Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate

The certification is tied to Exam PL-300, Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst. The exam tests preparing data, modeling data, visualizing and analyzing data, and managing and securing Power BI. [Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/resources/study-guides/pl-300)

Microsoft's current skills guide weights data preparation and data modeling at 25% to 30% each, visualization and analysis at 25% to 30%, and managing and securing Power BI at 15% to 20%. Power Query and DAX are specifically named skills, so memorizing charts alone is not enough. [Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/resources/study-guides/pl-300)

Yes. Microsoft says associate certifications expire annually, so the credential needs renewal rather than lasting for life. If it is within six months of expiry, you can take the free online renewal assessment through your Microsoft Learn profile. [Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/bs-latn-ba/credentials/certifications/data-analyst-associate/renew/)

It is aimed at people who use Power BI to turn available data into business insights and enable self-service analysis. You should be comfortable connecting and cleaning data, building semantic models, creating reports, and applying DAX, so basic spreadsheet skills alone do not cover the full PL-300 scope. [Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/resources/study-guides/pl-300)