How to Prepare for Tableau Certification Exam
This article is written for all users who are not familiar with Tableau certifications and for those professionals who have decided and have plans to appear for Tableau certification exam soon.
In this article, we shall first introduce the basics of Tableau Certifications like how the exam is conducted, what are the do’s and don’ts and then gradually we shall focus on a comprehensive approach which will help you to prepare for real exam of any of the Tableau product.
We are going to discuss details in the following sequence
- Available Tableau Certifications
- How Tableau conducts the exam
- Understand Exam Pattern
- Why People Fail in Tableau Exam
- Tips to Pass Tableau in First Attempt.
Available Tableau Certifications
Currently Tableau has two type of certifications. They have certifications for Tableau professionals working in Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server and secondly they have certifications designed especially for professionals working for Tableau partners.
Here is a full list of all Tableau certifications.
For Tableau Desktop Professionals
- Tableau Desktop Specialist
- Tableau Desktop Certified Associate
- Tableau Desktop Certified Professional
- For Tableau Server Professionals
- Tableau Server Certified Associate
- Server Certified Professional
For Tableau Partners’ Professionals
- Tableau Certified Associate Consultant
- Tableau Certified Associate Architect
Article below focuses mainly on Tableau certifications available for professionals, In order to read more about Partner certifications, visit Tableau.
How Tableau Takes the Exam
Tableau provides option to book and take exams online, you can take exam from anywhere. You just need to book your through Loyalist exam Services where you need to create an account and select the appointment for your exam. Screenshot of Loyalist exam services website is given below for your reference.
Important point to note is that all Tableau exams are monitored by a proctor and for all the duration of your exam, your camera will be ON and proctor will be monitoring you till you finish your exam.
Once you purchase a Tableau exam, you have six months to take this exam.
Understand Exam Pattern
Exam Prep Guide
For every Tableau exam, they have provide an exam prep guide which contains the list of topics along with its weightage. You must go through your tableau certification exam related prep guide as a first step and analyze your strong and weak areas for better preparation.
Follow the Guideline
For each of the Tableau certification exams, Tableau has recommended the suggested experience with the product and also they have mentioned the courses and skills they expect the professionals to equip with. All information is discussed in detail in our article which you can study to enhance your exposure about Tableau Certification Exam requirements.
Understand Exam Anatomy
We have done a detailed study for each certifications exam and have recommended the expected number of questions from each section. This study will be very much helpful in managing your time allocation while preparing for your exam.
This will go a long in making perfect plan for your preparation. You can divide your time for a topic based on its share among theory and scenario based questions.
Exam detailed formats are discussed in our posts Tableau Specialist Certification Exam Questions , Tableau Desktop Associate Exam Questions and Tableau Server Certification Exam Questions.
Why People Fail in Tableau Exam
Here is a list of few reasons why people fail in Tableau exams
Over confidence
I have seen many Professionals failing in Tableau exams due to overconfidence, so even if you are having many years of working experience in Tableau but still you must go through exam prep guide and understand the weightage of each section and your strength in that specific area.
Time Management
Some students have complained about the shortage of time. Time passes swiftly when you are stuck in some scenario based questions and unable to conclude the result. Best technique is to scan the question and if you find it tricky, skip such question and leave it for the last.
Ignoring Theory Section
It is also a common observation that people fail with very little margin. I believe that major contributor in it is theoretical questions. Most of people who attempt Tableau certification exams are already working in Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server so they assume that they will perform well in the exam and ignore to read the theory.
Tableau certifications exams cover a wide spread of course outline so one must give due importance to theory as well. In order to cover the theory part, it is recommended to scan the product help book.
Preparation Resources
Most of the people rely on Free Tableau videos, and available free practice questions. Nothing wrong in it but for each Tableau certification exam, Tableau has recommended Help Books which should be downloaded as per version mention on Tableau certification page. It should be thoroughly scanned at least once before appearing the exam.
Less Practice
Each Tableau prep exam book contains some Tableau certification sample questions but as a ground reality this is just an indication. Real exam question are much difficult and trickier than the ones given in the prep guides.
So it is very much recommended to do extensive practice. You can find many free resources for Tableau Certification Dumps and Tableau certification exam questions which will help while your real exam and enhance your exposure.
Tips to Pass Tableau in First Attempt
These are some of the tips which you can consider to pass Tableau Certification Exam in first attempt.
Familiarize yourself with exam
Tableau has given discrete information for every certification, once you have made up your mind to select your next exam, make sure to read exam prep guide in detail. Analyze the weightage and possible numbers of questions which can come in the exam. Check your knowledge and preparation topic wise, this way, you will get an action plan for how to proceed.
Prioritize the Study Material
Tableau recommends some free study material which covers the contents mentioned in the prep guide. Following items are recommended by Tableau
- Free How-To Training Videos
- Tableau Product Support
- Tableau Product Help
- Visual Analysis Best Practices Guidebook
As per our experience, you should start from Free How to videos and then you should focus on Tableau Product Help, these are very comprehensive books and covers the theory part mentioned in the exams.
Gauge your exam readiness
Remember that your focus should always be according to the exam prep guide, once you are done with your exam preparation or you start feeling better across all topics mentioned in the exam prep guide, go ahead to validate your knowledge from free quizzes and available on various sites.
Try for complete practice exams
In case you need score good in free exams, go ahead to take some Tableau certification mock Tests to have a full round of exam simulation.
Get Tableau Certification is a great platform where you can find Tableau certification dumps including Tableau Desktop Specialist Certification Dumps, Tableau Desktop Certified Associate Dumps as well as Tableau Server Certified Associate dumps .
Step by step videos of questions and solutions give you unique experience of exam practice and strengthen your concepts.
Recommended Action Plan
Your Tableau Certification Exam results does not depend on your luck, it totally depends on your action plan and approach which you follow to prepare.
Here is a a recommended action plan.
1. Start from exam prep guide
2. Analyze the topics, measure your strength and weaknesses
3. Assess your knowledge by some free quizzes
4. Study and prepare
5. Take Tableau Certifications Mock Tests once you feel fully prepared
6. Improve the highlighted areas
7. Go ahead for real exam with confidence and get a good Luck.