Build Your Data Analytics Portfolio with These 5 Essential Chart Types

Whether you’re looking to advance your career in data analytics or just getting started, showcasing your data visualization skills and having samples of your work is essential. With Tableau Public, you can create dynamic and interactive visualizations based on topics of interest that show off your expertise and creativity.

As you create your portfolio, it’s important to include key chart types to set you apart from the competition. That’s why we’ve outlined five important chart types to learn using Tableau Public to build your career portfolio:

Bar charts offer a simple way to compare categorical data, making them easy to understand for both analysts and stakeholders. Mastering these charts demonstrates your ability to distill complex information into digestible visuals. Bar charts can easily be customized with different colors, styles, and interactive elements that make data exploration more interactive and engaging for your audience.

Tableau Barchart Catalogue

Rosa Mariana de León-Escribano

Bar Hopping: Theme and Variations on a Bar Chart

Jeffrey Shaffer

Bar chart inspiration

Emna HNANA

Line charts are useful in displaying trends and patterns over time. They can be used to compare time-related data side-by-side, allowing you to easily identify seasonal trends and anomalies. Consider line charts for your data analysis when you want to convey information in a simple and intuitive way. 

Big Book of Line Charts

Robbin Vernooij

Curved Line Chart

Toan Hoang

Line Dancing: Theme and Variations on a Line Chart

Jeffrey Shaffer

Maps are a great tool if you’re analyzing geographic data and looking to understand spatial relationships and patterns. Maps offer interactive capabilities like the ability to zoom in and explore more details about specific data points. Whether you’re examining regional sales data or population density – you can leverage some of the customization options in Tableau to create a compelling visualization that can be shared with stakeholders and is easy to understand.

County Median Home Prices In the U.S.

Adedamola (Damola) Ladipo

VSFG's Impact 2017 to 2023

Dennis Kao

The Height of Central Beijing

Wendy Shijia 汪士佳

Highlight tables and heat maps allow you to compare data across different dimensions and identify trends within datasets. Highlight tables use different colors to compare high or low values and should be used to emphasize specific data points within smaller data sets. Heat maps are best used when you need to compare one or two measures across one or more dimensions. Choose a highlight table when you want to compare specific values or choose a heat map to identify patterns in your data.

53 Seasons of the New York Mets Wins and Losses

Steve Wexler

Most Common Birthdays

Andy Kriebel

Highlight Table & Heat Map

Sylwia Kołodziejska

Although they seem simple, tables are an important tool in helping you layout and organize data or share information about the data you’re exploring. With tables, you can display multiple dimensions and measures, create cross-tab tables that allow for quick comparisons, and customize formatting to create visually compelling presentations. Tables also couple well with other chart types on interactive dashboards.

Tableau Tables

Adrian Zinovei

Tables Rules and Tips

Anastasiia Kuznetsova

Oops to Better - Tables

Ludovic Tavernier

The best way to get started is simply to start! With that in mind, here are a few sample workbooks and step-by-step instructions for building several common charts and graphs. 

Choosing the right chart type for your data depends on the nature of the data set and the story you want to tell. Below are some additional resources to help you ask the right questions and help you decide which might work best to achieve your end goals.

The Tableau Chart Catalog

Kevin Flerlage

Visual Vocabulary

Andy Kriebel

20 ways to design your KPIs

Gbolahan Adebayo & Idris Akilapa

While these are just a few data visualization types you can create in Tableau Public, learning how to use bar charts, line charts, maps, heat maps, and text tables will set you up for success as you build your portfolio and showcase your work to prospective employers. For more career tips, check out our blog, 7 Ways to Stand Out and Secure Your Next Data Analytics Role.