How Difficult is it to Learn Tableau?

Are you interested in learning about Tableau but worried it might be too hard? Of course, the challenges of learning a new skill are somewhat subjective. Learning Tableau depends on factors such as your prior experience working with data and your background in using spreadsheets and business intelligence tools. No matter your current schedule or comfort level with Tableau, there are many great resources available to help make learning more straightforward than you may think. 

What is Tableau?

Tableau is a data visualization tool used for data analytics and business intelligence. It was designed to help individuals and organizations make better data-driven solutions. This software can simplify raw data into an accessible dashboard format that incorporates visual depictions of raw data from datasets, which can then be understood by various professionals working within a company, regardless of whether they come from a technical background. One of the main benefits of working with Tableau is that it performs fast data analysis and can create stunning visualizations based on data findings.

Tableau provides users with many helpful data analysis and visualization features, such as real-time analysis, data blending, and collaboration capabilities. It allows Data Analysts to manipulate live datasets and devote their efforts more to analysis rather than data wrangling. In addition, Tableau doesn’t require programming or technical skills, making it an accessible, effective tool for data analytics.

Read more about what Tableau is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Tableau?

Tableau has a variety of professional uses. Ultimately, the more you know about Tableau, the more data-driven insights you can bring to your organization. Tableau can bring together various data sources into a single point of truth. For example, suppose you’re working with data in Microsoft Access and Excel, as well as in SQL databases and cloud-based applications such as Salesforce. In that case, Tableau can help you bring these data together with just a few mouse clicks. This provides one central source that can be used for all types of business reporting and doesn’t require you to have any coding knowledge to set up. 

Tableau also provides a way to efficiently perform ETL operations (extract, transform and load). With the help of Tableau’s automated data reshaper tool, you can transform any data you want to use into the necessary format by splitting fields, eliminating header and white space, and changing data formats. Instead of spending a whole day extracting, transforming, and loading data using apps such as Excel, you can do it in just seconds in Tableau. In addition, Tableau’s automated reporting feature allows you to easily create a report, then set it to focus on a specific dataset so that the data will automatically refresh without requiring any coding know-how or additional time commitment.

One of Tableau’s most remarkable features is its visualization capabilities. Even for those new to visually presenting data insights, Tableau comes with built-in best practices to help you present information clearly, effectively, and engagingly. This helps ensure that data is delivered to internal and external stakeholders through eye-catching and informative reports.

What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Tableau?

Even though most people consider Tableau to be a relatively easy-to-learn tool, there are some challenging aspects involved with learning:

• It can be difficult for those who do not have a background working with data to understand how data works. If you are new to handling raw data, you may consider exploring online tutorials or videos that explain data basics.
• Many Tableau users consider data preparation the most challenging part of using Tableau. This process involves collecting, combining, structuring, cleaning, and transforming raw data to get it ready to be processed and analyzed. To help you overcome this challenge, Tableau offers several features as part of its prep tool for simplifying data preparation.
• For those who don’t have prior experience working with relational databases or reporting, it can be challenging to learn these skills when they are needed in Tableau. Reading about reporting and relational databases can make it easier to use Tableau.
• One important skill you will need to know how to use Tableau is how to work with joins. Joins clauses communicate to Tableau which fields are shared between tables and how to match corresponding rows. Studying joins is important so you will know how to merge datasets.

How Does Learning Tableau Compare to Other Applications?

Those who work with Tableau may wonder how this tool compares with other software devoted to data analytics, data visualization, or business intelligence. One of Tableau’s main competitors is Qlik Sense. This cloud-based tool for analytics can perform conversational and embedded analytics, enterprise reporting, app development, and automation. However, one drawback to this analytics tool is that it is only available for Windows OS and mobile iOS and Android devices. Like Tableau, Qlik Sense has a free version and a free trial. Qlik Sense Business currently costs $30/user/month, which is less than half the cost of Tableau Creator.

Another comparable tool to Tableau is Microsoft Power BI. Tableau and Power BI are business intelligence solutions that help users gather, manage, analyze, and present different types of business information. In addition, these tools each have extensive data visualization capabilities. In terms of ease of use, Power BI is considered easier to use than Tableau because it is based on the Microsoft Office 365 user interface, and most users are already familiar with this suite. If you are deciding which one to use for your professional needs, Power BI tends to perform better when working with limited volumes of data; it can perform slowly when working with larger datasets. On the other hand, Tableau can quickly handle large datasets and does not limit the number of data points the visualization can include.

Why is it Good to Learn Tableau?

There are many professional benefits to learning Tableau across fields and industries:

• Most people consider Tableau to be an easy-to-use tool. It allows you to quickly make complicated charts and graphs that you can easily share with others within an organization.
• Using Tableau makes it easier and faster to manipulate and integrate data. With the help of Tableau’s Reporting Tool, any kind of software or programming language can be integrated or manipulated.
• Tableau knowledge is a required skill in a variety of professions, like data analytics, software engineering, and business intelligence.
• Tableau professionals are well-compensated for their skills. On average, they make more than $100k a year. 
• Some of the top companies in the U.S. actively recruit those with a background in Tableau, such as Bank of America, Meta, and General Motors.
• Most organizations are currently handling larger volumes of data than ever before. If you are skilled with Tableau, you are an asset to your organization because you can process, analyze, and visualize the findings in these data. This, in turn, can help the organization make more informed decisions, increase revenue, and grow. 

Learn Tableau with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop provides several great Tableau learning opportunities. For those new to Tableau, Noble’s Tableau Level 1 covers core Tableau tools and skills, such as creating various charts and data visualizations. Students receive an introduction to Tableau Public, a free version of Tableau, and learn how to create and edit graphs and charts.

In addition, Noble’s Tableau Bootcamp is a program that teaches students the fundamental components of data visualization. Those enrolled explore Tableau Public’s different tools to connect to datasets, analyze, filter, and structure the data to make visualizations. By course completion, students will know how to customize, manipulate, and publish various data visualizations. This class comes with the option of a free retake for students who wish to revisit course material.

For those seeking a more rigorous learning environment for learning Tableau, Noble Desktop’s Data Analytics Certificate is a great option. In addition to providing hands-on training with Tableau in the small classroom environment, those enrolled in this certificate study also gain industry-relevant training with other data analytic skills, languages, and programs, such as SQL, Excel, and Python. Expert instructors ensure that those enrolled receive training to become Data Analysts or Business Analysts. One-on-one mentoring is provided for all students.

In addition, for those interested in learning more about Tableau, Noble’s Tableau Resources page has more than 50 articles to help you learn more about this powerful data visualization tool.