How to Build Your Data Analysis Skills with Tableau (for Free!)

If you’ve been looking at job descriptions for Product Manager, Business Analyst, or Operations roles, you’ve probably noticed something: everyone wants data skills. They want you to analyze, visualize, and tell a compelling story with data using tools like SQL, Tableau, and Looker.

And that’s great, except…

How do you build those skills if you don’t have a job that lets you use them?

For the longest time, I thought getting hands-on experience with data analysis outside of work was nearly impossible. The data wasn’t easily available, and the tools were locked behind corporate paywalls.

Turns out, I was wrong.

Once I got serious about building my data skills, I realized that free solutions exist, and they’re surprisingly easy to access. If you’ve been struggling to figure out how to get experience, you’re not alone. I’ve had countless conversations with analysts and product managers who felt the same way—until they found ways to practice on their own.

How you can start building and showcasing your data skills today (for free!)

Step 1: Get a Tableau Public Account

Yes, it’s free! Tableau Public lets you create and share interactive visualizations without needing a corporate license. No excuses—sign up and get started.

Step 2: Pick a Dataset and a Goal

Decide what kind of data do you want to work with. For example, I decided to build a dashboard to track key product performance metrics. This let me demonstrate my skills across SQL, Excel, and Tableau.

You can do the same by focusing on common product metrics, such as:

• User Engagement: DAU/WAU/MAU (Daily/Weekly/Monthly Active Users)

• Retention & Churn: % of users returning after 7/30 days, churn rate

• Conversion Rates: Sign-up to activation, trial to paid users

• Revenue Metrics: ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), LTV (Lifetime Value)

  
  

Step 3: Get Your Hands on Data

No sample data? No problem. You can:

• Use ChatGPT to generate sample datasets.

• Find free datasets on Kaggle, data.gov, or Google Dataset Search.

• Create your own dataset with Google Sheets or Excel and clean it up like you would in a real job.

  
  

Step 4: Build Your First Visualization

Pick one chart type at a time. I started with a line chart to track user engagement trends. Once I got comfortable, I moved on to bar charts, funnels, and interactive dashboards. Start simple, then build from there.

Step 5: Share Your Work!

You’ve put in the effort—now let people see it!

• Publish your dashboards on Tableau Public and share the link.

• Write about your process on LinkedIn or Medium.

• Post in relevant online communities like r/datascience on Reddit or LinkedIn groups.

Final Thoughts

If you’re job searching, don’t wait for a company to give you data experience. Create it yourself. The skills you build today will make you a stronger candidate and help you stand out in interviews.

Start now. Pick a dataset, get into Tableau, and have some fun with it. You got this!