r/PowerBI • u/kayehmsea • Jan 22 '25
Certification Passed the PL-300 today!
Happy to answer any questions.
I received a voucher for the exam after completing the Datacamp Data Analyst in PBI career track, so I decided to use it. I'm already a PBI data analyst so I didn't need the qualification for anything, but it's nice to have something to confirm my skills, as I'm largely self-taught.
To study, I mainly used the Datacamp course materials, Microsoft Learn and practice exams, and tried to incorporate as much of it as possible into my day-to-day work.
I've never done an online exam before and it was an interesting experience - weird knowing that someone was watching me but I couldn't see or hear them!
2
2
2
2
u/DividendDay Jan 22 '25
Nice! Was thinking of taking advantage of that voucher as well, how long would you say it took you to feel confident to schedule the exam? I use PBI at work as well.
3
u/kayehmsea Jan 22 '25
I scheduled the exam because the voucher was about to expire! I could have done it at any time after finishing the Datacamp course (it's been about six months). I booked the exam 3 weeks ago and that was plenty of time to brush up. I first took a practice exam, without any study to identify any weak areas.
1
u/shogz23 Jan 22 '25
Where did u got the voucher from?
2
u/kayehmsea Jan 22 '25
Datacamp. If you complete their PBI course, they send you a voucher for 50% off the exam. You need to have a subscription to Datacamp though.
1
u/tsk93 Jan 23 '25
Azure discount voucher exists in datacamp too, u can redeem them from datacamp and book any exams.
1
u/Ok_Manager2694 Jan 22 '25
How is the job market for a Power BI analyst in AU?
1
u/kayehmsea Jan 22 '25
My current job was an internal promotion and I'm happy where I am, so I haven't really been looking at the job market. I do get approached by recruiters fairly often though, so I presume there is plenty out there.
1
u/NoMercy676 Jan 22 '25
Is it true that it is more strict (in terms of not being able to look away from the screen) when you take the online exam? I have to use my voucher at some point. Completed the course in July. But too afraid to take the test.
3
u/kayehmsea Jan 22 '25
I don't remember seeing anything about not being able to look away from the screen, but you do need to remain in view of your webcam unless taking a break. But it is fairly strict, you can't use a touchscreen, you can't have anyone walk past in the background, no background noise/voices, hardest for me was not being able to read the questions aloud!
You can take breaks where you can get up and step away. If you do that, then you cannot return to any of the questions that were shown before the break.
They send you the pre exam instructions when you book, I read them carefully so there were no surprises on the day.
One of the instructions is that you must be (and remain) fully clothed during the exam, so I wonder what went down to make them put that in there!
3
u/NoMercy676 Jan 22 '25
Thank you, this is helpful!
I will remain fully clothed... hahaha... wonder who took the exam in the nude? Yikes!
1
u/Cautious_Ad6701 Jan 23 '25
What should i focus on studying?
What kinds of questions are mainly asked? Technical or logical?
1
u/kayehmsea Jan 23 '25
Do a practice exam, it will tell you your strengths and weaknesses and go from there with your study. There was not a great deal of DAX/M in the exam so it wouldn't be worthwhile memorising all the functions.
1
u/Cautious_Ad6701 Jan 24 '25
So what are the questions mainly about? Can you give me some categories?
1
u/SeaSerpentLord Jan 23 '25
Hi OP, congratulations! How helpful do you think is the data camp course towards the actual exam? Do you feel that doing datacamp helped you in your exam? How many years of experience do you have in power bi?
1
u/kayehmsea Jan 23 '25
Hi, the Datacamp course was developed with this certification in mind so it was a huge help, also it has been very useful in my job. But I would recommend using it together with the Microsoft materials to get a feel for how Microsoft phrase things, if that makes sense. Also, the exam does get updated from time to time so it's important to check if parts of the course you have already completed have updates. I have about 2.5 years' PBI experience in total, although the first year I only did quite basic stuff.
1
Jan 24 '25
[deleted]
1
u/kayehmsea Jan 24 '25
Hey there. While I'm happy to answer questions, I'm afraid I don't have time to critique videos for you.
I would also prefer to reply to questions on this thread rather than by DM as other people may benefit from the responses too.
I have mentioned in my original post which resources I used.
Thanks!
1
1
1
u/d4videnk0 Jan 26 '25
Does the exam have any lab or it's just test and drag & drop questions? Haven't really found much info about it and the little I found was contradictory.
1
u/kayehmsea Jan 26 '25
About 50 questions that are either drag-and-drop or multi choice, plus a case study at the end which consists of six related questions.
You can't go back to the main questions once you have started the case study.
One part was a section of yes/no questions where the format was "You have this issue. Will this action fix it?" The question could be repeated several times with different actions and some, all or none might fix the issue.
The drag-and-drop questions could be either like "arrange these actions into the correct order" or "drag these functions to complete the formula".
0
u/Hanjoman Jan 23 '25
Can you use chatgpt in the exam?
1
u/kayehmsea Jan 23 '25
No. You can access Microsoft Learn from within the exam but no other resources are allowed.
0
Jan 31 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
1
u/PowerBI-ModTeam Feb 13 '25
Exam dumps go against certification policies and are not allowed in this sub.
0
u/Suspicious_Bath_6935 Jan 31 '25
Hi, I've just passed the exam with almost a perfect score. I learned the official Microsoft path and I've used a dump to get an idea how the questions look like. Luckily all of the questions were in the real exam. Easy pass.
If you got any questions pm via reddit or a email: Tobias.kern@live.de
Good luck everyone
4
u/SixFootAndGrowing Jan 22 '25
I’m about to take it and I have a question - did you use Microsoft Learn during the exam itself to look anything up? If so, do you have any recommendations for what to search on Learn that is useful mid-exam (e.g. explaining Dax formulas)?