The PowerPoint CHAMPION
MOS World Championship winner Pattarapong Tantikowit beat students from 28 countries to place fifirst
When looking at the CVs of fresh first-jobbers these days, it’s not uncommon t o see “proficiency in Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint” under the “technological skills” requirements. For most people, this simply communicates their familiarity with the programs in question — and many people think everyone can use MS Word or PowerPoint.
But some people, like MOS World Championship winner Pattarapong Tantikowit, have the certificates, trophies and US$7,000 (230,000 baht) prize money to back that up.
“I’ve heard about the competition since I was in high school, but never actually thought about competing in it myself,” said Pattarapong, a 2nd-year student at Rangsit University’s College of Information and Communication Technology.
Pattarapong was one among three Thai students who won awards at the recent MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist) World Championship, an international student competition that tests participants’ proficiency in the use of Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint. This year’s event was held at the Disneyland Hotel at Anaheim, California, where Pattarapong placed first in the PowerPoint 2016 competition, beating students from 28 countries and winning the prize for Thailand.
“I’ve never competed in PowerPoint, though I used to compete a lot in website-making, app-making, film editing and more common computer-skill competitions. When a professor approached me to represent Thailand on an international level, I knew I had to do it. I would be representing my country and that’s not an opportunity many people can claim, so I felt like I had to join. I was also more than a little curious how someone could compete in PowerPoint.”
Pattarapong’s path to glory began with a competition in Rangsit University, which was meant to find the university’s representative for the competition.
“I had to compete with more than 100 students from the university, some of whom are more experienced than me. I didn’t have any expectations for my first year, just wanted to see what it was like before going for it seriously next year. It was actually quite a happy surprise that I was chosen.”
Taking a semester off from school to train, Pattarapong spent up to three months learning about the intricacies of PowerPoint. According to him, participants are given 50 minutes to complete a list of tasks using PowerPoint, with scores given out for accuracy and speed. This meant learning and memorising every shortcut-command on the program, as well as all the terms, names and colour codes involved.
“Scrolling through a list looking for a specific theme name or colour is a waste of time in the competition,” he said.
“I had to practice completing various tasks as I didn’t know which would be used for the competition. This also meant improving my English as the competition assignments are in English. I also had to get my MOS Certification, which you have to pass before qualifying for the competition.”
His hard work paid off, too. Pattarapong finished all his tasks within 15 minutes, well ahead of the runner-up, who reportedly took more than 20. While not necessarily applicable to his dream career as a programmer in the future, Pattarapong believes that in the technology-driven society of the future, no kind of tech-proficiency will go to waste, even with programs as simple as Word or PowerPoint.
“Most people probably don’t think it’s necessary to know every single keyboard shortcut to use PowerPoint and that’s true. But it’s never a waste to become even more efficient and familiar with the tools you are using. These days, technology is innovated at an ever-accelerating pace. People who have skills in the use of any technology are in high demand and I think there is more respect for those with these kinds of skills than ever before.”
I would be representing my country and that’s not an opportunity many people can claim