I recently took the Tableau Data Analyst certification exam and would like to share my thoughts on my experience, preparation and I will give you some tips for passing the exam.
My experience
First of all, you need to decide where you want to take the exam: online from your computer or at a testing center. Personally, I chose a testing center as my home internet connection is sometimes unreliable. I signed up for the exam five days in advance and got a place at one of the four testing centers in Hamburg. I would recommend to book in advance to have more options.
Arriving at the testing center 30 minutes early, I was able to start the exam immediately after filling out the necessary paperwork. There were six tables in a small room with two people already seated at them.
You are not allowed to bring anything with you - no paper, no watch, no water. I put my belongings in the storage boxes provided.
The exam was on a bit outdated computer, but it worked without problems. It had keyboards for German and English, which allowed me to select the option I wanted. However, during the practice segment, the virtual machine would occasionally freeze up, which made it a bit awkward to switch between the tasks and the Tableau worksheet.
The exam is designed to be 120 minutes of 55 questions, but I managed 20 minutes before the time ran out. The exam has 3 sections and you are not allowed to switch between them. But you can mark some questions you want to review and review them before moving on to the next section.
Immediately after finishing the exam, I received my results. I passed!
How to prepare
I dedicated the day before the exam to thorough preparation. To make sure you are well prepared, I recommend following these steps:
- Refer to the guide to identify areas in which you need to refresh your knowledge.
- Take the free practice exam simulation
- Read questions related to Tableau Server: publish on Tableau Server, create subscriptions or alerts, export content
- Learn functions such as FIRST(), LAST(), LOOKUP(), and RANK().
- Know the difference in “Compute using” in “Quick table calculations”
- Know when you need to add filters to the context
Tips:
- Sometimes just guess and delete answers that 100% won't pass
- There is more than enough time
- The practical part is quite easy compared to the theory
- If it is difficult to answer, you can mark the question and come back to it a little later
- Do not forget to save your Tableau workbook after completing each practical task
Good luck on the exam!