HND in Chemistry. As per BLS records, the average annual salary of the analytical chemist is $83K-$90K.

2. Associate Chemist

An associate chemist’s job is in the manufacturing company’s laboratory settings. In the product development phase, they conduct the research. On average, the remuneration of an associate chemist is $69K-99K. A person should qualify bachelor’s degree in chemistry to get an associate chemist job.

3. Bench Chemist

Conduct the quantitative and qualitative analysis on new products is the work of a bench chemist. The salary of a bench chemist is $85K-$99K average annual in the United States. Bench chemist should have a master’s degree in chemistry/pharma/microbiology.

4. Chemical Engineer

A chemical engineer’s job is to plan and schedule the work for the technicians working under him. Find out the measures to reduce cost and maintaining quality too. For getting a job, a person should have a chemical engineering degree. On average, chemical engineers earn $75K-$85K in the USA.

5. Biochemist

A biochemist does the study of physical and chemical principles of living things. They examine how the chemical reactions have happened in tissues on a particular reaction of medicine. To perform independent research, a biochemist should have a Ph.D. degree. In the USA, the median salary of a qualified biochemist is $99K.

5. Clinical Technician

The clinical technicians operate the lab equipment. They do the collection of samples and assist the senior medical staff in the surgeries. They get jobs in clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and other medical facilities. A diploma degree is sufficient to get an entry-level clinical technician job. In America, a clinical technician makes around $38K-$66K annually.

7. Medical Technologist

A highly skilled professional is a medical technologist who does the tests of blood, tissue fluids, and samples. Then, perform the analytics work on it. They ensure that all the details have been collected and prepared promptly. A medical technologist gets $80K-$99K as salary.

8. Patent Examiner

A patent examiner must check that a patent should be granted for further inventions or not. The median salary of a patent examiner in the USA is $124K-180K.

9. Product Chemist

A product chemist develops the design models of a product. They work in a variety of industrial settings food, biotechnology, and pharma. Product chemists that are working in industrial sectors have a master’s degree in chemistry and earn a $90K-$100K salary.

10. Molecular Biologist

A molecular biologist performs the task of how the biological molecules become organelles. They are responsible to do the research work and conduct academic activities. On average, a molecular biologist earns an $80K-$110K salary living in the USA.

11. Laboratory Research Assistant

A laboratory research assistant performs hypothesis tests and evaluates the data prepared after the research work. They get the duties of doing chemical tests and studying slides. The salary range of a laboratory research assistant is $39K-$400K.

12. Geochemist

A geochemist does the study of the composition and structure of the earth. They do the complete examination of rock, minerals, soil, and water systems found on earth. The median wage of a geochemist is $99K in the USA.

13. Genetic Engineer

A scientist who performs the living organisms’ DNA changes is the work of a genetic engineer. They do the genetic techniques in developing an improved version of living organisms. The genetic engineer earns $88K-$98K.

14. Polymer Chemist

Mostly, a polymer chemist works in industrial settings. To prepare a product, they understand the composition of a molecular product. The average pay scale of polymer chemist is $72K-$85K.

15. Pharmacy Technician

A pharmacy technician works as an assistant under the pharmacist in distributing the drugs and maintaining the medicines in stock. The national average wage of a pharmacy technician is $40K. They have to directly deal with the patients discussing their medical history and preparing prescriptions for them. They take care of the stock arrived at the pharmacy.

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Qualification to look for in a Chemist

Those companies have started hiring a cosmetic chemist. They should look into the candidate’s education profile to finalize a cosmetic chemist consultant for their organization.

1. Graduate Degree in Chemistry: To get theoretical and technical knowledge, a bachelor’s degree in the Chemistry subject is important. It includes a list of courses like organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, physics, hypothetical research, and calculus. Other fields related to Chemistry are materials chemistry and biological chemistry.
2. Postgraduate course in Chemistry: You want to find a chemist for an advanced research job. Then, a person with a master’s degree in Chemistry is preferred for this job role. There is a list of courses in the master’s degree program that are bioinorganic chemistry, molecular spectroscopy, quantum mechanics, and organic synthesis.
3. Doctorate Course: A Ph.D. program is helpful to conduct scientific research. Some of the professional programs offered include synthetic chemistry, chemical biology, and physical chemistry. The work of a cosmetic formulation chemist is to research the product development, processing, testing, and do improvement on the existing products.

Also Read: Hire Java Developer | A priceless list of tips to succeed

Skills to look in a Chemist

A skincare chemist and cosmetic chemist should have soft skills knowledge along with professional qualifications. It contributes to their success level in an organization. Apart from that, these skills are essential to have in any freelance chemist working or looking for a job. Therefore, the list of skills to look in a chemist at the time of hiring is,

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills: Companies want such staff working for them who can deal with every situation occurring in the day-to-day working.
2. Interpersonal Skills: In every job, if it is of a cosmetic chemist a person must have proper listening and speaking skills.
3. Time Management: In this fast pacing working style of a company, you have to meet the deadlines. You are efficient to manage the time.
4. Organize things in your company: You are a local chemist working in an organization; you have to keep the track of several documents and do analysis.
5. Analytical Thinking: Working on a chemist job role in a company, you have to analyze the research documents.

Also Read: Hire Customer Service Representative | A comprehensive guide for beginners

Certifications to look in a Chemist

At the time to hire a chemist for a company, you can check out these lists of certificate courses that a candidate should have achieved.

1. Exploring Everyday Chemistry course at the University of York: It is an advanced diploma course of the University of York. The course duration of this, advanced diploma program is five weeks.
2. Warnborough College offering Biochemistry Part II course: To strengthen the conceptual knowledge of biochemistry, therefore, the course started at Warnborough College. It is a certificate course of 5 to 7 weeks duration and fees are $550.
3. Explore chemistry concepts at the University of York: Fir the working professionals, the University of York began a course based on strengthening the everyday chemistry concepts.
4. Solid State Chemistry course at Massachusetts Institute of Technology: In this course, the experts use the periodic table to teach the students about electronic structures.
5. Duke University’s course regarding Chemistry Structure & Solutions: An introductory course to teach the basic concepts related to chemistry.

Also Read: Hire Social Media Manager | Everything you must know

Top 10 Job Boards to find the best Chemists

Are you looking for cosmetic chemists for hire? These top 10 online job boards will help you to find a cosmetic chemist for your company.

1. LinkedIn: It is an open-source online platform for employers and employees to connect.
2. unremot.com: At unremot, candidates prepare their accounts and post their skills and qualifications online. Employers can visit the website and find staff for their company.
3. ChemistryJobs: You can visit ChemistryJobs to hire a beauty chemist.
4. Indeed: Indeed became one of the best job websites that started in 2004. It has around 200 million users.
5. Flexjobs: Flexjobs.com is among the popular job portals follow it to know how to hire a cosmetic chemist.
6. Monster: Monster is a digital platform to hire people founded in 1994.
7. Glassdoor: Use the Glassdoor job portal as it will help you as to how to find a cosmetic chemist.
8. Snagajob: Snagajob is an online job portal to hire a cosmetic chemist and makeup chemist.
9. Linkup: Linkup is a place where I can find a cosmetic chemist to hire online.
10. The Ladders: A ladder is a place where you can get qualified managers, hair product chemists, and cosmetic chemists near me.

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Top 10 Companies Hiring Chemists and Best Salary Offered

The list of top 10 companies looking for chemists for hire on regular basis. We have collected the information of entry-level salaries of makeup chemist, beauty chemist, and skincare chemist job posts.

1. Purdue University: Purdue University is an education institution that offers graduate and postgraduate courses. The entry-level salary of a cosmetic chemist in the university is $50K-$60K for teaching and research jobs.
2. Lawrence Berkeley Lab: Lawrence Berkeley is a national laboratory that hires chemists for research work and pays them a $60K yearly salary to fresher employees.
3. Agilent Technologies: At Agilent Technologies, the chemists do the analytical work of the products and get a $55K-$65K annual salary.
4. RTI International: An independent NGO is RTI International hires chemists regularly and gives them $70K-$75K as annual remuneration.
5. Henkel: Henkel is a reputed organization that believes in innovation and does regular recruitment of beauty chemists and hair product chemists. They pay them $60K-$70K annual salary.
6. US Food and Drug Administration: US Food and Drug Administration is a government organization that does the hiring chemists to keep regulations on food items. It offers $65K-$70K as yearly remuneration to the fresher chemists.
7. Pfizer: Pfizer is working to make a healthier world. The company hires the chemists to keep a check on safety standards and pay them $55K-$60K annual salary.
8. Merck: The purpose of Merck is to focus on people’s growth and save their lives. They have chemists working on entry-level positions and earn a $50K-$60K annual salary.
9. Proctor & Gamble: Proctor & Gamble is a candle and soap company that started 175 years ago that has chemists working with them and getting a $55K-$65K annual entry-level salary package.
10. Lubrizol: The Company named Lubrizol makes lubricants, fuels actively hires chemists for research work, and gives them $56K-$65K as salary.

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Top 10 Interview Questions for a Chemist

Following are the interview question you can ask while hiring a chemist for your company.

1. What can make a molecule into an organic molecule?

Rationale: It is a simple question to test the subject knowledge of the candidate appearing in the interview.

Expected Answer: The ratio of a hydrogen atom is less than a carbon atom in a molecule is known as an organic molecule.

2. Tell about the human body’s chemical composition of fat. 

Rationale: For the research work on a product, a chemist should know the human body’s composition.

Expected Answer: The fats that are found in a human body include,

• Glycerides
• Glycerides+Phospholipids
• Glycolipids
• Phosphoinositides
• Tocopherol

3. What is the use of graphite rods in a nuclear reactor?

Rationale: To perform the practical work efficiently, then the candidate should aware of the practical things of the chemist job too.

Expected Answer: The use of a graphite rod in a nuclear reactor is to get un-enriched uranium that can use as a fuel.

4. Explain in detail about dextrorotatory and levorotatory.

Rationale: An industry-related question to test the conceptual knowledge of the candidate comes for the interview for the chemist job.

Expected Answer: Dextrorotatory and levorotatory are the plane-polarized light properties. The light that comes to the observer after turning clockwise is dextrorotatory. On the other hand, when the rotation of the light is anti-clockwise is levorotatory.

5. What is the difference between fractionation and distillation?

Rationale: The employer can test candidate the knowledge of the candidate by asking for a clear difference between fractionation and distillation.

Expected Answer: Fractionation is a technique in which chemicals come close in the mixture during the boiling process. Distillation is a process in which the boiling point of chemicals is different in all the mixtures.

6. What is a mole?

Rationale: As an employer, you have to test the complete educational knowledge of the person coming for the interview of a chemist. You should hire a person who has a strong grip on chemistry concepts.

Sample Answer: Mole is a unit to find out the number of chemical substances present in a particular substance.

7. What is the titration process?

Rationale: In the interview rounds, you can evaluate the candidate’s knowledge by asking questions related to chemistry subjects like the titration process. It can help you to know practical knowledge.

Expected Answer: The titration process is used to find a morality base or an acid. Between the known solutions of volumes, a reaction has been carried out in this titration process.

8. How does buffering work?

Rationale: Basic concept knowledge is necessary to get the job of a chemist in a company.

Sample Answer: The hydrogen ion has neutralized in the buffer process. By the acid, the hydroxide ion will neutralize. No effect will show in the neutralization reaction. You will select an acid in the buffer solution. You can choose an acid pH to achieve the desired pH.

9. What new things you have excited about in chemistry the most?

Rationale: This question has designed for an interview to know that the candidate is familiar with new developments in chemistry or not.

Expected Answer: The candidate can answer about the new developments in the Chemistry field.

10. Tell me about your research in the chemistry field. 

Rationale: As a chemist, the candidate coming in the interview has researched several products. You can ask the contribution of the chemist in the last company.

Expected Answer: The chemist that comes for an interview can mention his or her contribution to the research work and product developments.

Looking out for a photo editor? Need to know how and where to find the best candidates? Here is a comprehensive guide to finding the best photo editors. Read on!

How to hire a photo editor?

In the present digital and highly competitive world, the concept of digital photography has gained prominence. No matter which business you are involved in, it is important to get properly edited photographs to represent your brand and business. Thus, every business needs Photo editors.

Photoediting is one of the essential parts of any marketing, communication, and branding activity. This is one of the biggest reasons that professional photo editing is one of the most outsourced processes in the industry. With the rise of image-centric social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, photos are becoming a universal marketing language.

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Hiring market for Photo editors

A look at the present technology and need for business prove a gleam of hope for picture editors. Photography and photo editing are embraced by a wide variety of industries and sectors. Even government, agriculture, and real estate sectors are hiring digital photo editors. This is because every business needs websites and every website needs well-edited photos.

Thus, candidates who have freelance photo editing skills will remain marketable. Between the years 2018 to 2018, the career in photo editing is expected to grow by almost 3%. In addition to this, it will produce a minimum of 3400 job opportunities in the United States alone.

Thus, candidates with good editing skills and a passion for the job may have ample opportunities in the photo editor portfolio. No doubt photo editor professionals won’t be able to stand out among other professionals, but they will get lots of opportunities as the digital marketplace will stand out.

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Top 15 Recent Job titles for Photo Editors 

Following are some of the recent job titles for photo editors,

1. Associate Photo Editor

The main task of an associate photo editor is to assist photo editors with all types of editorial and administrative work. An associate photo editor do tasks related to research, interface with photographers, licensing, monitoring, and maintenance of budget.

2. Visuals Editor

A visuals professional photo editor has the main task of editing photos on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. They create content for different editorial initiatives. When you hire photo editor, you will be able to maintain colorful and modern aesthetics for your brand.

3. Group Creative Photo Editor

The main task of a group creative photo editor is to maintain the task of professional picture editing within a group. Thus, they have the main task of overseeing all types of graphic execution for brand standard implementation.

4. Social Media Editor

With every business having its own social media platform, it is important to hire someone to photoshop a picture and other social media work. A social media editor can create pictures, graphics, and videos as per the brand standard.

5. Digital Editorial Intern

Most often, a digital editorial intern works closely with the digital editors across all platforms. They get hands-on experience to work with CMS framework so that they can edit digital photos and content as per the need of the brand.

6. Creative Director

A creative director is a senior-level position in an organization. The main task of a creative director is to develop, lead, and collaborate with designers so that proper photos are taken for the brand endorsement.

7. Digital Editor

When you hire a freelance photo editor for the post of digital editor, he/she will help you to get branded shooting titles. A digital editor works in close collaboration with shooting publishers, print editors, and the director of digital editorial to develop content strategies that can align with short-term and long-term goals.

8. Executive Photo Editor

An executive photo editor works in close collaboration with publishers to make sure that the portfolio can reflect the brand identity and standards.

9. Illustrator

When you hire a photoshop editor, they can also work as an illustrator. The main task of an illustrator is to coordinate custom design work, and run and manage the corporate as well as retail document service center. Most often an illustrator spends most of the time in designing multi page-layout designs and cover designs.

10. Graphic Design Assistant

Most often, graphic designers have skills that are helpful in photo editing. Although they can’t work as an extreme photo editor, they offer pretty great photo editing work.

11. Lead Graphic Designer

With the growing trend of promotion through social media platforms, every organization needs a good graphic designer who can help them in improving the brand identity. The main task of a graphic designer is to edit photos and add elements that can improve the brand identity and standards.

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Qualifications to look for in a photo editor

If you need a professional picture editor for your organization, you need to check the qualifications as well as the skills of the candidate. Most often you need to look for a candidate who has completed a bachelor’s degree in photography, visual arts, or digital media.

This way, they will get to know basic details about photo editing, studio design, and digital imaging. In addition to this, many candidates also complete master’s degrees in photography and photo editing. Make sure to look for a candidate who has some background in photography and art history.

It is also important to hire candidates depending upon their skills and knowledge about digital editing, studio lighting, computer editing, and color photography. You can hire candidates who have completed their degree and education from any of these colleges and universities,

College	Location
Rhode Island School of Design	Providence, RI
School of visual arts	Seattle
School of Art Institute of Chicago	Chicago, IL
Yale University	New Haven, CT
California Institute of the Arts	Santa Clarita
University of New Mexico	Albuquerque, NM
University of California, LA	Los Angeles
Maryland Institute College of Art	Baltimore
New York University	New York
Rochester Institute of Technology	Rochester

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Skills to look for in a photo editor

It is important for pic editors to have a passion for photography and the ability to tell stories through stories. In addition to this, they should also know about the technical aspect of photo edting. Look for the following skills when you want to hire good photoeditors,

1. Leadership skills: The person should have the proven experience of managing a large group of people, since photo editors have to work within groups, leadership skills will prove to be fruitful.
2. Negotiation skills: It is important for the editor to have proper negotiation skills so that they can assign tasks to their juniors and they can get better projects from clients.
3. Technical skills: Professional photo editors should also be comfortable with major editing software like Photoshop, InDesign, Bridge, Lightroom, and many more. This is the main skill that you need to check in a photo editor.
4. Team spirit: Since photography editors have to work with creative, digital marketing, and social media teams in an organization team spirit quality is essential for a candidate who is available for a catchy photo editor job.
5. Decision-making skills: Photographer editing is not all about creativity. Sometimes a candidate may have to make strong decisions. Thus, in addition to editing skills, the person needs to take decisions that can tell a brand story through photographs.

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Certifications to look for in a photo editor

Following are some of the major certifications that you can check when you are hiring professional photo maker.

1. Movavi Photo editor complete course – The course will enable a candidate to learn all about photo editing from beginning to end. The Movavi Photo editing course consists of different tools that are loaded with different effects. The competition of this course will enable a professional photo maker to edit pictures, create collages, and share photos on social media platforms.
2. Photo editing master course by Graphic design institute – This is a 3-month certification course that can help a candidate to understand the fundamentals of image editing. Most photoshop professional editor try to complete this course so that they can have knowledge about creative picture editing.
3. Adobe Photoshop course by Skillshare – This is an online course offered for virtual photo editor. Adobe Photoshop is a must certification for any candidate who wants to enter the world of photo editing.
4. Lightroom certification by Adobe – Lightroom is a club-based service that offers candidates everything they need to create, edit, organize, store, and share photos across any device. The certification will enable you to understand easy to use tools like sliders and presets. For candidates who want to become pro image editor, lightroom certification is a must.

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Rate per hour of photo editor

If you are looking to hire a photo editor, it is important to know about the freelance photo editor rates. As per the statistics by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average photo editing rates in the US is $30 per hour.

In the year 2018, the average photo editor price was $42,770 per annum. The cost for hiring photographer editor can depend on different factors like the experience and the expertise of the candidate. But, on average, the cost to get professional photo edit can range between $25-$55 per hour in the United States.

If you want to hire an expert photo editor from European nations, you may have to pay a minimum pay of 24 € per hour. Professional image editor from Asian regions can demand a pay of $27 per hour on average. The average median salary demanded by professional pic editor from Asian regions is $56,000 per annum.

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Top 10 job boards to find the best photo editors

Following are some of the major job boards where you can get in touch with people who can offer you professional photography editing.

1. Thumbtack – This is a pay-to-bid job board where you have to make an advance payment to get in touch with the best profile photo editor. You are charged for each bid only when the candidate accepts your job offer.
2. unremot.com – This is one of the best platforms where you can get in touch with creative people from all genres of work. You can also look for freelance photo editing rates at this platform.
3. Upwork – If you are looking for freelance gigs, no place can be as good as Upwork to get in touch with a photo editor professional.
4. Guru – Guru works in the same way as Upwork. The basic account for job posting is free. So, you can contact a professional photography editor at almost zero charges.
5. Freelancer – Freelancer job boards are specially designed for people who are on a look for a pro editor photo who can work as a freelancer.
6. People per hour – Just like its name, you can pay someone to photoshop or any other editing task by paying them on an hourly basis. If you have a short-term project for custom photo editing, People Per Hour is the best platform to choose.
7. Virtual Vocations – This site lists only remote jobs. You can look for pro image editors who can work remotely.
8. Flexjobs – Creative job profiles like event photography, photo editing, and photojournalism jobs are posted on this platform.
9. Fiverr – Fiverr is another amazing platform where you can post jobs to hire photo editors.
10. Craigslist – This platform works like a classified. You can find photo editors locally as well as internationally on this platform.

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Top 10 companies hiring photo editor and salaries offered

Following is the list of companies that are hiring photo editors. You can check any of these companies to get a professional editing photo.

Company	Salary offered
Target CW	$30K-$72K
Peter Miller	$21K-$46K
Gannett	$24K-$49K
Spotlight Media Group	$8-$19 per hour
The Gazette	$21k-$40K
Meredith Corporation	$14-$34 per hour
Home City Inc	$52K-$86K
Mashable	$16-$39 per hour
Godfrey Dadich Partners	$12-$21 per hour
McKinsey & Company	$45K-$92K

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Top 10 interview questions for photo editors

Following are some of the major questions that you can ask to a candidate who has arrived for a Photo editing job interview,

1. Is there any specific image editing software you use?

Rationale: This question will enable you to know if the candidate has proficiency in using different image editing tools.

Sample Answer: Yes, I am proficient in using softwares like Adobe photoshop, PTGui Pro CC, and Paintshop Pro

2. What are the basic editing techniques that you use?

Rationale: This is a bit of a technical question that will enable you to know if the candidate will be able to fulfill the photo editing requirement of your organization or not.

Sample Answer: Following are the basic photo editing technique that I use,

• Jumpcut: This cut pushes forward the time
• Montage: This editing technique also signifies the passage of time.
• Cross dissolve
• Wipe
• Cutting on action
• Cross cut
• Parallel editing
• Smash Cut

3. Can you name some of the digital editing terms that every photo editor must know.

Rationale: This is a basic level question that you can ask a candidate who is available for an internship or beginner-level job for photo editing.

Sample Answer: Some of the basic digital editing term that every photo editor should be aware of includes – Cut, Continuity editing, continuity errors, cross-cutting, cutaway, editing, establishing shot, and eye-line match.

4. What does FN mean in reference to editing?

Rationale: This is another beginner-level question that you can ask to a beginner photo editor.

Sample Answer: The abbreviation FN stands for Footnote.

5. Can you let me know about the software that is suitable for creating schematic abstract or photo editing in the manuscript?

Rationale: This is a technical question that you need to ask a photo editor. This question can be asked to a senior-level photo editor.

Sample Answer: For vector graphics, Inkscape is a good photo editing software.

6. How long does it take to complete a project?

Rationale: This is a work-related question that you can ask a candidate who has arrived for a photo editing task.

Sample Answer: The usual turnaround time for editing service is almost 24-48 hours. But, the project completion time can vary depending on the complexity of the project. It also depends on the format, image, and size of the project.

7. What are the major skills needed to become a photo editor?

Rationale: This is one of the most important questions that you can ask to a photo editor. The answer to this question will enable you to determine if the candidate has knowledge and skills about photo editing or not.

Sample Answer: Photo editing is a dynamic job. Thus, it demands excellent visual, communication, and organizational skills. In addition to this, candidates also need to adhere to the deadlines.

8. What are the most used photo editing apps that you use?

Rationale: This is a technical question that will help you to know if the candidate can work as per the resources and apps available in your organization.

Sample Answer: Some of the photo editing apps that I use include, Snapseed, VSCO, Prisma Photo Editor, and Adobe Photoshop express.

9. Can you name the types of photo editing?

Rationale: This is another basic level question that you can ask a photo editor.

Sample Answer: Some of the important types of photo editing techniques include,

• Developmental editing
• Evaluation editing
• Content editing
• Image cropping
• Resizing of image

10. Is Lightroom better than Photoshop?

Rationale: The question will enable you to know if the candidate has the technical capabilities to complete the editing task or not.

Sample Answer: For a higher level, Lightroom is the best tool that can be helpful in management as well as the processing of thousands of photos on a single device.

Looking out for a Microsoft Excel Expert? Need to know how and where to find the best candidates? Here is a comprehensive guide to finding the best Microsoft Excel Experts. Read on!

 

How to hire a Microsoft Excel Expert?

Microsoft Excel has been in the market for over 30 years. It is spreadsheet software for data analysis and documentation. The program has become versatile. Microsoft Excel Professionals can perform activities like collection and verification of business data, administrative and managerial duties.

We can use Microsoft Excel for accounting and budgeting, data analysis, making reports and visualizing, and forecasting. In this blog, we will try to answer questions you may have about Excel consultants or Excel gurus for hire. Excelforfreelancers will find this article useful.

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Hiring market for Microsoft Excel Experts

We use Excel for data analysis and manipulation. It a popular business intelligence tool. Excel is evolving now has sophisticated mathematical, statistical, and logical functions. We can use the program for data visualization, prediction, and modeling.

With AI capabilities and the potential to integrate with other applications and cloud services, excel is here to stay. Its comparatively low cost makes it the ideal option for SME enterprises. Many jobs ask for Microsoft Excel certifications.

Experts excel professionals can work in various professions. Some professionals using excel are paralegals, IT specialists, data administrators, etc. The table below is an outlook for Excel experts:-

Job	Median Salary	% Growth and Decline
Paralegal	$51740	10%
Administrative Assistant	$39850	-9%
Office Manager	$96940	6%
IT Support Technician	$54760	8%
Database Specialist	$132500	10%

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Top 15 recent job titles for Microsoft Excel Experts 

Whether you are looking for a job as an ms excel consultant or professional excel expert. Here are the top 15 job titles for Microsoft excel expert,

1. Accountants and Auditors

The format of excel makes it ideal for tracking accounting transactions. These professionals use Excel to create and analyze cash flow, income statements, balance sheets, and tax returns. Salary for accountants and auditors is $70,500/year.

2. Administrative Assistant

Administrative assistants, secretaries, and official clerks use Excel to prepare reports, organize documents, manage records, schedule appointments, etc. The salary of an administrative assistant is approximately $38,880/year.

3. Business Analyst Microsoft Excel Expert

The business analyst analyzes documents, processes and assesses business to identify areas and give solutions to maximize profitability. The business analyst’s salary is $63120/year.

4. Cost Estimator Microsoft Excel Expert

Cost estimators work with project managers and engineers to make accurate estimates of money, time, and labor for a project. The estimator uses excel to input all required variables and compute the benchmark quantities. The average salary of a cost estimator $64040/year.

5. Teachers and Teaching Assistants

Teachers and teaching assistance use Excel to track the performance of students and map out the lesson plan. Teachers can record contact details and the grades of students easily on Excel. Excel is used for research. The average salary of a teacher in the US is $58,600/year.

6. Financial Analyst Microsoft Excel Expert

The financial analyst helps businesses and individuals make informed investments and loan decisions. Excel helps them analyze different data sets. The average salary of a financial analyst is $85660/year.

7. Banker and Loan Officers

Bankers use Excel to manipulate and interpret banking data. Excel helps to make analyzing large databases of their customers easy. The average salary of a banker in the US is $72802/year. Loan officers use Excel to map out the mortgage qualification of a person or organization applying for a loan. The national median salary of a loan officer is $45210/year.

8. Market Researcher Microsoft Excel Expert

Marketing researchers need to have creativity, analytical thinking, and research skill. They gather, manipulate and interpret field data. Excel helps market researcher collates the data and analyzes it. The average salary of a market researcher is $63120/year.

9. Digital Marketers

Digital marketers use Excel to improve their productivity. The program allows digital marketers to present their data effectively. They can use it to track their productivity and schedule marketing activities. Excel helps them keep track of important digital marketing metrics like SEO and manage campaigns better. The salary of a digital marketer is $ 57360/year.

10. Project Managers

Project managers work in both IT companies and brick and motor companies. They plan, coordinate, and supervise the project. Part of their responsibility includes managing cost, assigning responsibilities, and ensuring the project gets completed on schedule and within budget. Microsoft Excel is an invaluable tool to work efficiently. The average salary of a project manager is $93170/year.

11. Microsoft Excel Expert Marketing Managers

Responsibilities of a marketing manager are creating the marketing budget, negotiates contracts, works with advertisement agencies, monitor the effectiveness of the marketing campaign, etc for their firm. Marketing managers use Excel to compare two sets of data. They use Excel to summarize the data, use charts to give a visual representation of the data. The average salary of $65,834 a year.

12. Microsoft Excel Expert Budgeting Specialists

Budgeting Specialists help project managers with managing the money, time, and labor needed to finish each project. They use Excel to calculate estimates. Excel helps them keep track of the projects and use past data to avoid past mistakes.

13. Retail Store Manager

A retail store manager ensures the smooth running of the store. They oversee and manage staff and monitor inventory. The retail store manager helps to maximize profits. They use Excel to prepare budgets, analyze customer and sales trends, and map expenditure. The national average of a retail manager $396417/year.

14. Microsoft Excel Expert Data Journalist

Data journalist uses statistics to provide deeper insight into news stories. They use excel to keep their data organized and analyze it. The journalist uses Excel to clean the data. The average salary of a data journalist is $56715/year.

15. Information Clerk

An information clerk helps the customer by providing information regarding a product, business, or service. They collect a variety of data and make reports based on it. The average salary of an information clerk is $26992/year.

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Qualifications to look for in Microsoft Excel Expert

There is no qualification required to become ms excel experts. Several Microsoft excel experts have a degree in business, finances, statistics. The best universities for undergraduate business programs are,

1. University of Pennsylvania
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. University of California- Berkeley
4. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
5. New York University

The best universities for undergraduate finance programs are,

1. University of Pennsylvania
2. New York University
3. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5. University of California – Berkeley

The best universities for undergraduate statistics programs are,

1. Harvard University
2. Carnegie Mellon University
3. University of Chicago
4. The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
5. University of California – Berkeley

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Skills to look for in Microsoft Excel Experts

When you hire excel experts or Microsoft excel consultants you need to ascertain their skills. Microsoft Excel skills can be subdivided into three layers,

1. Basic excel skills – This includes knowledge of common shortcut keys used in Excel, using cell references, and range with data. Different view options like zooming in and out, showing formulas, and basic formatting.
2. Intermediate excel skills include more advanced formulas and functions such as SUM, AVERAGE, and SUMPRODUCT. An intermediate excel user should have a working knowledge of charting.
3. Advanced excel skills include mastery over formulas, VBA programming, and other excel features handling complicated tasks.

Six advanced Excel skills to look for,

1. VLOOKUP is a function to look up a value in a table and retrieve data from a specific column.
2. INDEX MATCH is made of a combination of two excel functions – Index and Match.
3. Advanced Conditional Formatting: Conditional formatting helps to a great way to design a spreadsheet as it gives a user a quick way to add a visual analysis layer on a data set. Commonly used visual analyses are heat maps and Harvey bubbles.
4. Pivot tables and reporting is an excellent feature used for creating reports for large data sets.
5. Macro and VBA – Macro is a small computer program that will do an action or set of actions once turned on. Macros are written using VBA (Visual Basic for Application) language stored in a module.
6. Data Simulation – A simulation usually entails making mathematical models that will represent the characteristics of a system.

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Certifications to look for in Microsoft Excel Experts

If you are looking for excel experts for hire, you may find that someone proficient in excel is not enough. Microsoft Excel Certification is globally recognized certifications that give excel professional an edge.

Some of the certifications available are Microsoft Excel Expert in Excel and Excel 2019. This certificate ensures excel expert has the ability in creating, managing, and distributing professional spreadsheets for specialized purposes and situations. Some courses that may be taken by Excel specialist are,

1. Excel for Business Specialization (Coursera)
2. Excel Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)
3. Microsoft Excel – Basic and Advanced (GoSkill)
4. Data Visualization Skill with Advanced Excel (Coursera)
5. Introduction to Data Analysis using Excel (Coursera)
6. Introduction to Data Analysis using Excel (edX)
7. Learning VBA in Excel (LinkedIn Learning)

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Rate per hour of Microsoft Excel Expert

If you want to hire an Excel expert it is useful to know the salary of the candidate. Thanks to the option of hiring a remote Microsoft excel consultant you can hire the best candidates. The Excel consulting rates can depend on the experience, qualification, and location of excel experts.

The average annual salary of a Microsoft Excel professional in the US is $47,621 to$53044, which works out to 22.89/hour or $3968/month. The excel consultant salary in the UK can range from £20,000 – £23,000. An excel expert salary in India can range from 150,000 to 480000 INR.

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Top 10 job boards to find the best Microsoft Excel Experts

If you need to hire an Excel expert you have a few options, you can post requirements for jobs for excel experts in various job portals or hire Excel professional services. The top 10 boards to find the best expert in excel are,

1. Indeed
2. Freelancer
3. unremot.com
4. LinkedIn
5. Upwork
6. ZipRecruiter
7. Flexjobs
8. Dice
9. SimplyHired

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Top 10 companies hiring Microsoft Excel Expert and salaries offered

If you are looking for excel expert jobs, here are the top companies hiring Microsoft Excel experts,

1. The UPS Store – The UPS Store is a world-class courier provider. The salary of a center associate of UPS Store Executive ranges from $25000 to $34000/year.
2. Amazon.com – Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce websites. The customer service manager at Amazon can range from $25000-$34000/year.
3. Change State – Change State is recruitment firms that manage their client’s accounts. The salary of a client service expert at Change State can range from $65000 to $75000/year.
4. AM Trace LLC – AM Trace LLC is a company providing healthcare technology solutions. A data specialist at AM Trace LLC $32000-$46000/year.
5. Viacom – Viacom is one of the largest producers of television animation. A cultural consultant at Viacom can earn approximately $46000 to $63000/year.
6. Informa – Informa is a British multinational publishing company. The salary of a marketing assistant at Informa is approximately $40000/year.
7. Cigna Corporation – Cigna Corporation is a global health service company providing health and well-being and peace of mind. The estimated salary of a customer service associate representative ranges from $29000-$38000/year.
8. UPMC Health Plan – The UPMC is a health insurance provider. The estimated salary of a health care concierge working at UPMC ranges from $24000 to $33000/year.
9. Liberty Mutual Insurance – Liberty MutualMutual Insurance is an insurance company. The customer service representative working at Liberty Mutual Insurance estimated salary is $40000/year
10. Sedgwick – Sedgwick is a third part TPA. The salary of a service center associate at Sedwick can range from $26000 to $38000/year.

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Top 10 interview questions for Microsoft Excel Experts

Before you hire excel for freelancers or Microsoft excel consultants it is important to interview the candidate.

Question 1: What are the different data formats in Excel?

Rationale: This is question helps to analyze the candidate’s basic knowledge

Answer: The following data formats are available in Excel,

• Text Format
• Number Format
• Date Format
• Accounting / Currency Format
• Percentage Format

Question 2: How will you do if you need help with excel?

Rationale: Excel experts should ask for help when required.

Answer: If I need help I launch excel help by pressing F1if it does not help. I also use Microsoft excel to help chat when required. This lets me consult the best Excel expert help when required.

Question 3: How do you merge cells in Excel?

Rationale: This is a question an excel expert for hire should be able to answer.

Answer: The simple way to merge cells is by selecting the cells that need to be merged and use the “Merge and Center” option in the Alignment group. Selecting “Center Across the selection” will take care of some formatting issues associated with “Merge and center”.

Question 4: How would you highlight cells with negative values?

Rationale: This may be used by data analysts and financial analysts.

Answer 4: I use conditional formatting. We select the relevant cells, click on the conditional formatting option on the home tab. We then select the “Highlight Cell Rules” and click on the “Less than” option to specify values as 0 and the formatting.

Question 5: What is the order of operations used in the Excel Formula?

Rationale: It is challenges knowledge of Excel and challenges Mathematical thinking.

Answer: Excel formula uses PEMDAS i.e. Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction.

Question 6: What does VLOOKUP do?

Rationale: This question will let you explore the in-depth knowledge of the candidate./

Answer: VLookup is a function that allows us to look up and aggregate data from the other sheets into columns and tables. This helps to show certain relationships and insights.

Question 7: What are the limitation of VLOOKUP?

Rationale: This helps to demonstrate critical thinking useful in analytical roles.

Answer: The major drawback of VLookUP is that it can be broken easily. Any shifting of columns to add new data impacts column index number and the formula needs to be applied.

Question 8: How do you use Pivot tables?

Rationale: Pivot table is an important feature in Excel and is frequently used by professionals.

Answer: Pivot table is an essential tool to summarize, aggregate, reorganize groups, sort, count, average, or compute data stored across the database.

Question 9: What is the difference between function and formula in Excel?

Rationale: This is a question anyone offering Excel pro services should be able to answer.

Answer: Formula is a user-defined expression to calculate a value. Formulas give us the flexibility to have complex and multiple functions. A function is a pre-defined built-in operation that can take a specified number of arguments.

Question 10: What are the top 5 functions of Excel?

Rationale: An excel expert will be using the top 5 questions while using Excel.

Answer: There is over 450 function in excel. The top 5 functions of Excel are,

• VLOOKUP
• COUNTIF
• SUMIF
• IFERROR
• INDEX / MATCH