Background

Tableau is one of the most popular data visualization tools in the market today. Thousands of aspiring professionals who want to be a part of the data analytics field are doing their best to learn this amazing data visualization tool. Tableau has worked on revising its testing methods for their certification exams. Preparing for the exam was a great opportunity for me to understand and solidify my understanding regarding the Tableau questions. It also provided me a good exposure to Tableau Prep builder and Tableau Online Server. This particular article will help you understand how to prepare for the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam. To prepare for this exam, you need to have insights about how the exam will be structured, and also what different types of questions you can expect during the exam.

There are specific details that you need to understand regarding Tableau concepts essential for this exam. The Tableau Certification exam also has been switching platforms over time, and all the exams of the Tableau Certification has become closed book. Candidates currently has limited visibility of the examination process before sitting for the exam. They need to prepare more strategically and extensively before appearing for the actual exam. Without knowing fully about the structure of the exam, it will be difficult for you to be confident and clear whether you have prepared correctly. Hence, in this article, you will get a complete understanding of how to prepare for the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam. You will also get the detailed types of questions that you need to answer during the actual exam.

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Tableau Exam Scheduling and Guide

The different Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam experiences that we'll be sharing with you will be focused on the online experiences candidates shared during the actual Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam. You will also get to understand the different types of the questions along with visual representations and examples. You will also be getting my personal experience that I will share with you which I had while taking the test. And also I will share the different types of resources which you should explore while preparing for the Tableau Certification exam. Explore the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification Exam Guide above to find a complete list of all the topics that you need to study well and prepare for the exam.

The Official Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam guide above is a mandatory tool to refer when preparing for the exam. Make sure that you are covering every topic that is mentioned in this Exam Guide to so that you are able to answer all the questions during the certification exam. To register for the Tableau Certification exam you should go to the Tableau Certification portal link given above, and then visit Pearson Vue. There you will be able to book a time for your exam. After that, you will get complete details regarding the exam policy which you need to follow during the exam. For the online exam, you can book the exam and choose your appropriate schedule at any time.

It is important to note that if you are choosing to cancel or reschedule the appointment that you have chosen, then you will need to cancel at least 24 hours before the exam date. Or if you are looking forward to rescheduling, then you should reschedule at least 48 hours before the scheduled exam date and time. After selecting the exam date and time, you will be required to check out, and then finally during checking out you can apply any vouchers which you have to get a discount on the price. You will also be able to see the exam booked after completion at the end on your dedicated dashboard. The Pearson VUE dashboard will be visible after you are redirected from the Tableau Certification portal.

Tableau Exam Environment and Laptop Guidelines

There is one particular thing that you should be doing before your certification exam is installing the OnVUE application. You should also run a system diagnostics test that will help you test your microphones, speakers and webcam. You should also clear your workspace and environment and create a form of photo ID as per the rules and regulations for the certification exam. The candidate can check in up to 30 minutes before the start of their scheduled exam time. The candidate will also be required to do certain checks regarding their ID availability and environment cleanliness test for the Tableau Certification exam. The candidate will not be allowed to use earphones or take any kind of screenshots from the environment, which might jeopardize or leak the questions of the exam.

The candidate is also required to close all the unnecessary laptop applications and avoid using the internet during the exam. These are some of the rules that candidates should comply with during the entire duration of the exam. Finally, you can start the exam in the OnVUE app. Now you must understand what are the different types of the questions that come in the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam. The first and the third section of the exam are standard conceptual questions with different question types, which you will see later. On the second question section, there is an installed Windows virtual machine along with a list of tasks that you need to complete in a Tableau packaged workbook. In the second section, you can access the Tableau Help Guide PDF, which we will see later.

Tableau Data Analyst Certification Question Types

Let's learn about the different types of questions in a clear visual form that come in the Tableau Certification exam. With complete familiarity of the different types of the questions, you will be in a better shape and have complete clarity regarding what to expect during the Tableau certification exam. It is important to note that you should familiarize yourself about the solution approaches to be taken for each of the types of the question in the Tableau Certified Data Analyst exam. In this schematic representations I created below, you will be able to understand the different question types that you will get in the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam.

Data Analyst Certification Question Type 1 - Multiple Choice

The first type of the question that is asked in the Tableau certification exam is multiple choice type. In this type of questions, there will be multiple options that will be provided to the candidate out of which they have to choose one answer, which will be correct. As you can see in this drawing that I have created above, the options that will be provided might be short in a few words, or might be long in sentences as well. You have to closely evaluate every option before choosing the right one. Often in the Tableau Certification exams, the questions and options are worded in a tricky way to confuse the candidate. However, with good practice of a variety of practice exams and mock tests provided to the subscribers above, you will be able to answer most of the multiple choice questions easily during the actual exam.

Data Analyst Certification Question Type 2 - Multiple Response

The next type of question in the Tableau Data Analyst Certification exam is of multiple response type. As we can see here, candidates can select more than one option in these type of questions. There will be checkboxes provided to the candidates using which they can select more than one correct option for that question. It is important to read every option that is given carefully to make sure that you understand the subtle differences between them. After reading all the options given in the multiple response type questions, you should proceed to select the correct answers that you feel fits appropriately for that question.

Data Analyst Certification Question Type 3 - Active Screen

The next type of question which is asked in the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam is an active screen type. In the active screen type of questions, the candidate will be presented with a passage that you have to complete. You will have to fill in the blanks that are given in the passage by dragging and dropping the correct option from a set of options available to you. It is important to note there are few variations of active screen type questions. The options may be available to you separately in a list form, and the paragraph with the spaces and blanks separately.

In this list type, that candidate has to drag the correct options into the passage to complete it. In another type of active screen type of questions, there is only one single paragraph with the blanks and in the space of the blanks there are drop-downs given with multiple options as we can see above. To complete the passage, the candidates will have to choose the correct options using the drop-down, which will then allow them to complete the passage. If you are able to choose the options correctly to complete the passage, you will be able to score good marks in the active screen type of questions in the Tableau Certification exam.

Data Analyst Certification Question Type 4 - Build List

The next type of question in the tableau certification exam is that of build list. Building a list is one of the most important type of questions in the Tableau Certification exam. Here the candidate will be required to arrange a set of steps in a particular sequence that is required to be done to complete a task. There will be two parts as we can see above, one with the unordered list and another is a response area where the candidate has to arrange the steps in the right order. You might not need all the steps and options that are given to you, and only a subset of the steps might be required to complete the correct sequence for the task.

Select the correct set of steps from the list given to you and arrange them in the appropriate correct sequence to answer this type of question. You will also be provided how many steps that you need to select for that question in case all the options are not required. Having extensive experience and exposure to the Tableau software and analyzing different types of datasets will build up your skills and help you answer this type of build list questions easily in your Tableau Certification exam.

Data Analyst Certification Question Type 5 - Hands-on Lab

The next type of questions which are asked in the Tableau Certification exam is the hands on lab questions. This is for section two where candidates will be getting access to the Windows Virtual Machine on the left side as we can see here, and a list of tasks that needs to be done on the right-hand side. There are lots of functionalities and features offered by the Tableau Desktop tool and hence there is tremendous scope of learning and analysis in this section. The examiner can ask lots of different types of questions focusing on each of the topics mentioned in the Exam Guide. Hence, it is key to strategically prepare for this section. Practice with a variety of datasets, and answer different levels of complex questions as part of the practice exams given above to build up your skills for the Tableau Certification exam.

Data Analyst Certification Question Type 6 - Hot Area

The next type of question in the Tableau Certification exam is hot area. The questions that are of type hot area includes a specific scenario that is given to you, and you will be then asked which button in Tableau you should use to accomplish that particular task. The area that you will be selecting will be getting highlighted in this type of question in the Tableau Certification exam. It is important to be extremely familiar with the different navigation of the menus and functionalities of the Tableau Desktop software before your actual exam. To be able to answer these type of questions effectively, you should have at least three to four months of proper experience using the Tableau tool.

Tableau Data Analyst Certification Exam Experience

Let us learn about our complete experience of the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam. While taking the exam, initially, you will be given a few minutes of reading time when you will get time to read through the instructions on how you can navigate the user interface, and how you have to answer the Tableau Certification exam questions. You will be getting about 10 to 12 sets of instructions with different images, which might seem overwhelming initially, but it is helpful in navigating the exam questions later on. Once you start answering a few questions in the Tableau Certification exam, it will become clearer to you how you have to answer each of the different types of questions.

If you have any questions, or need any help regarding how to answer different types of questions in the Tableau Certification exam, feel free to reach out to me or take the practice exams above with real life type of questions with variety of data sets. It is important to note that one of the instructions also mentioned that you have to view the entire question in your screen before putting your answer and moving to the next question. Hence, if you do not see the entire screen, you will be getting a pop-up which will warn you to see the entire screen before moving to the next question. This is a particular feature that might cause a disturbance to the candidates. However, it helps in making sure that the examinee will be answering the questions after reviewing all the information that is presented to them.

Tableau Hands-on and Questions Navigation

Reviewing the entire question page during the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam will help ensure that candidates answer questions only after reviewing the full information in the question that is presented to them. In the second session of the Tableau Certification exam, you will be given access to a Windows Virtual Machine. This Windows Virtual Machine in your Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam will be shown on the left-hand side of your screen. There will be a few tasks given which you need to complete within the given sheets in a Tableau Desktop workbook. These sheets will be shown to you in the right-hand side of your screen. This section is very much intuitive and user-friendly as you can navigate easily, and the tasks and the sheets are arranged in a specific order.

Some of the things that people might find challenging in the Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification exam is that you will be having three sections in the exam, and you cannot go back to the earlier section after you have proceeded to the next one. However, within each section, you can flag different questions and come back to that later. The exam is a closed book exam, where you cannot refer any internet resources or any help guide during the exam. However, in the second section of the exam, which is the hands on lab, you will be having access to the PDF version of the Tableau Help. The PDF version of the Tableau Help will help you get different types of references from the Tableau Help guide which you can refer.

It is important to practice the questions that are provided above to make sure that you have exposure to a variety of detailed data sets before appearing for the exam. The questions are focused on accomplishing a variety of tasks and achieving desired results using the Tableau Desktop tool. The questions are often of the type which function and formula should be used, and which type of join or blend should you be using to achieve a particular desired result, or how you should be creating a dual axis, or some questions regarding order of operations. Having a clear understanding of the different topics mentioned in the official Tableau Certified Data Analyst Certification Exam Guide will help you answer all the questions in the exam effectively.