Microsoft Office Interview Preparation Guide

Download PDF

Word calls this feature "Click and Type". All it does is automatically insert enough blank paragraphs and possibly a tab to position the insertion point, then you can start typing or insert a graphic. To use Click and Type:

1. Make sure that Click and Type is turned on: Choose Options from the Tools menu, click the Edit tab, select the Enable click and type check box, and then click OK.
2. Switch to Print Layout view or Web Layout (on the View menu or use the little toolbar in the lower left corner of the screen).
3. In the document, move the pointer to a blank area where you want to insert text, graphics, or a table.
4. Click to enable the Click and Type pointer.
5. The pointer shape indicates how the item will be aligned (left, center, or right, depending on where you place the pointer).
6. Double-click, and then start typing text or insert an item as usual.

If you choose Tools from the Options menu, then click on the General tab, you can select two check boxes that will help you learn the equivalent Word commands. Help for WordPerfect users displays instructions or demonstrates a Word equivalent when you press a WordPerfect for DOS key combination. Navigation keys for WordPerfect users changes the function of Page Up, Page Down, Down Arrow, Home, End, and Esc to their WordPerfect equivalents. Note: If you did not install WordPerfect Help when you installed Word, Word will ask you for your install CD the first time you try a WordPerfect key combination.

Note: If you are an experienced Word user, you may find Word's behavior annoying if you enable either of these features. For example, if you press the Delete key to delete a block of text, you have to confirm the delete by pressing the Y key (similar to what happens in WordPerfect when you delete a block of text).

Word is usually setup to open WordPerfect 5.1 files without doing anything special. You may have to change the Files of type setting in the Open dialog box to All Files (*.*), as Word is usually set to look for Word Documents (*.doc). There are more text converters and graphics filters on the Office install CD, including one for WordPerfect 6.x (WordPerfect 6/7/8/9 use the same file format). WordPerfect files may include WordPerfect Graphics files, so you should also install the WordPerfect Graphics Filters. To install text converters and graphics filters for WordPerfect:

1. Insert your Office or Word CD #1.
2. Setup may start automatically when you insert the CD; if not, choose Start > Run > Browse (on the Windows Taskbar) then locate the CD and double-click on setup.exe.
3. Choose Add or Remove Features.
If you're not familiar with the Microsoft Office install/update procedure, click the Help button before you go on to the next step and read the Help screen.
4. Open the Converters and Filters list.
5. Open the Text Converters list.
6. Choose WordPerfect 6.x Converter, and select Run from My Computer.
7. Open the Graphics Filters list.
8. Choose WordPerfect Graphics Filters, and select Run from My Computer.
9. Click on the Update Now button.

You can also install more text converters and graphics filters by choosing the items you want from the Text Converters and Graphics Filters lists before you click the Update Now button. If you want to simply install all of the available text converters and graphics filters, choose Run from My Computer at step 4 above, instead of selecting particular items from the lists.

The "Reveal Codes" as implemented in WordPerfect are nowhere to be found. [EMPHASIS]Not there; sorry ... get over it.[emphasis]

1. Choose Save As from the File menu.
2. In the Save as type box, select the file type you want to use.

If you're not sure what file type will work (such as when you are sending a document to someone else) choose Rich Text Format (*.rtf) or WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS (*.doc). All recent word processing programs for Windows or Macintosh can read either of these formats. However, the conversion is sometimes not perfect and any formatting Word cannot convert will be discarded.

Yes. Word has a Save as Web Page command on the File menu. In addition, there is an Insert Hyperlink button on the Standard toolbar, as well as two additional toolbars for the web: Web and Web Tools. To activate these toolbars, choose Toolbars from the View menu. If you save a Word document as a web page, Word includes XML (Extensible Markup Language) tags, which enhances the format of the web page, but may cause problems with some web browsers (pages created with Word probably work best when viewed with the current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer).

You can download an HTML filter for Word 2000 that will allow you to Export as Compact HTML (compact HTML removes most of the XML tags). When you save a Word document as a web page, the formatting is converted into the appropriate HTML code (although some formatting will not be displayed on the web page exactly as it appeared in Word).

NOTE: The Save as HTML command in Word 97 creates much cleaner HTML than the later versions of Word. If you own a copy, you can install it along with a newer version on one machine: Just do a custom install of Word 97 and place it in a unique directory. If you run Word 97, the newer version of Word will quickly "reinstall" itself next time you start it.

To combine several relatively simple documents into a single document, repeat the following procedure until all of the individual documents have been combined. The original documents are unaffected by this procedure.

1. Start a new, blank document.
2. Choose File from the Insert menu.
3. Browse to the document you want to insert.
4. Select the document, then click Insert.
5. Usually, you will want to insert a page break after each file you insert: Choose Break from the Insert menu, select Page break, then click OK.

Some attributes of the documents you insert after the first one may be lost (e.g., margins, headers, and footers). Once you get all the documents combined, you can work on finishing up document formatting details, page numbering, etc. If your individual documents are more complex, Word's Master- and Sub-document feature is what you need. This feature is too complex for coverage here, but Word's Online Help will get you started.

1. Choose Toolbars from the View menu, then select Mail Merge to display the Mail Merge toolbar.
2. Choose Customize from the Tools menu.
3. In the Customize window, select the Commands tab.
4. Select Mail Merge from the Categories list on the left.
5. Select Insert Mail Merge Field on the right.
6. Drag Insert Mail Merge Field to the Mail Merge toolbar and position it to the left of the Insert Word Field button.
7. Release the mouse button (the Insert Merge Field button will appear on the toolbar).
8. If you don't need the Mail Merge toolbar now, choose Toolbars from the View menu, then select Mail Merge to hide the Mail Merge toolbar.

Note: The method of "data exchange" has changed in Word 2003 from older versions of Office. One detail that is different is that the formatting of data from an Excel spreadsheet is lost when documents are merged. One fix is to use formatting "switches" in the merge fields in the main document, which is somewhat confusing. An easier fix is to change the data exchange method back to Dynamic Data Exchange or DDE (the method used in previous versions of Office). This method will apply the formatting in the Excel worksheet to the fields in the merged document.

To make this change:

1. Choose Options from the Tools menu, then select the General tab.
2. Check the Confirm conversion at Open box.
3. Click OK.
4. When you select your Data Source document, Word will prompt you to Confirm Data Source. Choose MS Excel Worksheets via DDE (*.xls).

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu.
2. In the Customize window, select the Commands tab.
3. Select All Commands from the Categories list on the left.
4. Select Mail Merge Helper on the right.
5. Drag Mail Merge Helper to the Tools menu (the Tools menu will open). Continue holding the mouse button and drag Mail Merge Helper to the Letters and Mailings menu item (the Letters and Mailings menu will open). Continue holding the mouse and drag Mail Merge Helper to the first position in the list of items.
6. Release the mouse button (Mail Merge will appear on the menu).
7. Click the Close button.

Mail Merge is used to create form letters, mailing labels, or envelopes. One document is the Data Document, which contains all of the names, addresses, or other variable information. This data is merged with the Main Document, resulting in a third document, which has as many sections as there are records in the Data Document.

Click here to download a Word document that includes a simple Mail Merge exercise using the Word 2000 Mail Merge Helper.

Note: Mail Merge in Word XP (2002) and Word 2003 has some important changes and new features. The most obvious include the new Mail Merge Wizard and a different method of data exchange, which affects the formatting of the fields in the merged document. Some helpful information on restoring the Mail Merge Helper and using the Word 2000 data exchange method appear at the end of this section, but if you are using Word 2003, you should read through all of the online Help topics on Mail Merge.

To create a set of merge documents, choose Mail Merge from the Tools menu (Word XP/2003 users: choose Letters and Mailings from the Tools menu first). This will start the Mail Merge Helper, which will guide you through the three-step process:

1. Create the Main Document (Form Letter, Mailing Label, or Envelope).
2. Specify a Data Source (create from scratch or use an existing document, which is usually a Word table or an Excel spreadsheet).
3. Merge the Data Source with the Main Document.

Note: Merge Documents is a command on the Tools menu that allows you to merge comments and changes from several reviewers into one document. This command is related to the Track Changes feature and has nothing to do with Mail Merge.

Note: Word XP and Word 2003 use a new feature called the Mail Merge Wizard to guide you through the merge process. If you want to try the Mail Merge Wizard in Word XP/2003, choose Mail Merge Wizard from the Letters and Mailings menu. The directions appear in the task pane on the right side of the screen. If you prefer the Word 2000 Mail Merge Helper, you can be add it to the Word XP/2003 Tools menu using the Customize feature.

Yes, but it can be a bit confusing at first. If you have a casually formatted document that you want to turn into an outline, you will have to do a lot of reformatting. If you start a new document, then switch to Outline view (Outline on the View menu), you'll see the Outlining toolbar, which has tools for outlining (PowerPoint users will find this toolbar familiar). Another option is the Outline Numbered list.

A template determines the overall structure of a document and can include text, graphics, styles, macros, etc. When you start a new document by clicking on the New button on the Standard toolbar, it is based on the Normal template (see What is the Normal Template?). To use the other templates included with Word:

1. Choose New from the File menu.
2. In Word 2000, click on the tab in the New dialog box to select a category. In Word XP/2003, the templates appear in the task pane on the right side of the screen.

Note: Blank Document creates a document based on the Normal template.

3. Click once on a template or wizard icon to see a preview in the New dialog box.
4. Click OK to create a document based on the template you selected.

The easiest way is to open the chart in Excel, copy it, then paste it into your Word document. You may have to resize the chart after you get it into Word. To resize the chart:

1. Choose Object from the Format menu.
2. The Format Object dialog box has Size tab.
The Layout tab has options for setting the flow of text around the chart.

You can also insert the chart as a linked or embedded object. A linked chart stores the data in the original Excel worksheet. If you edit the spreadsheet, the changes are reflected in the linked chart in Word. An embedded chart is stored in the Word document. To create a linked or embedded chart:

1. Choose Object from the Insert menu.
2. Click the Create from File tab.
3. Enter the file name, or use the Browse button to locate the file. An embedded object is created if you don't check the Link to file check box.

When you create an embedded object from an existing Microsoft Excel workbook, the entire workbook is inserted into your document. The document displays only one worksheet at a time. To display a different worksheet, double-click the Microsoft Excel object, and then click a different worksheet.

The Word Help on this topic is a little confusing. A watermark is a picture inserted in the header, then formatted so that it appears as a faint background image behind the text in the document. To insert a watermark:

1. Go to the Zoom box on the standard toolbar or the Zoom item on the View menu and reduce the view to 50% (this just makes things easier to see).

OPTIONAL: If you only want the watermark on the first page, choose Page Setup from the File menu, then click on the Layout tab. Under Headers and Footers, check the Different first page checkbox.

2. Choose Headers and Footers from the View menu.
3. Insert the graphic for your watermark (see How do I put a picture in my document?).
4. The Picture toolbar should appear on your screen. If you don't see it, click once on the picture you just inserted. Your graphic must remain selected for the remaining steps.
5. On the Picture toolbar, click on the Image Control button, then select Watermark (this will make the graphic look washed out).

OPTIONAL: You can convert the graphic to grayscale by selecting Grayscale on the Image Control menu. If you want to adjust the contrast or brightness, there are buttons on the Picture toolbar. If want to apply both the Watermark and the Grayscale attribute, you have to click OK to apply the first one, then go back into

6. CRUCIAL STEP: On the Picture toolbar, click on the Text Wrapping button and select Behind Text. If you don't do this, you get a big graphic in the header that doesn't work as a watermark (this step is not clear in the Word Help topic on watermarks).
7. Now, you can resize the graphic, drag it around on the page, or any other picture formatting you want to do.
8. Close the Header and Footer view by clicking on the Close button on the Header and Footer toolbar. If your graphic is not visible on the screen, choose Print Layout from the View menu. You can now edit your document as usual.

To insert an image file into your document:

1. Choose Picture from the Insert menu.
1. Choose Clip Art for the built-in clips, locate a clip in one of the clip categories, click on the clip, then click on the first icon in the pop-up menu (this is the Insert Clip button). The Clip Gallery may seem confusing, especially if you used Clip Art in previous versions of Office. Once you are in Clip Art, you can press F1 for help on using the Clip Gallery.
2. To insert a file you have saved on your computer, Choose File, locate the file, then click Insert.

To change the flow of text around a graphic object:

1. Select the picture.
2. Choose Picture from the Format menu.
3. The Layout tab has several options; the other tabs (Colors and Lines, Size, and Picture) allow you to make some changes to the graphic object.

Another method is to simply copy a picture you have open in a graphics application, then paste it into your Word document.

You can see a list of synonyms by right-clicking on a word, then choosing Synonyms from the menu. Unfortunately, some types of formatting disable this feature. For example, if the word is in a bullet or numbered list item, the synonym option does not appear when you right-click.

If all or part of your document gets flagged as being in a language for which you do not have a dictionary installed, the Speller skips over those parts. Also, it appears that Word will sometimes flag documents created by other programs for "no proofing". If Word will not check your spelling, make sure the Speller is using the English dictionary and that none of the text is flagged for proofing in another language (or not at all):

1. Select the entire document
2. Choose Language from the Tools menu, then choose Set Language.
3. Select U.S. English.
4. Make sure the Do not check spelling and grammar check box is NOT checked.
5. Click OK.

1. Select the block of text you want the Speller to skip.
2. Choose Language from the Tools menu, then choose Set Language.
3. Check the Do not check spelling and grammar check box.
4. Click OK. When the Speller is finished, you'll see the message: The spelling and grammar check is complete. Text marked with "Do not check spelling and grammar" was skipped.

Select the text you want to proof, then choose Language from the Tools menu. Select Set Language, then choose the language from the list. The Speller and other proofing tools use the dictionaries for the selected language, if they are available. If you click on the Default button, you can set the default language to the one you selected from the list. Word 2000 and XP come with dictionaries for English, Spanish, and French. Proofing tools for other languages can be obtained from a licensed reseller.

Indexes can get complicated. It is recommended that you read through all of the information in Help about indexes, then decide how to proceed. Here are the steps for creating a simple index: Mark an index entry:

1. Select the text to mark as an index entry.
2. Choose Index and Tables (or Reference, then Index and Tables) from the Insert menu, then click the Index tab, or press Alt+Shift+X.

Mark the all index entries, then generate the index:

1. Place the cursor at location for the index (usually a new last page), then open the Index dialog box.
2. Click on OK to create the index.

If you edit your document after creating the index, you will have to update it:

1. Click to the left of the index you want to update.
2. Press F9.

Note: When you update the index, any text or formatting you added to the finished index or table is lost.

Word has a feature that will generate a table of contents for your document. However, you must format your chapter or section headings with certain "heading styles" that Word uses to determine the text for the table of contents entry, as well as the page number where that section or chapter begins. To mark a chapter or section heading so it will appear in your table of contents:

1. Select the chapter or section heading.
2. Choose Heading 1 from the Styles list on the Formatting toolbar.
For subheadings, choose Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.

When you have finished typing your document, you can generate your table of contents:

1. Place the cursor where you want to insert the table of contents.
2. Choose Index and Tables (or Reference, then Index and Tables) from the Insert menu
3. Select Table of Contents tab, then and select the style you want.
4. Choose OK to insert the table of contents into your document.

If you edit your document after creating the table of contents, you will have to update it:

1. Click to the left of the table of contents you want to update.
2. Press F9.

Note: When you update the table of contents, any text or formatting you added to the finished index or table is lost.

1. Choose Insert from the Table menu.
2. Select Table to display the Insert Table dialog box.
3. Set the number of columns and rows under Table Size (you can also make other table format selections under AutoFit Behavior and by clicking on the AutoFormat button).

Use the other options on the Table menu to change the appearance of your table once it has been created. There is also an Insert Table button on the Standard toolbar that allows you to create a table by clicking and dragging through a grid to specify the number of rows and columns for the table. Click here to download a Word document that describes tables in more detail.

You can use sections to vary the layout of a document within a page or between pages. Just insert section breaks to divide the document into sections, and then format each section the way you want. To create sections and section breaks:

1. Place the cursor where you want the section to begin.
2. Choose Break from the Insert menu.
3. Under Section break types, click the option that describes where you want the new section to begin.

Once you have sections defined, then commands that ordinarily would affect the whole document can be applied only to the current section. For example, the Page Setup command (on the File menu) has an Apply to: list the allows you to select This Section, This point forward, or Whole document.

If you are asking this question, you have probably typed text then spaces in an attempt to make columns. This will only work if you use a "fixed-width" font (e.g., Courier). This method is not advised, and you are likely to have other problems, especially if you try to change the page margins. If you are trying to make a table, then use the Table command (see How do I create a table?). If you don't want a table, setting tabs may work (see How do I set tabs?).