The 9th CDA Data Analyst Certification Exam successfully ended at the end of December 2018. The results have been announced, and a new certificate will soon arrive in the hands of every certificate holder who passes the exam. Recently, we interviewed several excellent students who ranked among the best in this exam, and in this article we have compiled their test preparation and learning experience. I hope that test preparers can have some reference and achieve ideal results.

Today I bring you the gods of the top six in the CDA certification exam Level 1. Four of them are tied for first place, and two are ranked second. Let's take a look at their style below!

Level 1 Champion Wei Yangying

01 Current work currently engaged in financial work, there is no systematic data analysis experience. But data analysis is what I always wanted to do. Mastering data analysis skills will make the work more efficient.

02 Opportunity to apply for CDA certification exam In recent years, big data is the trend of industry development. At the same time, I have always been interested in data analysis. The reason why I chose the CDA test is because I think that the requirements at different levels are staged and can be planned step by step, according to their own needs. It is also a way to spur yourself.

03 How do I prepare for the exam? Because I am working, so the preparation time is relatively long. I actually started preparing for the exam from the end of September. The study time is mainly in the scattered breaks of work gaps, as well as the concentrated review after returning home from work or on weekends.
I didn't make a very detailed preparation plan, but there are a few general stages, which can be determined according to the actual situation:
The first stage: Exam outline (the general direction knows which pieces to take) Related preparation books (notes)
The second stage: exam outline (understand the specific content to be tested) outline analysis (notes)
The third stage: checking for missing and filling up vacancies. I want to talk about how to take notes in the three stages of preparing for the exam.
The notes in the first stage are notes taken while reading the book. The contents will be as detailed as possible, and the contents may not be within the scope of the outline. But it will build a knowledge system more systematically and have a better understanding of the content;
The notes in the second stage are mainly based on the analysis of the exam outline. This part is organized according to the requirements of the exam. The content of this part of the notes will be integrated with the first stage. Afterwards, the main focus will be on the integrated notes. If there are any unclear, then return to the book;
The notes in the third stage are deleted on the basis of the integrated notes, delete the contents that you have determined to understand and remember, and the remaining contents that you are not sure enough, as well as those that appear when doing simulation questions, but you have not previously Note the content. Try to reduce complexity to complexity.

04 Recommended books and courses When I was preparing for Level 1, I mainly read a few books recommended by the outline:
· The basis of Jia Junping's "Statistics" is very important;
· "Introduction to SQL Classic" is relatively easy to understand;
· The book "Data Mining and Predictive Analysis" is relatively thick, and you can read it whenever you have time. The overall feeling is good, if the time is tight, you can look at the parts related to the exam, focusing on understanding;
Of course, the CDA test guidance manual is still very important, especially the sorting and induction of knowledge points.
In terms of courses, in the final stage of preparing for the exam, I signed up for "CDA LEVEL I Business Analyst Pre-Test Sprint Course". After listening to the teacher's analysis of the exam outline, it still feels different.

05 Advice for test takers

The premise of taking the test is best to be interested in data analysis, not to test for the test, otherwise the process of preparing for the test will be more difficult.
Read more books, and when you encounter problems, you should actively look for various ways to solve them. You can inquire online, and you can also communicate and communicate with students who are preparing for the exam together.
Don't put too much pressure on it, it's also important to have a good rest. Everyone has their own rhythm, just walk at your own pace.

06 In the future career development plan, my practical experience is still inadequate. I hope that I will be able to apply the theory to practical work in the future. Of course, today, I will continue to consolidate and fill theoretical knowledge so that I can continuously optimize and improve according to changes in the environment.

Fuzhou University is currently studying for graduate students and is currently studying for a second major in statistics.

01 Opportunity to apply for CDA certification exam As a student of statistics, I think that the classroom knowledge learned is not enough after school assessment. Classroom knowledge needs to be connected with society to be more conducive to future development, so I want to Use the CDA to test and improve yourself.
The things I learned in school are either more theoretical or less useful after work. Applying for the CDA certification exam will allow me to learn more about handling actual business. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of future work, I need to increase my sensitivity to actual business data, learn more data processing methods, learn more data processing models, and improve the ability to write code. Applying for the CDA is more about setting yourself a learning goal and finding a direction to study, so you won't be confused.

02 How do I prepare for the test? I came from statistics, and my undergraduate is a mathematics department, so many knowledge points are relatively easy to understand, and there are no difficult knowledge points.
The main difficulty in preparing for the exam is that there is a lot of new knowledge, especially the large amount of knowledge of SQL syntax and data collection and processing. It will take some time to learn, but it is not difficult. Because it has a certain foundation, it took me only 10 days to prepare for the exam, and 5-6 days to systematically learn the online course of SQL. I then reviewed it according to the outline, and I went online if I did n’t understand or was rusty. search for. The most used one is the CSDN blog and the book "Statistics" written by Jia Junping. The average study time is 8 hours per day for more than ten days.

03 Recommended books and courses · "CDA Data Analyst Exam Counseling Manual" (it contains an outline and some exercises and a set of simulated papers, the scope of the exam is in it)
· "Statistics" Jia Junping (This book is the number of basic courses in statistics for my graduate students, written very well and detailed, suitable for novices)
· CSDN blog (any model or code in the outline can be searched on this blog, many professionals answer it for free, and it is easy to understand in simple terms)
· CDA related courses, focused on learning statistical software such as Python and SPSS

04 Recommendations for test takers are aimed at most students. When learning the basics of statistics, do not stick to the derivation of formulas. For example, do not think about why this formula is written, why p value is less than a number and you can reject the original hypothesis. The problem. You only need to know what formula is used under what circumstances, and the symbol in the formula is brought into the business to have specific economic meaning.
The basic syntax of the SQL part must be thoroughly understood. Students who are not familiar with the code may spend more time, but to put it bluntly is a language. It will be very simple to read more and listen more. The logic questions involved in the SQL grammar of the CDA Level 1 test are not deep, don't worry.
The data collection and sorting is a part of memory, just look at the outline; it is difficult to model and analyze this content. The models in the outline need to be understood, and personally think that this content is very important and needs to be studied carefully. For the exam, it is relatively simple, as long as there is a rough framework of each model in mind, the application scope of each model in mathematics is good.
The most important thing is: the outline exercises are very important!

05 Future career development plan I want to work as a data analyst in the future. Do business data analysis, familiar with financial management after the industry, may also enter the Internet financial industry. The expectation within five years is to be able to reach an annual salary of 20w, improve personal abilities, and have a sense of accomplishment in working in the data analysis industry.


01 Currently engaged in a digital transformation project of a traditional company in a Fortune 500 company

02 Opportunity to apply for CDA certification exam

I applied for the exam because of work needs and also to increase workplace skills. At the same time, I also analyze the data of self-study, hoping to test the effect of self-study by registering for the CDA exam.

03 What are the knowledge and difficulties in the exam? In preparing for the exam, I used the statistical textbook recommended by the syllabus. In fact, I personally feel that general university statistical textbooks are acceptable.
The part about multivariate statistics, including principal components, factor analysis, correspondence analysis and other knowledge points, I feel that it is still difficult to understand. To be fully understood, a strong linear algebra foundation is required.
But do n’t be nervous. The exam does not examine mathematical calculations, only requires understanding and application. Just match the statistical textbook, read the supplementary materials several times, and write down the key points in a small book. The exams are multiple-choice questions, properly secured. Thanks to so many excellent statistical software, let us degenerate mathematical slag can also do data analysis.

04 Advice for test takers · The CDA Level 1 exam is quite easy. The question types are multiple choice questions. There are few steps to calculate the questions. So you do n’t have to be nervous when you are preparing for the exam, and you can relax. There is not much pressure for preparing for the exam.
· There are some concepts and nouns that you need to learn. Look at the exam materials a few times and write down the key concepts in a small book.
· The test focuses on the actual application scenarios of various algorithm models. You need to know what method is suitable for different needs and how to set various parameters in the model.

05 In the future career development plan, I hope that I can continue to learn and grow in the field of data analysis. I still have a lot to work on in terms of machine learning, Python, and SQL. It is always good to learn more and improve yourself without special planning.


Graduated from Fudan Communication Engineering in 2013, and engaged in software research and development after graduation. Since 2017, he has studied part-time engineering master courses, mainly studying software engineering and data mining.

01 The current work is currently engaged in software research and development. The company is mainly committed to intelligent storage systems and Internet solutions for decorative enterprises. The current work involves less data analysis, but most of the current corporate Internet solutions involve big data collection and analysis, and I am also more interested in this direction, so I feel the need to study data analysis in depth.

02 Opportunity to apply for the CDA certification exam When I studied the engineering master's course on the weekend, I studied some data mining courses, but I was busy on weekdays and learned relatively sparsely. The lecturer mentioned the CDA exam, so he considered taking the exam as an incentive to enable him to systematically and deeply consolidate the relevant knowledge points of data analysis.

03 How did I prepare for the exam

I think the most important thing is to pay attention to the usual accumulation and systematically study some classic textbooks. As far as preparing for the exam is concerned, it is necessary to fully digest the official tutorial manual for one to two weeks before the exam, understand the contents that are not understood or ambiguous, and finally simulate some real questions.

04 Recommended books and recommended books are Jia Junping's Statistics first. Leaving aside the exams, this book is a leader in Chinese textbooks in the field of mathematical statistics. I think it is necessary to read through. As far as the exam is concerned, "Statistics" basically covers the two most important parts of Part1 and Part4 in the syllabus, and the explanation is much more detailed than the official tutorial manual.
"An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in R" (James, Witten, Hastie amp; Tibshirani) I think this book is the easiest to use in English textbooks, very suitable for beginners, the models involved in the syllabus, most of the books It is involved, and the writing is clear and easy to understand, for your reference.

05 The advice given to test takers is modeling, and should not be restricted to exams. The models involved should be understood as much as possible, because these models are the basis of practice and the starting point for in-depth research on related topics. They should not be just for Pass the exam and memorize it. Other content is also best to contact reality, such as SQL, if there is accumulation in the usual work, basically only need to be careful.

06 Future career development plan
LEVEL 1 is basically a theoretical examination. Of course, in the field of machine learning or big data, it must still be reflected in practice. In the future, we will work hard to improve our practical ability, and we hope to eventually make big data collection and analysis into modules and apply them to the company's specific projects or products.


01 Currently engaged in work for a well-known Internet company, mainly engaged in business consulting and analysis, but not much data analysis is involved.

02 I am not the same as the chance to apply for the CDA certification exam. I have a wealth of data analysis experience before. I should be considered a newcomer in this industry. But I have a strong interest in the data analysis industry and I also like to work with numbers. I like to extract valuable information from the original data and make interesting visual charts to help users make decisions. CDA is currently well-known in the industry, with a comprehensive outline system and a qualification certificate from theory to practice, so I chose to start from the first level and follow CDA step by step to the data analysis of this high-rise building.

03 How do I prepare for the test? My preparation time is still in a hurry. The registration at the end of November started preparations at the beginning of December. It was also intermittent in the middle, and then it reached the end of the year (manual smile ???) The review method is still based on the outline. If you do n’t understand, go find a book and dig deeper. The time can be a little more than a Buddhist one. You do n’t have to read as many pages or hours as you want, but once you have time, do n’t forget that you still have books to read. The first level is still the foundation, the theory is solid, and the actual operation will be handy later.

04 What are the difficulties in preparing for the exam? The difficulties for me mainly lie in SQL and modeling analysis. The former is mostly untouched, but the SQL entry classic on the book list is still very helpful, and can be read in a weekend. The difficulty of the latter lies in the mathematical interpretation of the outline, but from the point of view of the test, these will not be tested, but it is necessary to understand the use of these methods.

05 The recommended book and the SQL reference book recommended by the syllabus are more suitable for students like me who have never been exposed to SQL before. In addition, for the more difficult Chapter 4 modeling analysis, you can refer to Zhang Wentong's two SPSS books. Of course, students who have enough time can participate in the online courses and books recommended by the management house, which will definitely be of great benefit.

06 After the future career development and planning hope to be led by CDA, you can learn more and deeper in the field of data analysis and find more fun things. Also hope that under the trend of FinTech, CDA will be our good partner to ride the wind and waves.

Finance major (direction of securities and futures). After graduation in 2013, he mainly engaged in debt investment, including business development, risk control, product design and other content.

01 Current work

Currently working at Tianjin Cheyixing Automobile Service Co., Ltd., engaged in data analysis of automobile finance leasing business.

02 Opportunity to apply for the CDA certification exam I am preparing for the CDA exam mainly to prepare for career transformation. I plan to find a job after passing the exam and engage in data analysis of car loans. Judging from the recruitment information of data analysts, most companies tend to recruit talents with a background in science and engineering, such as statistics, mathematics, and computers. Considering their non-disciplinary background, they have no experience in data analysis and have not worked in famous enterprises However, it is not a 985/211 college graduation, which requires a more authoritative third-party organization to authenticate data analysis skills.

03 What kind of knowledge and difficulties in the preparation of the test correspond to analysis, multi-dimensional scale analysis, and did not understand the ins and outs when the test was started, relying on mechanical memory to deal with the test.

04 Recommended books and courses

· "Advance from zero! Statistical basis of data analysis" This book is suitable for introductory readers of statistics. Compared with the statistical textbooks of colleges and universities, many unnecessary formulas have been deleted, the basic knowledge structure is perfect, and software operation guidance and Many exercises are easy to understand.
· "Being confident! SPSS and SAS EG advanced data analysis" Compared with the previous book, the content is further in-depth, and the software operation demonstration knowledge points will deepen the reader's understanding.
· "CDA Data Analyst Exam Counseling Manual" (electronic version, available after registration) This book lists the key points of the exam, with knowledge points and exercises to explain, which is very suitable for readers with tight preparation time.

05 Advice for test takers based on their own career development plan, selective study, and decide whether to apply for the test.
(1) In the learning process, we must attach importance to mastering basic knowledge, understanding memory, and establishing your own knowledge system. You can sort out ideas by drawing mind maps. For the exercises in the book, you can do a good job to consolidate what you have learned, tap the knowledge points contained in the exercises, and speculate on the idea of the question.
(2) When approaching the exam, focus on the big and let go of the small one first, then check and fill in the vacancies, and focus on the knowledge points listed in the exam counseling manual. For mock exams, you can go to the CDA Practice Question Bank (http://tiku.cda.cn/tiku.html) and choose the exercises related to the knowledge points listed in the exam outline. In addition, prepare a multi-function calculator, familiar with the relevant operating methods.
(3) During the exam, you can relax and sit calmly and seek the correctness. For the test questions with uncertain answers, do not need to be entangled, mark them well, study them carefully after all are done, and then confirm the answers of other test questions again to prevent mistakes.
(4) There are 2 recommended study books in the exam outline. I think that it is not necessary to read (if it is for the exam), they are: "Data Mining and Predictive Analysis", "Data Analysis Using Python".

06 In the future career development plan, the current data analysis work is deep and thorough, and I hope to make some achievements in the field of auto financial data analysis.