How will a Tableau Desktop Specialist certification help me?

Many people learn Tableau and never receive a certification. Although they have the skills to pass the certification, many people are passed over by recruiters and employers, who will look for people who passed the certification first. In this section, you will learn how the certification will help you and the relevant careers you can explore through the certification. Many careers include data visualization as a primary or secondary focus. Tableau is considered one of the most popular and widely used data visualization tools. Many employers require verifiable evidence that their prospective employees can use the tool and contribute. Unlike other official Tableau certifications, the Tableau Desktop Specialist certification is permanent and is easily verifiable by sharing a link to the online verification. It can also be verified from LinkedIn and other social sites. It’s important to have a verifiable certification from the software company that’s easy to confirm so that potential technical recruiters and employers seeking talent can immediately confirm your qualifications and reach out to you without leaving the site.

It breaks down your capabilities not only with the tool but also your general abilities to analyze data and data presentation, which is also helpful to support your general functionality as a person who is data-capable.

Last year, I took the test as it just changed from a hands-on to a knowledge-based format. This book will focus on the new format, which has new and more complex challenges compared to the prior version.

Here is the certification I earned last year:

Figure 1.1 – Adam Mico’s Tableau Desktop Specialist verification page

There are many jobs where this certification has significant usefulness, several of which are included in glassdoor.com’s 50 Best Jobs in America and 25 Best Jobs in the UK for 2022. The following is a breakdown of the rankings:

Rank| Job Title | Median Base Salary (US $ | UK £) | Job Satisfaction | Job Openings | Job Requirement Likelihood (Low-Possible-Primary-Principal).

To help streamline and provide a consistent understanding between the US and UK glassdoor.com job rankings, this defined breakdown will be used for both the US and UK sections that follow.

United States

United States glassdoor.com job rankings that can require or provide a benefit with a Tableau Desktop Specialist certification are as follows:

• #3 | Data Scientist | $120,000 | 4.1/5 | 10,071 | Possible Requirement (and growing)

The data scientist job is constantly evolving. That evolution is to help create discovered insights that are more approachable for business stakeholders. Those stakeholders need clearer insights in a language they understand. One significant approach is data visualization. This comes into more focus with companies that do not have a dedicated data visualization team.

• #7 | Data Engineer | $113,960 | 4.0/5 | 11,821 | Possible Requirement (and growing)

The primary role of many data engineers is not to create data visualizations (especially in larger organizations), but it is often a necessity to create and learn to develop data visualizations to vet the data, provide a proof of concept, or possibly develop visualizations if the company does not have a dedicated data visualization team.

• #8 | Software Engineer | $116,638 | 3.9/5 | 64,155 | Principal Requirement (Tableau)

A Tableau Software Engineer or Software Developer’s primary role is to develop data visualizations, though there are other tasks, such as working with business teams, technical teams, and stakeholders. As a current Principal Software Engineer, I can share that having at least a Tableau Desktop Specialist certification was essential for even the basic consideration of my role.

• #20 | Consultant | $90,748 | 3.9/5 | 17,728 | Principal Requirement (Data Consultant)

Similar to a Tableau Software Engineer, many consultancies have data consultants. Their responsibilities cover the data gamut from data engineering/modeling/preparation to a deliverable top-class data visualization. I recently worked as a Tableau Evangelist for a data-focused consultancy. Certifications are essential to that role as special Tableau certifications are needed to help partners retain services with Tableau. Having a certification pre-hire helps establish that you can attain those certifications.

• #35 | Data Analyst | $74,224 | 4.0/5 | 13,657 | Primary Requirement

From 2017 to 2021, I worked as a data analyst and business automation specialist and as a senior analyst for the final 2 years of my employment. That role was new and only became possible for me because of the internal development I did with Tableau. For the entirety, at least 20% of my job was related to Tableau. In the current data analyst skill stack, data visualization is a necessity.

• #36 | Business Analyst | $81,556 | 3.9/5 | 15,238 | Primary-Principal Requirement

In many cases, companies may employ data analysts and business analysts interchangeably, depending on their structure. Although there is some specialization with larger companies, which may restrict some of the data visualization needs of a data analyst, with business analysts, that’s even less likely. Where a data analyst may need to work more on the backend, much of a business analyst’s work is more frontend- and stakeholder-focused.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom’s glassdoor.com job rankings that can require or provide a benefit with a Tableau Desktop Specialist certification are as follows:

• #5 | Data Scientist | £49,449| 4.2/5 | 1,011 | Possible (and growing)

For the description, please see #3 for the US.

• #9 | Front End Engineer | £43,803 | 4.2/5 | 1,529 | Principal Requirement (Tableau)

In this specialty, the employee’s experience is related to that of a business analyst but is someone who works more closely in Agile (likely) project teams, which would likely include backend developers/engineers and subject matter experts.

• #11 | Software Engineer | £50,060 | 3.9/5 | 3,599 | Principal Requirement (Tableau)

For the description, please see #8 for the US.

• #24 | Consultant | £46,215 | 3.9/5 |1,498 | Principal Requirement (Data Consultant)

For the description, please see #20 for the US.

Entry to very lucrative, growing, and impactful careers are possible with a Tableau Desktop Specialist certification. Furthermore, there are many more roles that are transitioning to a generalist approach as businesses are looking for potential ways to better understand their data and be proactive rather than reactive. In recent years, in my professional experience, people are leaving the once-a-week/month/quarter email delivery of static infographics to interact with data visualizations displaying live or more recent data for more effective questions, analysis, and iterations. You may be checking this book out as you have a new job requirement to learn Tableau and validate those learnings with a certification.

Now that you understand the importance and impact a certification can have, we need to explore the fundamentals of the tool itself.