How a Looker Certification will level up your career
Carrie Browde
Certification Coordinator at Looker
As someone who recently switched job sectors, I had concerns and preconceptions about how I could flourish in a field undergoing constant change. The first thing I learned was that I had been using data analysis far more in my former profession than I’d given myself credit for — and that technology’s exponential evolution has accelerated change in all domains. “Tech” is no longer a singular industry isolated in its silicon tower — according to Forbes, tech-savviness and data literacy are two of the five most important job skills of the future. Being proactive in acquiring and applying these skill sets is crucial to finding thriving longevity in a job ecosystem in flux.
But how do you show that you’ve been keeping your knowledge current with the changing business ecosystem? If you’re looking to do so in a quantifiable way, certification is an excellent option.
Benefits of a Looker Certification
A certification is a quantifiable way to show that you’ve added breadth to your knowledge. It lets your manager know that you’re savvy to your business’s need for data literacy, and it lets your peers know you’re a leading force in that arena (also, the purple badge looks pretty slick on a LinkedIn profile). We are at a special point in time where there is unprecedented generational diversity in the workforce, and certification gives you a relevant voice in the data culture conversation. You’ve earned it.
At Looker, we’ve been evangelizing the importance of data’s role in business for the better part of a decade. We find this revolutionary height of data literacy thrilling, and we see the importance of getting you there with new paths to professional development. That’s why we’re so excited for this moment to launch our certification program. As the world of data usage expands, we’re driven to give you more ways to access it.
Looker as a platform is as multifaceted as its users, and we wanted our certification material to reflect that. These certifications not only show your proficiency in using the Looker data platform, but also demonstrate how you can apply that aptitude to specific job roles. A Looker certification says that you’ve updated your skillset and that you’re ready to apply your data literacy to a function that is needed now.
About the Certification Program
To kick off the certification program, we’re starting with two role-specific certifications: Looker Business Analyst and LookML Developer. Whether you’re ready to show your experience modeling data using LookML, or excited to prove your skills in creating and curating content using Looker (or both!), we’ve got a way for you to do so.
But why is a Looker exam the best way to validate your knowledge? Because we’ve made sure that our exams are really representing you and your scope. The subject matter experts — we call them SMEs — who create the questions adhere to the highest industry standard guidelines (if you’ve ever wanted to learn about psychometrics, I highly recommend taking an SME training course). This means you’ve been tested on relevant, job-related content comprehension, and not on your test-taking skills.
