I finally got my Alteryx Core Designer certification after taking the exam a second time. This was a great experience that reminded me that when we fail, it is up to us to either give up or learn from the failure and start again. We first took the certification exam during the 3rd week of training. Despite the Prep Guide and other resourceful preparation material, I must say that I was not fully prepared for this exam. However, it was a good thing to do because it helped me better understand the content and format of the exam. My first advice to anyone is to take the exam anytime as it is part of the learning process and it can be retaken 7 days after any failed attempt. ‘Give it a try and learn’.
After the first trial, I realized that time management and an understanding of the tools covered in the exam are key. The exam is composed of 80 questions; 73 MCQs (1 point each) and 7 practical questions (3 points each) with a duration of 2 hrs. It is crucial to spend at most a minute on each 1 point question and 3 minutes on the practical ones. Prepare for the MCQs by learning the tools. The example for each tool, found in Alteryx, was very helpful to me. Also there is a Prep guide on the Alteryx Community website that I found extremely resourceful. Doing the challenges listed on there helped me get a grasp of the tools. The exam is open book, which is great for answering questions that are not easily found in the preparation material. Avoid counting on this to answer basic questions about tools, it will only slow you down. To easily approach practical questions, “more and more weekly challenges”. You would know faster which tool to use and how to configure it for the desired output. The challenges are also harder than most of the practical questions, so this sets your level of 'difficulty' high.
In summary, the combination of my first attempt and further practice was key to my success. Try as many ‘basic’ challenges as you can. Read through the examples of the tools in Alteryx. Give the exam a try and if you don’t make it the first time, no worries. You have another week to prepare. Or whenever you are ready.