I want to share with you how I use Microsoft Excel and Word with documents/letters that I write everyday. If you use Microsoft Word on a daily basis, there are some features that might surprise you, like the 'Mailings' tab.
When to use this tab
If you find yourself writing a document over and over again changing only the subject, name, dates and phrases but the body is always the same, this feature will help you a lot. This works well if your job requires you to draft similar documents daily and also keep a record of all at one time.
What you need
You will need a word document template and an excel spreadsheet both in one location on your computer to do this. In this example I'd like to show how you can keep a record of your job application letters.
Here are five easy steps to follow
In this example, I'm using a job application letter.
Step 1:
Find out what details or phrases on your word documents that needs to be changed. In this case its the address, city/town, province, greetings (optional), job title, where the job was advertised and the date.
Step 2:
Create a new workbook in Excel with a table outlining the above listed information as the table headings. Note that it is good practice to have both the word document and excel spreadsheet in one location. Add details you would like to appear on your letter.
Step 3
Go to the Mailings tab on your word document and select the option to select Select Recipients and choose Use an existing list as shown below
Choosing this option will give you a window to choose the 'existing list' from. Browse to your Excel Spreadsheet and select the appropriate sheet that has corresponding information for your letters.
A dialogue box will pop up to allow you to select the appropriate Sheet that you have your list or table in.
Step 4
Highlight the text you would like to replace on your word document with the information from your spreadsheet and select the 'Insert Merge Field' option to match the words/phrases.
After replacing the words with the merge field from the spreadsheet, the letter body should look something like the image below.
Step 5
Click on the preview option and you can navigate through each letter to confirm if all details are correct.
To save each letters, simply click on Finish & Merge and save your letters!
I hope you find some useful tips to make your work easier. I write a ton of different business letters daily and I find this method very useful as I can quickly change details and is easy to cross check details on a spreadsheet rather than on the word document itself. You will also have a record of all the documents you've written!
I've created a video on how I used this particular example. (You might need to adjust the quality to HD to see in detail)
Please share with your friends and family if you find it useful.
Find out more at Microsoft
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