Zero to Hero - Data Analysis Certification

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

Hey everyone, 

Today I passed my Data Analyst Associate exam! 🥳🙌

I'd like to say thanks to the Databricks community. The questions that people ask and interactions I've been a part of have been invaluable. Starting tomorrow, I'll be moving onto my data engineering exam preperation 😎.

Advice I want to share based from my study experience:

1. The prep guide: https://www.databricks.com/learn/certification/data-analyst-associate reference this throughout your learning. I thought it was a great revision resource to take each question and write my thoughts/response.You can then upload your answers (with the question) to AI and get it to grade you and provide suggested changes. It's really useful to find the appropriate documentation links and then store them in a spreadsheet against the relevant question. The documentation provided by databricks is really comprehensive, I've been really impressed.

2. In terms of the learning, I'm fortunate enough to work at a business that's a Databricks Partner. This meant I had access to the Partner-Blended learning for a Data Analysis cohort. If I wasn't a partner, I'd have completed the self-paced (available in Databricks Academy): Data Analysis with Databricks. Please note, the self-paced course will soon be replaced with the following two modules.

• AI/BI for Data Analysts
• SQL Analytics on Databricks

You can also look into getting lab access for the learning. There's some deliberation here, have you got the funds? If yes, all resources are provided within the labs, with a sandbox environment to experiment and learn. You could argue the databricks free edition could facilitate alot of the learning if you create your own resource/tests but it's a time thing.

3. Practice exams. I got access to 6 practice papers. I sourced these from Udemy and I found them to be really useful! I will admit that some questions are frustrating as the answer is incorrect or there's multiple correct answers available and it's difficult to determine the correct one 😂. However, I'd say 90%+ of the questions were really useful and helped a great deal with getting exam ready, at least for me. 

Exam prep questions (set 1): https://www.udemy.com/course/databricks-certified-data-analyst-associate-mock-test-questions/ 
Exam prep questions (set 2): https://www.udemy.com/course/databricks-certified-data-analyst-associate-practice-exams-j/

4. Make sure you explore the databricks UI and get a feeling for it! Know where things roughly are & what the various UI elements/components are called.

5. Leave no stone unturned. Dig around the docs to find the answers! If not, get a discussion started on community. 

I wish you all the best! 🤞

All the best,
BS

[szymon_dybczak]

You rock @BS_THE_ANALYST ! And thanks for sharing tips 🙂

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

I've been learning a tonne from you (and will continue to), @szymon_dybczak, thanks a bunch 🙌. Next step is to conquer the Data Engineering exams. Need to level up to provide some competition for you 😂😎. 

Catch you in the forums! 😏.

All the best,
BS

[Pilsner]

Congratulations @BS_THE_ANALYST! I love the write-up - I always appreciate the step-by-step guide to certification. I actually followed a relatively similar process myself, and I must say, going through the pre-guide and answering the bullet points as if they were questions, then comparing answers with AI, was invaluable. I too sat and passed the exam yesterday, and after my preparation, there was very little that I felt was unexpected.

Having said that, if I had to do it all again, I would follow the same steps, but this time investigate Partner Connect more too. I think this is covered in your point 4, but just clicking on different features or exploring the UI elements for yourself is an important exercise.

Well done again on passing the exam, good luck with the Data Engineering certifications!💪

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

@Pilsner congrats! I'll race you to getting that Data Engineering cert. Let the race commence.

All the best,
BS 

[Pilsner]

@BS_THE_ANALYST Not sure I like my chances here, but it's on!

 

[TheOC]

Congratulations on the Certifications @BS_THE_ANALYST  / @Pilsner .
Excited to get the cert myself and race for the Data Engineering cert 😉

[Pilsner]

Thank you very much @TheOC . Good luck with the analysis certification. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, but I'm sure you've got this. Excited for you to join the race! 

[bhanu_gautam]

Recently I also earned Data analyst certification, and your guide covers most of the things which I did, I would have saved time if it was written before 😁,

Thanks for Sharing @BS_THE_ANALYST 

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

@bhanu_gautam I'm glad the guide resonates with you 👍. Was there anything you'd add to it or change? 🙂.

Congrats on passing the certification by the way 🥳!! Have you got another certification or learning on the horizon now that you've passed this one? 🙂. Happy to network, it's always nice for motivation, especially if we're on similar trajectories 😀.

All the best,
BS

[bhanu_gautam]

@BS_THE_ANALYST , Same here, I am also preparing now for Data engineer one and I am also happy to connect, I think you have covered almost everything, just one thing I would like to add is have some hands-on experiences do play with Databricks, now we also have Free edition