The advancement of technology within all aspects of everyday life and business activities has put a strong emphasis on digital skills in the current education sector and in the job market, making their value indisputable. This is supported by a variety of independent research sources that rank skills in Microsoft Office among the top attributes required by employers today.
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certifications are a great way for students to not only develop these crucial digital skills required by employers, but to show that they are competent and accomplished in the tools and working methodologies that businesses need workers to use on a daily basis.
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is one of the foremost social science universities in the world. Since 1995 they’ve been bringing together the brightest minds to rigorously study, understand and debate all aspects of social experience with the vision of making the world a better place.
In 2014 LSE’s Information Management and Technology Division continued on this mission by offering the MOS certification programmes to LSE staff and students. For the students, the focus was to further validate their skills and prepare them for professional life. However, as well as the developmental benefits of working towards a MOS Certification, there was also the opportunity for some healthy competition and fantastic prizes through the MOS World Championship! Harmish Mehta (LLB, Law), began MOS certification for the simple fact that it was offered within the institution. He worked hard at improving his digital skills and was soon rewarded for his efforts. Harmish’s MOS Excel score meant that he had qualified as one of the top 10 students in the country and was invited to take part in the UK MOS Championship Finals.
The UK Final brought together the finalists (from Excel and Word) at an event hosted by Microsoft at their London Paddington offices. The finalists sat an exam in their qualifying category and two UK Champions (Word and Excel) were determined based on these results. Harmish’s digital skills earned him 1st place and the crown of UK Excel Champion. His prize was a chance to compete against students from across the globe in the MOS World Championships in Orlando, Florida and have a well-deserved holiday!
Harmish recalls the first few exams and the impact it had on his productivity, “After my first exam, I began to reap the benefits and I found the new things I’d learned were actually really useful. The more exams I prepared for and passed, the more productive I was being with Office applications“. Andrew Griggs UK Country Manager, Prodigy Learning complimented Harmish’s success “Congratulations to Harmish and the other World Champions. These students can be proud of joining a very small, elite group“. This success not only showcases the importance of future-ready skills in an ever-changing digital environment but provides students like Harmish with the opportunity to compete and have the chance to win a once in a lifetime prize.
