About Splunk Certified Power User Certification

[Josephine]

I'm planning to pursue the Splunk Certified Power User certification in 2025, as it seems to be highly valued. I’m new to this certification and will be using Leads4Pass.com for practice exams. I’d appreciate insights from those familiar with the certification. Here are my questions:

1.What are the key topics covered in the Splunk Certified Power User exam? Are there specific areas (e.g., SPL, dashboards, or data models) that require extra focus?

2.Besides Leads4Pass practice exams, what are the best resources for preparing for this certification? Are Splunk’s official training courses (like "Splunk Power User") necessary, or are there other effective study materials (e.g., free courses or community guides)?

3.How challenging is the exam for someone with basic Splunk experience? Any tips for tackling complex search queries or time management during the test?

4.How has this certification benefited your career? Is it particularly valued in specific industries like cybersecurity or IT operations?

5.Does the certification focus more on Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud, or both? Are there differences in preparation if I primarily work with Splunk Cloud?

6.Is there a recertification process or expiration for the Power User certification? If so, what’s involved in maintaining it?

I’m based in a non-English-speaking region, so any advice on language support or localized resources would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Best regards

Josephine W. Yokley (My english name)

#SplunkCertifiedPowerUser 

#SplunkEducation

#SplunkCloud

#SplunkEnterprise

#SplunkSecurity

#ITOperations

[exam-dev-staff2]

Hi! Splunk Certifications here.

We do monitor this space and would like to remind everyone that Splunk dump websites are illegal representations of Splunk's intellectual property, which our legal team takes quite seriously. 

Violation of the Splunk Certification Exam Agreement can result in revocation of certifications and disqualification from any future certification exams. Reach out to certification@splunk.com if you have questions or need more direction for exam preparation.

[LAME-Creations]

Everyone here has posted great answers to where you can get help for your certifications.  

Hands down, my favorite answer was to download a copy of Enterprise Security onto your computer and get comfortable with the interface and the operations you can do with Splunk.  Then take the test learning objectives and see if you can answer them within your own Splunk environment.  If you feel comfortable with that, you are well on your way to learning Splunk. 

I know that through my work we were able to get Splunk Essentials 1 and 2 (or whatever it was called, it was mentioned in a response) and I highly recommend taking those courses.  I am a huge fan of trying to use the free resources that are available as much as possible.  

I am a huge fan of the Youtube as well.  There are a ton of free videos out there that can help fill some of the knowledge gaps you may have.  

Then there are the paid resources.  The one that I have seen used the most are paying for Splunk Training or going to Udemy.  Udemy is significantly less that a standard Splunk Training but I do not regret taking any of those Splunk Trainings or Udemy courses.  If you are looking at the large list of Udemy courses.  I am pretty sure that in the rules of conduct we are not to endorse anybody in these channels so I will not go any further down this path of recommendations but going to a reputable training may not be a bad idea.  

The Splunk community is full of people that will help you if you get stuck.  Just feel free to reach out and ask and someone will give you advise.  

[Josephine]

Thank you for your suggestion! I will take it as one of my references.

[inventsekar · Accepted solution]

Hi  May i know if you have cleared the first exam - Splunk Core Certified User

though it is not mandatory, its advised to finish core user certification first. 

1.What are the key topics covered in the Splunk Certified Power User exam? Are there specific areas (e.g., SPL, dashboards, or data models) that require extra focus?

There is an exam study guide (this guide contains all splunk cert details )- 

https://www.splunk.com/en_us/resources/splunk-certification-exam-study-guide.html

For Power user certification:

In order to be prepared for the certification exam, Splunk recommends completing the following
courses:
❏ Working with Time
❏ Statistical Processing
❏ Comparing Values
❏ Result Modification
❏ Correlation Analysis
❏ Creating Knowledge Objects
❏ Creating Field Extractions
❏ Data Models   (pls check at the Splunk training portal.. many of these courses are available for free)

https://www.splunk.com/en_us/pdfs/training/splunk-test-blueprint-power-user.pdf

check this above blueprint.. will be helpful to you. 

2.Besides Leads4Pass practice exams, what are the best resources for preparing for this certification? Are Splunk’s official training courses (like "Splunk Power User") necessary, or are there other effective study materials (e.g., free courses or community guides)?

let me suggest - install a splunk locally on your laptop, play with some data onboarding, try to explore the topics listed above. that will be enough for the certification. 

on the splunk training, you can find Splunk fundamentals 1 and 2(classic / legacy courses, but still available). i think they are free courses, not sure, pls check it. these 2 courses will cover most of the requirements for the Power User Certification.

3.How challenging is the exam for someone with basic Splunk experience? Any tips for tackling complex search queries or time management during the test?

there will not be any complex Search queries in this power user exam. work on the topics listed above and no need to worry much. 

(udemy or some training portals got mock exams.. may be try that one, that will give you good ideas)

4.How has this certification benefited your career? Is it particularly valued in specific industries like cybersecurity or IT operations?

As you are aware, most IT jobs require the certifications and Splunk power user certification is mandatory for doing the upper certifications like Splunk Admin,.. so very valuable certification and it will help you to get jobs on CyberSecurity, SOC, IT ops, etc

5.Does the certification focus more on Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud, or both? Are there differences in preparation if I primarily work with Splunk Cloud?

both actually. and dont worry about Splunk enterprise on-prim or cloud. both are actually same (in high level)

6.Is there a recertification process or expiration for the Power User certification? If so, what’s involved in maintaining it? 

After finishing this certification, if you complete the next certification(advanced power user), then no need of recertification / renewal process. 

as all Splunk certifications have a three-year life cycle(certificates will expiry after 3 years, then you should get recertified / renewal process) (pls double check this)

maybe some details for you -

Exam Details:

• Level: Entry
• Prerequisites: None
• Length: 60 minutes
• Format: 65 multiple choice questions
• Pricing: $130 USD per exam attempt
• Delivery: Exam is given by our testing partner Pearson VUE

  the language support,.. i am not sure. pls check with the Pearson VUE, thanks. 

  Karma points / upvotes appreciated, thanks. 

@Josephine

[Josephine]

Thank you, I really appreciate it—you’ve answered all my questions!

I’m preparing to take the Splunk Certified Power User certification exam directly, with a maximum of two hours daily for study. As you know, we need to balance work and taking care of kids...

[inventsekar]

Hi @Josephine 

if its ok, can you pls accept it as solution, so that the question will move from unanswered to answered and i will get solutions count increment 😉 .. thanks. 

[Josephine]

I’d like to share that my goal is to streamline my preparation for the certification. I have many questions, so I’m consolidating them here to save time. Thank you all for your help!