Acing the Alteryx Core Exam

Death, Taxes, and... Exams. The three certainties of life. Although I'm definitely on the younger end of the spectrum in terms of Data Schoolers (Currently 22 years old, Boston University Class of 2022), I haven't taken an exam in well over a year. Throughout my primary/secondary education, I always prided myself on being a calm, collected test-taker. I was never someone who got super nervous before taking tests–no matter how important the test was. I will admit that this generally "nonchalant" attitude may have had a negative effect on my performance from time to time (oops). However, I'm a firm believer that when it comes to preparing for a test, simply "not freaking out" does much more for your success than catastrophizing/obsessing about being perfect on every individual concept. With all of this being said, here are my tips for acing the Alteryx Core Exam.

1) Do your due diligence - There's a MASSIVE difference between freaking out about the exam because you're being too much of a perfectionist vs. freaking out about the exam because you genuinely don't know anything. If you're experiencing the latter–then yeah, you probably should be freaking out. However, if you're in the data school, it's hard to be unprepared. In my opinion, all you really have to do (to get a passing score) is pay attention and ask questions during the Alteryx classes/sessions. Your coaches are your coaches for a reason–they want to do everything that they can to help you succeed. Listen to them and learn from them! (BTW I wasn't paid to say this lol)

2) Don't dwell on questions - In my opinion, the biggest thing to keep in mind with the Alteryx core exam is the time limit. I think 80 questions in 150 minutes is manageable, but only if you are using all of your time wisely.

Here's how I think about it:                                                                                               150 minutes / 80 questions = 1.875 minutes per question. Therefore, if I'm on question W, then I should have at least:                                                                         150 - (1.875*W) minutes left to complete the exam.                                                         Use this formula to track your progress!                                                        

Essentially, if you realize that you've been stuck on a question for more than 2 minutes, flag it and move on. So if you're on question 41 and you only have 50 minutes left to finish the test, then you've probably done a poor job with time management. I know how easy it can be to tunnel vision on a specific question, but it is IMPERATIVE to be actively thinking about time management before AND during the exam.  There is definitely some flexibility here, so don't take this as law, but just a general rule of thumb.

3) Google is your friend - You have to remember that this exam is open book/open notes/open Alteryx/open internet! This means that Googling questions is allowed. Do with that information what you will.

4) Utilize text input in Alteryx - I'm a huge visual learner and I'm sure many of you are as well. However, many of the questions on the Alteryx exam are asked in a theoretical/conceptual manner. For example, they might ask something like, "Given the following table: (picture of table) and the following 'Summarize Tool' conditions: (picture of conditions), what output should I expect?" While yes, it's possible to get to the correct answer by thinking through this question conceptually, it's a whole lot easier to remake the exact table/conditions in Alteryx using the "Text Input Tool". After this, simply click "Run" and Voila! The exact answer should be right in front of you. The only downside to this technique is that it could be slightly more time-consuming than just using your head, but if you're a relatively quick typer, you should be okay.

5) WORRYING DOES NOT TAKE AWAY TOMORROW'S TROUBLES, IT TAKES AWAY TODAY'S PEACE

Author:
Tyler Ha
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