Top Tableau Interview Questions and Answers

Whether you are a fresher or an experienced professional, practicing Tableau interview questions will help you sharpen your skills and ace your technical interviews. Practicing Tableau interview questions will also help you analyze your difficult areas so that you can master them before your interview.

Tableau is one of the most widely used BI tools in the world, as well as one of the top-leading tech companies to work for. If you want to ace the Tableau interview on the first try, you must first master these Tableau interview questions. Continue reading to learn about Tableau Interview Questions and how to answer them.

If you're a software engineer, coding engineer, software developer, engineering manager, or tech lead preparing for tech interviews, check out our technical interview checklist, interview questions page, and salary negotiation e-book to get interview-ready!

If you are preparing for a tech interview, check out our technical interview checklist, interview questions page, and salary negotiation e-book to get interview-ready!

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Here's what we'll discuss in the article:

• Basic Tableau Interview Questions and Answers
• Tableau Interview Questions and Answers for Experienced Candidates
• Sample Basic Tableau Interview Questions for Practice
• Sample Advanced Tableau Interview Questions for Practice
• FAQs on Tableau Interview Questions

Basic Tableau Interview Questions and Answers

If you are a fresher and have doubts about preparing for your Tableau interview, go through the following basic Tableau interview questions and answers to ace your interview.

Q1. What are different Tableau products?

This is a frequently asked Tableau interview question that you must keep at your fingertips. Different Tableau products include:

• Tableau Server: It is an enterprise-level feature installed on a Windows or Linux server, which helps share published dashboards throughout the organization.
• Tableau Desktop: It is used to create queries out of pictures of data, after which you can perform those queries without any need for coding. You must know that Tableau Desktop makes interactive dashboards after encompassing data from various sources.
• Tableau Reader: It is a free feature that lets you open and view data visualizations and extract connection files. You can drill down into the data but cannot edit any formulas or perform an action on it.
• Tableau Online: It is a paid feature but doesn't need complete installation. It can be used to publish dashboards anywhere.
• Tableau Public: You must know that this is also a free feature to view data visualizations by saving them as worksheets or workbooks on the Tableau server.

Q2. What is the difference between BI tools and Tableau?

BI tools and Tableau differ in terms of efficiency and speed. The other differences between these two are:

Q3. Explain aggregation and disaggregation of data.

When you display the measures and dimensions in an aggregated form, it is known as an aggregation of data. Whereas when you display every data field separately, it is known as disaggregation of data. You must know the common aggregate functions available in the Tableau tool, which are as follows:

• SUM (expression): Used for numeric values; adds up all the values in the expression.
• AVG (expression): Used for numeric values only; calculates the average of all the values in the expression.
• Count (expression): Excludes null values; returns the number of values in the set of expressions.  
• Count (distinct): Returns the number of values in the set of expressions.
• Median (expression): Used only for numeric values; calculates the median of all values in the expression.

Q4. List down the file extensions supported by Tableau.

The supported file extensions in Tableau are:

• Tableau Data Source (TDS): contains metadata and connection information about your data source.
• Tableau Workbook (TWB): contains all story points, dashboards, worksheets, and much more.
• Tableau Packaged Workbook (TWBX): consists of a combination of metadata, connection data and workbook, and data itself in the form of TDE; can be zipped and shared.
• Tableau Packaged Data Source (TDSX): contains a combination of different files.
• Tableau Bookmark (TBM): used to bookmark a specific worksheet
• Tableau Data Extract (TDE): consists of data that has been extracted from other data sources.

Q5. Do you know the supported data types in Tableau?

The supported data types in Tableau are:

Q6. What is load testing in Tableau? How do you perform it?

You need to load testing in Tableau to understand the server's capacity concerning its environment, workload, data, and use. You should conduct load testing at least 3 to 4 times a year. That is because workload, data, usage upgrade, or content authoring change whenever a new user joins in.

You must know that Tabjolt was created by Tableau to conduct point and run load and performance testing, particularly in Tableau servers. The features of Tabjolt are:

• Eliminates dependency on script maintenance or script development
• Automates user-specified loads' processes
• Scales linearly by adding more nodes to the cluster

Q7. How is QlikView different from Tableau?

The differences between QlikView and Tableau are:

Q8. Why should one use Tableau?

A few of the various reasons to use Tableau are:

• If you use Tableau, you get various free offerings for academic distribution.
• Whether your data is in a database, open-premise, data warehouse, Excel file, or in a cloud application, you can analyze it with the help of Tableau.
• You can create views of your data and share them with your partners, colleagues, and customers.
• You can also use Tableau to blend it with other data.
• You can use Tableau to keep data up-to-date automatically.

Q9. What are filters in Tableau? What are the different types?

If you use a filter in Tableau, it will restrict unnecessary data and will show the exact data you want. The three filters you can use in Tableau are Quick, Datasource and Context.

Q10. How will you remove the show-all option from a Tableau auto-filter?

To remove the show-all option from a Tableau auto-filter, you must do the following: Right-click on Filter > Customize > Uncheck the show-all option.

Q11. What is the maximum number of tables you can join in Tableau?

It is not possible to join more than 32 tables together in Tableau. It means you can join a maximum of 32 tables in Tableau.

Q12. What is the difference between treemap and heat map?

With the help of a treemap, you can illustrate hierarchical data. It is a powerful tool used to visualize a part or whole relationship between different data. On the other hand, with the help of a treemap, you can compare categories using size and color and two various measures.

Tableau Interview Questions and Answers for Experienced Candidates

You should not miss these 'Tableau Interview Questions for Experienced' even if you are a fresher. You must cover every corner of Tableau while preparing Tableau interview questions to create a long-lasting impression on the interviewer.

Q1. How will you view a SQL generated by Tableau Desktop?

To view SQL, you need to go to C:/Users/MyDocuments/MyTableau repository. If you have a live connection to the data sources, you need to check the log.txt and tabprotosrv.txt files. The tabprotosrv.txt files often show detailed information about queries.

Q2. How will you publish and schedule a workbook in Tableau Server?

Firstly, you need to create a particular time to develop and extract the data source and publish it on the server. Before publishing, click on 'scheduling and authentication and select the schedule option from the drop-down and publish it.

After doing this, you have to publish data sources and assign the schedule. You must know that this schedule will automatically run for the scheduled time, and the workbook will get refreshed automatically and regularly.

Q3. How is Tableau 8.0 different from Tableau 7.0?

In Tableau 8.0, you will get new visualizations, such as bubble charts, treemaps, and box and whisker plots. You can copy worksheets directly from one to another. Tableau 8.0 introduces the R script as well.

Q4. List down the steps to create filled maps.

You must follow the steps given below to create filled maps:

• Step 1: Build a map view.
• Step 2: Double click on a geographic field, such as state, area, code, or other options.
• Step 3: You have to select the filled map mark type. The automatic mark type will show circles over a map. You have to fill the color in the geographic areas.
• Step 4: You need to drag a field color and define locations by dragging another field.

Q5. How is Rank different from Index?

Using Index, you can mainly deal with a record's physical location. You can assign incremental numbers according to the record's physical order. Whereas in Rank, you can deal with the record's value. You must know that the highest value gets the highest rank, and the lowest value gets the lower rank.

Q6. How is a live connection different from an extract?

Tableau data extracts are screenshots of data optimized for aggregation and loaded into system memory. This is done to recall for visualization quickly. For example, real-time decisions need to be made when hospitals monitor incoming patients based on their physical condition.

Whereas by using the live connection, you get real-time updates. Tableau does not reflect any changes made in the source in a live connection. For example, hospitals need to see patients' health based on their weekly/monthly reports.

Q7. What will the following function return - Left(3, "Tableau")?

The function Left(3, "Tableau") will return an error as the syntax is incorrect. It should be Left("Tableau", 3). You should know that Left returns a specific number of characters from the start of the string. If the syntax were correct, the result would be 'Tab.'

Q8. What is the LOD?

You must use a level of detail expression to run complex queries involving many dimensions at the data source. For example, suppose you want to look at the colors of particular furniture in furniture-related data. In that case, you must use LOD to eliminate other factors, such as size, date of manufacturing, or any additional related information.

Sample Basic Tableau Interview Questions for Practice

You should prepare these sample Tableau interview questions along with the above-mentioned Tableau interview questions and answers to uplevel your preparedness.  

1. What do you understand about a parameter in Tableau?
2. What is the difference between dimensions, facts, and measures?
3. Explain data visualization in Tableau.
4. List down the differences between continuous and discrete field types.
5. What are joins? What are its types?
6. State different connections to make with a dataset.
7. What are sets, groups, and shelves in Tableau?
8. What do you understand by data blending and joining in Tableau?
9. What are the possible reasons for someone not using Tableau?
10. What is a context filter? What makes it different from other filters?
11. What is the latest version of Tableau Desktop?
12. What are the limitations of context filters?
13. Explain the difference between twbx and twb file extensions.
14. How will you combine two Excel files with the same fields but different data?
15. What is a dual and blended axis?

Learn more about 10 Tips for Radical Interview Preparation.

Sample Advanced Tableau Interview Questions for Practice

If you are looking for advanced Tableau interview questions, given below are the sample questions that you can prepare while preparing for an interview at a FAANG company.

1. What is the difference between filters and parameters?
2. What is a page shelf?
3. How can you store a huge amount of data in a memory engine using Tableau?
4. How to automate reports in Tableau?
5. What is the difference between Tableau and GoodData?
6. How will you create a calculated field? What is it?
7. How will you show the top five and bottom five sales in the same view?
8. What is the rank function in Tableau?
9. What will you do if any geographical entity is missing or displaying a null when using map view?
10. How do you calculate daily profit measures using LOD?
11. How can you schedule a workbook in Tableau after publishing it?
12. How will you embed a webpage in a dashboard?

FAQs on Tableau Interview Questions

Q1. How do I prepare for Tableau interview questions?

You must have a thorough knowledge of Tableau, its background, and various software-related factors to crack Tableau interviews. You can take the help of Tableau Prep Builder to prepare coding-based questions asked in the Tableau interview.

Q2. What is Tableau used for?

Tableau Software is a tool that assists in reducing Big Data to Small Data and in the transformation of Small Data into Insightful and Actionable Data. The primary purpose of Tableau is to help people see and understand their data.

Q3. What significant aspect must be considered while preparing Tableau interview questions?

You must focus on the basics of Tableau, what it does, how it is different from other BI tools, a few scenario-based questions, and profit-based questions while covering Tableau interview questions. If you master how to pitch yourself at a FAANG interview, you can crack Tableau interviews on the first attempt.

Q4. What are the challenges you face in Tableau interview questions?

Tableau interview questions deal with in-depth questions based on the software. If you frequently use the software or have thorough knowledge about Tableau, it will be easy for you to ace the interview in any tech company. So, brush up your skills on Tableau to land your dream job.

Q5. What is Tableau Prep Builder?

Tableau Prep Builder is a tool in the Tableau product suite that simplifies and intuitively prepares data. Tableau Prep Builder is a tool for combining, shaping, and cleaning data for analysis in Tableau.

Prepare for Your Next Tech Interview

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