🧑‍💼 Interviewer: What's the difference between VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP in Excel?

👨‍💻 Me: VLOOKUP searches vertically down columns (great for column-based data like employee lists), while HLOOKUP searches horizontally across rows (ideal for row-based setups like category headers).

✔ Key Differences:
– VLOOKUP: Looks for a value in the first column of a range, returns from the same row in a specified column—syntax: =VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup]). Use for vertical data; e.g., find salary by ID in a table.
– HLOOKUP: Looks for a value in the first row of a range, returns from the same column in a specified row—syntax: =HLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, row_index_num, [range_lookup]). Use for horizontal data; e.g., pull metrics by month across a header row.

📌 Example:
Vertical sales table (IDs in col A, amounts in B): VLOOKUP(ID, A:B, 2, FALSE) gets amount.
Horizontal (months in row 1, sales in row 2): HLOOKUP("Jan", 1:3, 2, FALSE) gets Jan sales.

💡 VLOOKUP's more common (90% of lookups), but both support exact (FALSE) or approx (TRUE) matches—switch to XLOOKUP in modern Excel for bidirectional flexibility!

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✅Excel Checklist for Data Analysts 📀🧠

1️⃣ Excel Basics 
▪ Formulas & Functions (SUM, IF, VLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH) 
▪ Cell references: Relative, Absolute & Mixed 
▪ Data types & formatting

2️⃣ Data Manipulation 
▪ Sorting & Filtering data 
▪ Remove duplicates & data validation 
▪ Conditional formatting for insights

3️⃣ Pivot Tables & Charts 
▪ Create & customize Pivot Tables for summaries 
▪ Use slicers & filters in Pivot Tables 
▪ Build charts: Bar, Line, Pie, Histograms

4️⃣ Advanced Formulas 
▪ Nested IF, COUNTIF, SUMIF, AND/OR logic 
▪ Text functions: LEFT, RIGHT, MID, CONCATENATE 
▪ Date & Time functions

5️⃣ Data Cleaning 
▪ Handling blanks/missing values 
▪ TRIM, CLEAN functions to fix data 
▪ Find & replace, Flash fill

6️⃣ Automation 
▪ Macros & VBA basics (record & edit) 
▪ Use formula-driven automation 
▪ Dynamic named ranges for flexibility

7️⃣ Collaboration & Sharing 
▪ Protect sheets & workbooks 
▪ Track changes & comments 
▪ Export data for reporting

8️⃣ Data Analysis Tools 
▪ What-if analysis, Goal Seek, Solver 
▪ Data Tables and Scenario Manager 
▪ Power Query basics (optional)

9️⃣ Dashboard Basics 
▪ Combine Pivot Tables & Charts 
▪ Use form controls & slicers 
▪ Design interactive, user-friendly dashboards

🔟 Practice & Projects 
▪ Analyze sample datasets (sales, finance) 
▪ Automate monthly reporting tasks 
▪ Build a portfolio with Excel files & dashboards

💡 Tips:
⦁ Practice with real datasets to apply functions & Pivot Tables
⦁ Learn shortcuts to boost speed
⦁ Combine Excel skills with Python & SQL for powerful analysis

Excel Learning Resources: 
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaifY548qIzv0u1AHz3i

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