PerfectXL Consultancy
Jan Karel Pieterse
Microsoft Excel MVP
Jan Karel is one of the most experienced and prolific Excel users in the world. He has been a Microsoft MVP for 20 years now and is respected in the community of Excel users worldwide. He’s also down to earth, hardworking, personable, and has a natural formality which really makes you feel like you are talking to one of the greats when you hear his perspectives. He specializes in validating models and in VBA code, I interviewed him to learn more about him not only professionally but also personally.
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Who is Jan Karel?
I asked Jan Karel about his past, his history in the workplace, his hobbies, all of that was great and we will get to it, but what really struck me as core to his character is his desire to help people. It sounds a bit cliché, but he also gained his title of MVP in large part due to his active presence on forums. Seeing the issues people run into with Excel and being able to help them out of a tough spot seems to give Jan Karel a real sense of fulfillment. I don’t think this stops at forums with faceless people struggling to make their VLOOKUP work properly, it’s also reflected in how he handles consultancy. An ability to empathize and gain insight into the problems a company or team is running into, and then solving those issues through proficiency is something Jan Karel excels at (excuse the pun)!
Why Excel?
Jan Karel started and studied as a chemical engineer, he even did some research on how to produce DVD’s. In that field huge amounts of data are involved and he used tools like Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro pro before the company introduced Microsoft and thereby Excel. He loved Excel from the start and soon became quite proficient. When the time came for a career change in 2003 he had built up enough experience with Excel that he decided to start a consultancy firm and has not looked back since.
“Jan Karel is a real Excel & VBA expert. In a short time JK managed to analyse the problem/assignment. The developed solution was of a high quality standard and met all expectations (quality, time and budget).”
Eric Dijcks,
Director of client services, RGP
How you deal with problems?
I asked Jan Karel how he deals with issues that come up in his day to day work. He told me about a compatibility issue with one of the add-ins he’s developed. A name manager that he offers for free from his website, which was not working on some versions of Excel due to an actual bug in VBA (the language the tool is written in). Of course the tool is free, he could have easily accepted the bug as it wasn’t his fault but rather a bug in the language he was using to program. Instead he found a way (using a lot of code) to solve the issue for one individual international user of the tool. This shows his approach to issues, he faces them head on and he’s willing to roll up his sleeves and solve them regardless of how the originate. This also again shows his willingness to help others, he puts in the time and effort to produce the best work he possibly can.
Why should you reach out to JKP?
Jan Karel really is a great person to work with, reliable, committed, and so incredibly proficient in Excel I can’t imagine why he would not be suited to any Excel related task. You can also download some of his free add-ins and read his blog on his website: https://jkp-ads.com/
Any questions for Jan Karel or for us?
If you have any questions for us at PerfectXL we’re happy to help, or to get you in contact with Jan Karel. Just fill out the form below:
