PL-300: Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst

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Despite being poorly for Christmas and the New Year, I did manage to pass my PL-300 - Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Exam! So I thought that I would write it!

I have been creating dashboards and data models for a couple of years now but haven’t been on any courses so I am definitely in the ‘self taught’ camp. I did know how to use Power Query through being a bit of an Excel Queen. I do have a developer background so M and DAX hold no fear for me :)

1. MS Learn content

As with any Microsoft Exam (and I have sat and passed quite a few now), I start with the MS Learn content which lays out what you need to know for the exam. According to the MS Learn study guide , the exam content is being updated and will be changed for exams booked after the 6th February 2024. I have had a look at the change log and all the changes are listed as ‘minor’ which is good news for those studying already!

2. MS Learn Practice Exam Under the schedule exam button on the exam page, there is an option to take a free practice exam. Actually, you can take as many as you like which is super helpful! I used a few of these to really hone in the areas that I wasn’t great at (looking at you row level security!). From there you can also create a customised learning collection which will contain all the collateral you need for the areas you need to review.

This might be quite contraversial but I have also incorporated using MS Learn content into my practice exam taking. For those that might not know, since August 2023 MS Learn has been enabled so it is accessible during your exam. By practicing taking an exam with MS Learn, I have gotten a lot quicker looking content up and I seem to be able to remember things a bit easier this way too. This was super helpful for any DAX questions I got in the exam. I know that some people would disagree about making the Microsoft exams open book but I think that it is a more realistic experience as we use google a lot in our day to day life!

I sat mine using the online option via Pearson VUE. I have sat quite a few exams using the online option and it has all worked really well. I would definitely recommend reviewing the content on the Pearson VUE website and in MS Learn so you know what to expect on the day. The proctors are super strict about your exam area as well as the software being strict about what is running on your machine. Be prepared to dive into task manager to close stuff down!

The exam itself is split thussly:

  • Prepare the data (25–30%)
  • Model the data (25–30%)
  • Visualize and analyze the data (25–30%)
  • Deploy and maintain assets (15–20%)

The pass mark is 700 and you get 100 minutes to answer between 45 and 60 questions. I found the questions to be a good mix between harder security questions and being able to recognise a decomposition tree. I had a good amount of time at the end despite having being using MS learn to confirm some answers.

This exam is the only requirement to be a Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate. The exam is valid for one year and will need to be renewed - which is easier than passing in the first place and free!

As for me, I do have my eye on PL-200 and PL-600 next!

Updated on 2024-01-12
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