This document provides tips for getting certified in Tableau Desktop. It outlines the three certification paths: Certified Specialist, Certified Associate, and Certified Professional. The Specialist exam is for foundation level knowledge, takes 1 hour, costs $100, and is valid forever. The Associate exam focuses on accuracy, takes 2 hours, costs $250, and is valid for 2 years. The Professional exam focuses on best practices and is 100% hands-on, takes 3 hours, costs $600, and is valid for 3 years. General exam tips include being prepared, managing time well, and celebrating after passing.

1. CERTIFIABLY TABLEAU
Tips to Help You Get Certified in
Tableau Desktop
Sarah Bartlett
NWTUG | June 2021

2. Sarah Bartlett
Senior Consultant @ Slalom
Tableau Zen Master
Tableau Social Ambassador
Co-leader of London TUG
Founder of #IronQuest Project
@sarahlovesdata | sarahlovesdata.co.uk
2

3. My Professional Background
• 12+ years working in analytics
• Tableau user for 7 years
• 4 years consulting experience
• Tableau Certified Associate – 2018
• Tableau Certified Professional – 2019
• Tableau Certified Associate Consultant - 2020
3

4. WHY CERTIFY?
4

5. Benefits of Getting Certified
• Test your knowledge – fill the gaps
• Strengthen your skills
• Prove your Tableau (& data viz) skills
• Boost your CV
• Stand out from the crowd
• Earn badges & swag!

6. Tableau Desktop
Certification Paths

7. 7
CERTIFIED
ASSOCIATE
CERTIFIED
PROFESSIONAL
SPECIALIST
Tableau Desktop
Certification Paths

8. The Specialist Exam

9. • 1 HOUR
• COST: $ 100
• CURRENT VERSION: 2020.1
• 30 X MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
• PASS MARK: 70%
• VALID FOREVER!
9
SPECIALIST EXAM OVERVIEW

10. SPECIALIST EXAM
o No required prerequisites!
o Foundation level (approx. 3 months)
o 30 multi-choice questions:
o 22 x theoretical
o 8 x hands on
o Open book (Google is allowed)
10

11. What Does it Cover?
o Connecting to data sources
o Data manipulation and grouping fields
o Sorting and filtering data
o Building basic chart types
o Create visualizations and building dashboards
o Writing basic calculations, including arithmetic
calculations, custom aggregations and ratios;
and quick table calculations.
11

12. SPECIALIST EXAM TIPS
21

13. EXAM TIPS FROM THE COMMUNITY
o Get hands on in Tableau!
o Utilise a variety of resources – blogs, videos
o Read Christine Rietmann’s blog series: bit.ly/christinetips
o Familiarise yourself with the exam study guide
o Test yourself:
o LearningTableau.com
o Free quizzes
o Udemy
22

14. The Certified
Associate Exam

15. • 2 HOURS
• COST: $ 250
• CURRENT VERSION: 2020.1
• 36 X MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
• PASS MARK: 75%
• VALID FOR 2 YEARS
24
CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE EXAM OVERVIEW

16. CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE EXAM
o No prerequisites
o Suggested product experience : 5 months
o Focus on ACCURACY, rather than the JOURNEY
o 36 x multiple choice questions including;
o Multi-response
o True/False
o Hands-on
25

17. CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE – TOPIC WEIGHTINGS
o Data Connections – 17%
o Organising and Simplifying Data – 10%
o Field and Chart Types – 15%
o Calculations – 18%
o Mapping – 13%
o Analytics – 15%
o Dashboards – 12%
26

18. 27
SUGGESTED LEARNING MATERIALS
o Community projects - #MakeoverMonday. #WorkoutWednesday
o Free Tableau Training Videos
o Udemy Courses by Lukas Halim & LearningTableau.com
o YouTube – Tableau Tim, Andy Kriebel
o Books – Practical Tableau by Ryan Sleeper, The Big Book of Dashboards

19. 28
ASSOCIATE EXAM – THINGS I FOUND USEFUL
o Read the exam study guide
o Sign up to LearningTableau.com
o Complete multiple practice exams
o Identify and focus on weaker areas
o Break the questions down into steps; i.e. filter then visualise
o Areas to focus:
o Trend lines, p-squared and r-values
o Be confident explaining box plots
o LOD calculation use cases

20. The Certified
Professional Exam

21. • 3 HOURS
• COST: $ 600
• CURRENT VERSION: 2020.1
• 100% HANDS ON – NO THEORY QUESTIONS
• PASS / FAIL BASED ON SCORING RUBRIC
• VALID FOR 3 YEARS
30
CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL OVERVIEW

22. 31
CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL EXAM
o Prerequisite: Desktop Certified Associate Certification
o Suggested product experience : 12 months +
o Focus on VISUAL BEST PRACTICES, TECHNICAL SKILLS &
STORYTELLING
o 100% hands-on; short questions, longer scenario-based
questions and storytelling (dashboarding & storypoints)

23. 32
SUGGESTED LEARNING MATERIALS
o Community Projects - #MakeoverMonday, #WorkoutWednesday,
#SWDChallenge, #IronQuest
o Free Tableau Training Videos
o Community Blog Posts
o YouTube – Tableau Tim, Andy Kriebel
o Books – Practical Tableau by Ryan Sleeper, The Big Book of Dashboards
o Whitepaper - Visual Analysis Best Practices: A Guidebook

24. PROFESSIONAL EXAM PREP – MY TIPS
o Read the exam study guide & attempt the practice questions
o Get hands on with Tableau – practice, practice, practice
o Focus on building vizzes, quickly
o Areas to focus:
o Parameters – Top N, measure/sheet swapping
o Nested LOD calculations
o Data Joins & Blends
o Story Points
o Visual Best Practices
33

25. To Recap
34

26. 35
• 1 HOUR
• 30 X MULTI CHOICE
• COSTS $100
• VALID FOREVER
• 2 HOURS
• 36 X MULTI CHOICE
• COSTS $250
• VALID FOR 2 YEARS
• 3 HOURS
• HANDS ON
• COSTS $600
• VALID FOR 3 YEARS
DESKTOP
SPECIALIST
CERTIFIED
ASSOCIATE
CERTIFIED
PROFESSIONAL

27. General Exam Tips
36

28. Exam Proctors
Exams taken remotely are conducted on a virtual
machine, overseen by a proctor
• Be patient
• Remember your official photo ID
• Clear your desk and your surroundings
• Turn off any additional monitors
• Test your wifi
• Don’t talk!
37

29. DURING THE EXAM
o Familiarise yourself with the scoring framework
o Build up to the more lengthy questions
o Be careful not to miss any questions
o Don’t spend too long on a particularly question – bookmark and
revisit later
o (Professional Exam) Be descriptive with your chart titles
o (Professional Exam) Be practical, not flashy
o BREATE!
38

30. Celebrate your Success!!
43

31. THANK YOU
Contact Me
Twitter: @SarahLovesData
Email: sebartlett1@gmail.com
Blog: www.sarahlovesdata.co.uk
Tableau Public: https://public.tableau.com/profile/sarah.bartlett#!/
44
Presentation template by SlidesCarnival