Top Tableau Developer skills that identify Star Candidates to hire

With many businesses moving towards data analytics, tableau developers are becoming one of the most sought-after professionals.

Nearly all business decisions today are driven by data. But the amount of data produced daily is enormous, almost 2.5 quintillion bytes! Hence, companies require experts to handle, analyze and make sense of these data.

Tableau developers are data visualization experts who use the tableau platform to analyze data and manage the BI system of an organization. They produce actionable visual reports from raw data to improve business procedures.

However, finding the right fit for their company can be daunting for hiring managers, especially if they aren't familiar with essential tableau developer skills.

This guide will walk you through the essential skills required in a tableau developer. We will also look at the role of assessment platforms in reducing the inefficiencies, biases, and candidate engagement challenges in hiring technical candidates.

Finally, we will examine the tests recruiters should include while assessing tableau developers.

So, let’s get started!

Tableau Developer Must Have Technical Skills

All HR managers looking for a tableau developer should ensure they possess the capabilities to use the tableau tools. Here are six must-have skills required for a tableau developer

Basic Data Comprehension:

One of the primary responsibilities of a tableau developer is to understand how data are linked and transformed into an easily understandable structure.

Hence, data comprehension is one of the foremost essential skills required for a tableau developer.

Managers should look for candidates with experience in working with spreadsheets and databases. They should also possess the ability to gather and query data.
Knowledge of tools such as Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and other data compilation programs makes one familiar with data insights and a better tableau developer candidate.

Data Analysis:

Tableau developer's job also includes data discovery, data transformation, and preparation of data for analysis. Hence, they must know how to analyze data objects and their relationship with one another.

Developers often use data preparation tools such as tableau prep builder for this purpose. Tableau prep tool makes gathering, cleaning, and shaping data easy. Hence, many people also refer to it as an ETL (Extract, Load, and Transform) tool.

The cleaner the data, the easier it is to analyze and derive insight. Hence, familiarity with the tool is a highly valued tableau developer skill. You can discover more about data analysis skills from this test.

Mathematics and Statistical Skills:

All developers need a basic understanding of mathematics and statistics. They are critical skills for anyone who works in close proximity to data. The skills help tableau developers derive valuable insights from the compiled data.

Raw data is just a collection of facts and figures. Data manipulation methods such as statistical calculation, forecasting, and trending enhance the value of the data. They also help in better visualization of data, which brings us to our next skill.

Data Visualization:

It refers to the visual representation of data using graphs, charts, plots, or maps. It is an effective way of communicating data so decision-makers can understand the major insights at a glance.

In an era where data change in real-time, persuasive data presentation or visualization can significantly influence critical business decisions. So, if you want maximum involvement of the tableau developer in business processes and solutions, this is one skill they cannot ignore.

Business Intelligence:

Businesses increasingly rely on business intelligence (BI) tools to keep data at their fingertips. Tableau developers utilize BI tools to help enterprises to analyze large data sets. It allows them to conduct historical and current data analysis with ease.

With modern BI tools leaning more towards the self-service data analysis approach, the role of tableau developers in managing the BI system has become even more prominent. With their BI skills, tableau developers can empower managers with accurate and actionable insights.

Tableau Software:

Needless to say, all tableau developers must know how to use different pieces of tableau software.

Hiring managers must see that they have hands-on skills in tableau desktop, tableau server, tableau public, and other tableau applications. These applications will make the business stand out in business analytics.

Tableau Developer Nice-To-Have Technical Skills 

Besides the above-mentioned must-have technical, here is an additional tableau developer skill set to enhance their CV. Hiring managers can use these to filter the best candidates from massive influx of applicants.

SQL:

Combining SQL with tableau applications can take data analysis to another level. Although detailed SQL knowledge is not required for tableau developers, having basic knowledge is always helpful.

The skill can come in handy in creating data visualizations.

Coding:

Lots of coding languages are used in the field of data. They are used to create algorithms and programs to process data or perform specific tasks.

For instance, they may need to integrate tableau software with APIs. With basic coding knowledge, they can write their own connectors and enable integration.

UI/UX:

Since tableau developers directly talk to business people through visualization, understanding UI/UX becomes important.

With good UI/UX knowledge, developers can create excellent user experience dashboards.

Knowledge of R and Python:

Some tableau developer job descriptions seek both statistical and visual analytics skills in a tableau developer. Knowledge of programming languages like R and Python is recommended in such cases.

It will help developers integrate statistical languages into the Tableau workbook.

Soft Skills Required for Tableau Developer

A candidate may list all fancy hard skills on their CV. But they may not be a good addition to the organization if they do not know how to work well within a team.

Hence, soft skills are as crucial as technical tableau developer skills.

Here are a few soft skills required for tableau developers that set them a class apart from the rest.

Communication Skills:

Tableau developers analyze and visualize data and must present their solutions to people across the organization. Not all of them will be proficient in information technology.

Hence, developers must have effective communication skills to explain their findings clearly.

The best way of communicating data is through storytelling.

Just presenting facts and figures is not enough to make an impact on senior managers. With storytelling, developers can cover all 'what if' scenarios and influence key decisions of an organization.

Critical Thinking:

The core responsibility of a tableau developer is to identify connections between data sources, prepare them for analysis, and develop reports and dashboards. All these steps are not possible with critical thinking skills.

Tableau developers must be able to analyze problems objectively from all angles to find the solution. For that, they must go into the depth of the problem.

Instead of taking information at face value, they must be able to question them after analyzing them critically.

Problem-Solving Skills:

Problem-solving is one of the most important soft skills required for tableau developers. It helps identify the root cause of the problem and is the first step toward evaluating solutions and making decisions.

Developers can better define, visualize and categorize problems and discover potential solutions by applying problem-solving skills in conjunction with analytical skills.

Teamwork:

Tableau developers do not work alone, despite the popular belief that all techies are loners. They work closely with other members.

And to effectively collaborate with all, they must be a team player.

How to Assess Tableau Developer Skill

Relying on CVs to identify potential candidates is a thing of the past. Anyone can list tableau developer skills in their CV, but it does not guarantee that they have hands-on skills working with tableau software.

So, how to filter out genuine candidates with actual capabilities? By testing their skills, yourself!

Skill intelligence platforms like iMocha allow hiring managers to assess candidates' skills before hiring them. They have 2500+ skill assessments to help managers make skill-based and bias-free hiring decisions.

With iMocha's Tableau Assessment Test, HRs can quickly engage and screen job-fit candidates.

It contains questions on all the necessary tableau developer skill sets, including tableau marks cards, data merging, tableau drill, tableau aggression, etc., all created by tableau specialists.

Recruiters can choose from the library of over 1,00,000 questions or request to create individualized ones. After completing the tests, this tool generates a comprehensive test report analysis to offer you a detailed overview of the candidate's performance in each section and make data-driven decisions.

Furthermore, iMocha's AI-based proctoring ensures no cheating through tests so that HRs can get an honest evaluation of the applicant's skills.

Then, using iMocha's live coding interview, they can remotely assess candidates' logical and problem-solving skills and pick the best tableau developer for their organization.

With many organizations receiving flak for their uninspiring and inefficient recruitment practices, using iMocha's acquisition solution is the best way to ace your hiring game.

Which Tests Should You Include When Assessing a Tableau Developer?

While the tests to include would depend largely upon the nature of the business and the role of the candidate, here are a few primary tableau developer skill sets hiring managers must not miss.

• Tableau Marks: Tableau Marks tests help recruiters assess candidates' ability to use marks cards. Marks card is an essential element of visual analysis, making it one of the most important tableau developer skills.
• Geographical Data: This test assesses candidates' ability to plot data on a map.
• Data Merging: This assessment tests the candidates' ability to blend data by combining two or more data tables and appending values from one table to another.
• Tableau Extracts: This assessment checks candidates' proficiency at Tableau extract to extract data sources online to improve data source performance.
• Tableau Filters: This test assesses candidates' ability to apply various filters in Tableau. Filters are essential to create a dashboard in Tableau and minimize unnecessary data elements for efficient use.
• Tableau Actions: This assessment evaluates candidates' ability to add context and interactivity to data using tableau actions.

Since tableau developers also require soft skills along with technical skills, HRs can also assess candidates on these secondary tableau developer skills:

• Cognitive Ability Tests: Cognitive tests help managers discover how good candidates are at reasoning, perception, memory, verbal ability, mathematics, and problem-solving.
• Communication Skills: With language and communication assessments, recruiters can evaluate candidates' listening, following instructions, reading, writing, and comprehension skills.
• Coding Skills: Depending upon the requirement of their business, HRs can test candidates on coding knowledge. iMocha provides a pseudo-coding platform to help recruiters access coding and programming skills in candidates. The coding simulators consist of 500+ coding problems in 35+ languages. Recruiters can use it to assess and hire top coders.

Wrap up

With many companies preferring skill assessment over CV-based hiring, skill-based hiring is set to be the new recruitment norm of the future. They save time and cost while reducing the dependency on the technical evaluation team for hiring.

Using iMocha's skill assessment platform, recruiters can assess tableau developer skills remotely and build a diverse workforce of top talents. They can customize the assessments as per the business needs and hire best-fit talent with minimal effort.

FAQs

What questions should I ask a tableau developer?

Tableau developers should be interviewed on the fundamentals of Tableau and its working. These include questions on tableau calculations, query processing, tableau visualization, tableau dashboard, dimension, measures, etc.

When should I hire a tableau developer?

You need to hire tableau developers when you need someone with high technical knowledge to convert raw data into an accessible and actionable format to draw useful insights from them. Hence, a tableau developer must have excellent analytical skills and expertise in handling all tableau products. For more details, you can explore our guide on “How to hire Tableau Developer in 2024” 

Can you hire a tableau developer as a freelancer?

Yes, you can hire tableau developers as freelancers on a project basis. But make sure to assess their tableau developer skills before hiring with skill assessment platforms like iMocha.

How much does it cost to hire tableau developers?

Tableau developer rates vary due to many factors, such as expertise, experience, location, and market conditions. A beginner developer can charge between $36 and $63 per hour. Conversely, consultants with advanced tableau developer skills can also charge more than $100 per hour.