Dear Internet Diary,

Two weeks after the start of my Alteryx learning journey, I decided to take the Designer Core Certification Exam. I passed with a score of 92.2%. I created some pointers to share with other Alterooks planning or preparing to take the exam.

Preparation

The 24 Core Tools

The exam is designed to test my knowledge on the most often used tools in Alteryx. I watched the Interactive Core Cert Prep Guide and from there, I accessed the links for Interactive Learning and Tool Mastery pages for each tool.

Bookmarks

Every time I stumble upon an Alteryx-related webpage that I think would be a useful reference, I add it to my Alteryx bookmark folder. I use Google Chrome and here’s a link on how to organise my bookmarks.

My Exam Setup

Multiple Screens

The exam has an open book format. I used my work laptop and an extended monitor when I took the exam. This way, I can have the exam page, my bookmarks, Alteryx and other references open that I can view at the same time.

Downloads Folder

I need to download input data files for the practical application questions. For this reason, it is ideal to have my downloads folder open so that I can quickly drag the downloaded file to the Alteryx canvas. Additionally, I configured the downloads folder to:

1. have a minimal size. It’s sole purpose is very simple so I need it to be there without occupying a large screen space.
2. hide the navigation pane (View > Panes > Navigation pane > uncheck Navigation pane). Since the downloads folder would be small, I want to get rid of this unnecessary pane.
3. view the latest file on top (View > Layout > Details > sort Date modified in descending order). This will help me quickly find the latest input data file.

Efficient Placement of Windows

I dedicated the maximized exam page in the laptop screen so that it’s always visible. The extended monitor screen had Alteryx, another browser window for my bookmarks and google search tab, and the small downloads folder. I set Alteryx and the other browser window to decent sizes in order for me to use them with ease. They are overlapping but I can always click on any of them anytime on the screen.

During the Exam

Smart Recreation of Scenario

Some questions in the exam are in this format: What would be the output when this Text Input is received by this tool that is set by a certain configuration? Instead of doing a mental computation, I found it easier to recreate the scenario in Alteryx. To save time typing the input data, I shortened the contents to a point where they will still make sense. For example, here’s how I will recreate the input data:

Revisiting Questions

Any questions can be accessed anytime in the course of the exam. When I encountered a hard multiple choice question, I immediately skipped it because it’s just worth one point and I didn’t want to spend too much time on it. After I answered (or skipped) the last question, I revisited these unanswered questions.

Conclusion

Studying for an exam is easy if I know where to find the right and easy to understand resources. I had a pleasant exam experience because I prepared a comfortable setup. A smart approach on answering questions gave me a higher chance to pass. These are the pointers on how to pass the Alteryx Designer Core Certification Exam from an Alterook. If you don’t know what an Alterook is, please read my previous blog.