Tableau Certified Consultant

Exam Guide

About the Tableau Certified Consultant Exam and Program

The Tableau Certified Consultant certification is intended for individuals who engage with customers to lead the design of an analytics solution within the Tableau platform. Projects may be scoped to the executive level rather than just the business unit level. They provide longer term, strategic recommendations for analytics and handle complex performance issues independently. They solve very complex data issues.

This credential validates both core Tableau knowledge and hands-on development skills of employees, partners, customers, and freelancers, who need to work with various Tableau products including Tableau Prep, Desktop, Cloud, Server, and Bridge.

There are no prerequisites for the exam. Upon successful completion of this exam, candidates are awarded the title of Tableau Certified Consultant. This title is valid for two years.

Audience Description: Tableau Certified Consultant

Candidates for this exam engage with customers to lead the design of an analytics solution within the Tableau platform. They can work through very complex data issues. Projects may be scoped to the executive level rather than just the business unit level. They provide longer term, strategic recommendations for analytics and handle complex performance issues independently.

The Consultant typically has a minimum 1 year of experience with Tableau and Tableau products including Tableau Prep, Desktop, Cloud, Server, and Bridge, and has been involved in at least two implementations.

The Consultant has the skills to pass Tableau Desktop Specialist (TDS) and Tableau Certified Data Analyst (TCDA) certification exams. This exam is the advancement of that skillset. Candidates will not be tested on the level of the TDS and TCDA exams because they are assumed to possess the competencies covered in those exams.

Purpose of this Exam Guide

This exam guide is designed to help you evaluate if you are ready to successfully complete the Tableau Certified Consultant exam. This guide provides information about the target audience for the exam, the recommended training and documentation, and a complete list of exam objectives. We highly recommend a combination of on-the-job experience, course attendance, and self-study to maximize your chances of passing the exam.

About the Exam

Read on for details about the Tableau Certified Consultant exam.

 

Exam Overview

Content:

  • Knowledge-based: 40-45 multiple-choice and multiple-select items
  • Performance-based: 6-8 hands-on lab tasks

Product Version: Currently testing on 2022.3

Time Limit: 120 minutes (includes 3 minutes for reviewing the NDA and 5 minutes for tutorial).

Language(s) Offered: English

Passing Score: 750

Results: Results are reported by email within 48 hours of completing the exam

Prerequisite: None required

Registration fee: USD $250 plus applicable taxes as required by local law

Reschedule fee: USD $25 plus applicable taxes as required by local law

Delivery options: Proctored exam delivered onsite at a Pearson VUE testing center or in an online proctored environment.

Exam Check-in: Check-in begins 30 minutes before the scheduled exam time.

References: No hard-copy or online materials may be used during the exam

 

Exam Registration, Scheduling, and System Preparation

Registration and Scheduling

  1. Create and/or log in to your Tableau Certification Account
  2. Navigate to "Schedule My Exam"
  3. Choose "Schedule or Manage my exam with Pearson"
  4. On your Pearson Dashboard, you will select the exam you would like to take and proceed with scheduling.

System Preparation

For a successful exam experience, ensure your computer, network, and the physical environment are properly configured. This includes performing a system test before the exam. Be sure to conduct the system test in the same conditions under which you will take the test (e.g., time of day, number of people connecting to the system, etc.)

Review the Technical Requirements for complete details. Larger monitors are recommended to result in the best testing experience for exams that include hands-on lab items. For questions, visit tableau.com/learn/certification, or submit a case through Trailhead Help. 

Check-in Process

During the check-in process you must show a valid government-issued ID in its original form (not a photocopy). The name on your ID must match the name on your exam registration and must include a recent, recognizable photo. More information on ID requirements can be found here. Failure to meet ID requirements will result in the termination of your exam session.

Find additional information about the check-in process and testing experience for each method here.

 

Exam Structure

Timeliness

Completing a task effectively and efficiently has become a standard that organizations expect from employees. This exam is timed as a critical competency of successful candidates.

Exam Sections

The Tableau Certified Consultant exam has 3 sections and some sections have more questions than others.

  1. The first section is knowledge-based with approximately 25 items of varying types, but no hands-on tasks.
  2. The second section of the exam is the hands-on lab with 6-8 tasks. This section requires the candidate to demonstrate their skills using Tableau.

    Time Management Consideration: It is recommended to allow yourself 30-45 minutes to complete the hands-on lab section of the exam.

     3. The third section resembles the first section with approximately 25 knowledge-based items but no hands-on lab tasks.

Note: Candidates are not allowed to go back to a previous section of the exam once they have moved on to the next section.

Access to Materials, Applications, or Internet

Access to the internet, or any other outside application is prohibited during the entire exam. The first and third sections of the exam containing the knowledge-based questions are administered without access to the Tableau Platform. The second, hands-on lab section of the exam requires the candidate to use the Tableau Platform to perform the required tasks. Candidates will have access to the .pdf version of Tableau Help during this section of the exam.

Comments

Candidates have the ability to comment on items in the exam. Please note that you will not receive a direct response to your comment(s). The Certification Team reviews all comments submitted and considers this feedback along with item statistical performance before the release of new versions of the exam.

Technical Issues

If you encounter technical issues during the exam, please contact the proctor. In many cases, the only course of action the proctor can recommend or take, is to restart the exam. More than one restart may be needed. However, if you are not seeing a resolution in a timely manner and you feel your results will be negatively affected or you will not be able to finish the exam, ask the proctor to stop the exam and log a case with Pearson VUE. Once the exam has been stopped, please follow up with the Tableau Certification Team by logging a case about your experience through Trailhead Help.

Results and Scoring

Results

Candidates will receive an email when their score report is available (within 48 hours of completing the exam.) To navigate to that score report, log into your certification account. Once you are logged in, click on Schedule My Exam/Schedule or Manage my exam with Pearson then, GO TO PEARSON. In your Pearson VUE account dashboard, click on my Exam History or View Exam Results to download your score report.

Scaled Scoring

Scaled scores are a mathematical conversion of the number of items that a candidate answers correctly so that there is a consistent scale used across all forms of the exam. A relevant example is the process of converting pounds to kilograms. The weight of the object has not changed, only the units being reported.

Tableau exam results are reported as a score from 100 to 1000. The score shows how the candidate performed on the examination as a whole and the pass or fail designation. Scaled scoring models are used to equate scores across multiple exam forms that may have slightly different difficulty levels.

Score reports are sent when a candidate fails the exam. This report contains a table of categories of performance at each section level. This information is designed to provide general feedback concerning examination performance. The examination uses a compensatory scoring model, which means candidates do not need to “pass” the individual sections, only the overall examination. Each section of the examination has a specific weighting, some sections have more questions than others. The scoring table contains general information, highlighting strengths and weaknesses. Section level feedback should be interpreted with candidate caution and paired with other available forms of remediation before retaking the exam.

Scoring Insight

Please keep in mind that your final score is based on the number of questions answered or tasks performed correctly. If you leave a question unanswered or a lab task not performed, you will not receive credit. Furthermore, you do not receive partial credit. For example, if a question requires you to select three correct options, you do not receive credit for selecting one or two of the three options that are correct. Also, for lab tasks, there may be multiple ways to perform the task correctly. You are only graded on whether or not all of the requirements are met in your final response.

Unscored Content

This examination includes unscored items. These items are placed on the exam to gather statistical information to verify their validity for future use. These items are not identified on the exam and do not affect the scoring of the exam.

Exam Outline

As a reference, this exam guide includes test domains, coverage percentages and objectives only. The table below lists the main content domains and their weightings.

Domain Title % of Exam Content
Domain 1: Evaluate Current State
 28%
Domain 2: Plan and Prepare Data Connections
 19%
Domain 3: Design and Troubleshoot Calculations and Workbooks
 39%
Domain 4: Establish Governance and Support Published Content
 14%
TOTAL
 100%

 

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a comprehensive listing of the content on this examination.

 

Domain 1: Evaluate Current State

1.1 Map current state of analytics to future state

  • 1.1.1 Evaluate existing reports, including volume, gap analysis, performance, and data accuracy
  • 1.1.2 Map existing reports, data products, and business needs to Tableau capabilities
  • 1.1.3 Translate analytical requirements into Tableau context by using best practices
  • 1.1.4 Recommend whether to use Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud, including migration

1.2 Evaluate current data structures

  • 1.2.1 Evaluate whether existing data supports business needs
  • 1.2.2 Evaluate lineage of existing data structures
  • 1.2.3 Evaluate existing data structures for performance risks
  • 1.2.4 Evaluate existing data structures for performance enhancement opportunities

 

Domain 2: Plan and Prepare Data Connections

2.1 Plan for data transformation

  • 2.1.1 Recommend an appropriate data storage method, data structure, and strategy
  • 2.1.2 Recommend an appropriate tool to transform data, including Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep, or an ETL product
  • 2.1.3 Identify impact of static and responsive calculations in Tableau Prep and Tableau workbooks
  • 2.1.4 Specify the requirements for minimum level of granularity

2.2 Design a row-level security (RLS) data structure

  • 2.2.1 Implement RLS and an entitlement table
  • 2.2.2 Identify group functions versus user functions
  • 2.2.3 Implement hierarchies to support RLS
  • 2.2.4 Compare RLS approaches

2.3 Plan and implement advanced connections to data

  • 2.3.1 Recommend an appropriate method to connect to data, such as Web Data Connectors, web extract APIs, custom SQL, or ODBC
  • 2.3.2 Create connections by using Tableau Bridge
  • 2.3.3 Recommend how to prepare data to meet specific requirements, including shaping and combining
  • 2.3.4 Specify aggregation level and strategy for data sources in Tableau products (Tableau Desktop, Tableau Prep, Tableau Cloud, Tableau Server)
  • 2.3.5 Identify the minimum fields required for analysis
  • 2.3.6 Troubleshoot complex data issues and connections

 

Domain 3: Design and Troubleshoot Calculations and Workbooks

3.1 Design analytics for advanced use cases

  • 3.1.1 Recommend when to use an advanced chart type, such as Sankey, chord, radar, tile map, small multiples, and data densification
  • 3.1.2 Plan and implement the necessary calculations for customized charts
  • 3.1.3 Identify the effect of the Tableau order of operations on calculations
  • 3.1.4 Troubleshoot issues caused by the Tableau order of operations
  • 3.1.5 Plan and implement advanced techniques to build interactivity into dashboards, such as dynamic URL actions, parameter actions, filter actions, and sheet swapping
  • 3.1.6 Identify use cases for augmented analytics, such as Ask Data, Explain Data, and Data Stories

3.2 Design workbooks to optimize performance

  • 3.2.1 Identify and resolve resource-intensive queries
  • 3.2.2 Maximize caching for Tableau Server
  • 3.2.3 Identify and resolve performance issues caused by calculations such as string comparisons, IF THEN statements, and Level of Detail (LOD) expressions
  • 3.2.4 Recommend calculations that should be moved upstream of Tableau
  • 3.2.5 Interpret and resolve issues by using performance recordings
  • 3.2.6 Identify and resolve performance issues caused by design elements such as number of sheets, number of filters, and image size

3.3 Implement advanced calculations that include multiple steps

  • 3.3.1 Implement aggregations that include dimensions
  • 3.3.2 Implement advanced table calculations, such as window, nested table, or multi-directional
  • 3.3.3 Implement advanced date functions, such as fiscal calendars
  • 3.3.4 Implement advanced LODs, such as nested LODs
  • 3.3.5 Implement combinations of advanced calculations
  • 3.3.6 Troubleshoot advanced calculations

 

Domain 4: Establish Governance and Support Published Content

4.1 Recommend and apply a Tableau governance strategy

  • 4.1.1 Map an organization's governance requirements to Tableau features and capabilities
  • 4.1.2 Recommend a strategy for securing access to content
  • 4.1.3 Recommend a strategy for organizing content, such as by function, by organization, and by role
  • 4.1.4 Recommend a strategy for ensuring data quality, including certifying data sources, minimizing data proliferation, and configuring data quality warnings
  • 4.1.5 Evaluate compliance with a governance strategy by using Data Catalog, including Data Lineage

4.2 Design custom administrative views

  • 4.2.1 Interpret the repository schema and event types
  • 4.2.2 Specify insights that require a custom administrative view
  • 4.2.3 Specify appropriate permissions to create administrative views

4.3 Recommend a content distribution strategy

  • 4.3.1 Map publishing requirements to features and capabilities of Tableau
  • 4.3.2 Recommend an approach for the workbook lifecycle, including building, testing, deployment, distribution, and maintenance
  • 4.3.3 Recommend a version control strategy within Tableau

4.4 Identify and resolve errors external to Tableau

  • 4.4.1 Identify and resolve connection authentication and network access
  • 4.4.2 Identify and resolve update failures that originate from the source system
  • 4.4.3 Identify other issues that originate from outside Tableau, such as platform or network outage

Recommended Resources

The following list of compiled resources can help candidates become familiar with topics in each domain of the Tableau Certified Consultant Exam. These resources include links to Tableau Help articles and best practices whitepapers, which can provide an overview of important concepts covered in the exam. However, role experience and time with the product remain the best preparation. Exam candidates are strongly encouraged to have a minimum of 1 year experience with Tableau and Tableau products including Tableau Prep, Desktop, Cloud, Server, and Bridge, as well as involvement in at least two implementations.

Domain 1: Evaluate Current State

Domain 2: Plan and Prepare Data Connections

Domain 3: Design and Troubleshoot Calculations and Workbooks

Domain 4: Establish Governance and Support Published Content

Maintaining Your Certification

Tableau certifications are valid for 24 months from the date you passed the exam. To maintain your active status you will want to pass the corresponding exam again. Expired titles are unable to receive certain benefits and do not allow for discounts on exam purchases. Digital badges for expired titles will remain available to you but will show as expired.