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Exactly what is a CBAP™ anyway?
A Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP™) is a proven expert in identifying the business needs of an organization and determining solutions for those needs.  Certified Business Analysis Professionals are recognized as experts who perform a role that is vital to the success of any project.

What position do your Instructors hold in their organizations? Who should get certified?
ASPE CBAP Exam Bootcamp Instructors are all senior-level business analysts with significant business analysis experience. The CBAP™ certification is intended for intermediate- to senior-level business analysts. However, any qualified individual could become certified.

Why did you get certified?
In addition to our extensive experience, we thought the certification would help us:

• Demonstrate a high level of competence in business analysis skills and knowledge
  
• Effectively use standard tools and techniques of business analysis
  
• Recognize a clear and distinct career path within the Information Technology community
  
• Promote best practices of business analysis within an organization
  
• Contribute to the success of the organization to which they belong

How does it help your company or organization for you to be certified?
We believe that we help our company by:

• Performing a role that is vital to project success
  
• Displaying an advanced level of skill and knowledge about business analysis
  
• Following established standards identified by the IIBA™
  
• Adhering to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK™)
  
• Efficiently and consistently producing reliable, high-quality results for the organization
  
• Increasing the credibility of the business analysis process

What are the qualifications for certification?
To become Certified Business Analysis Professionals, we had to:

• Prove five years (7,500 hours) of business analysis work experience in the last 10 years
  
• Demonstrate experience in 4 out of 6 knowledge areas
  
• Possess a minimum high school education
  
• Supply two professional references
  
• Have had 21 hours of professional development in the last 4 years
  
• Apply for and be accepted to write the CBAP™ exam
  
• Successfully pass the exam

Did your Project Management experience or training count toward the qualifications?
No, only business analysis work or training was considered.

What is the application process?

• We selected an exam date and location from the IIBA website
  
• We submitted the following items to IIBA (we got the forms from the IIBA website):
  
• Completed application form
  
• Two professional references
  
• Code of Conduct form
  
• Special Accommodation form (if needed)
  
• Payment:
  
  • $450 for IIBA members, $575 for non-members
    
  • Payment is US dollars by check
    
• IIBA notified us that our application materials were received within 1-2 weeks
  
• IIBA reviewed our application materials and notified us within 30 days of the results of our applications. Some of us went back and forth with IIBA with respect to validating certain experience we stated, but eventually we were all accepted and scheduled for the exam.
  
• We had to pass the exam within one year of applying, or we would have had to reapply

What was the exam like?

• We couldn’t take anything (drinks, notes, bag/pack, handbag, etc.) into the exam room
  
• We had to turn our cellphones, BlackBerrys, etc. off, and if we didn’t, and they rang during the exam, we would have been disqualified
  
• We had 150 multiple-choice questions, with four choices for each question
  
• We were given 3.5 hours to complete the test (and we used it all!)
  
• We got one 15-minute break
• We filled out circles on a paper-based answer sheet with a #2 pencil
  
• We then waited about 30 (anxious) days to get the results

Why are they offering Computer-Based Training?

• Dedicated test centers around the world will allow approved applicants to take the CBAP exam at convenient times and locations.
• More dates, times and locations to choose from will reduce travel time and costs.
• This will open more international locations including (but not limited to) Australia, New Zealand, England, UAE, India, China, etc.

I do not work well with computer-based training. Are there any alternatives?
Hosted exams will continue to be an option for IIBA Chapters, EEPs and companies who prefer to schedule a sitting of the CBAP exam in their area.

How did you prepare for the exam?

• The best way to prepare for the exam is to review (learn) the BABOK™ (version 1.6) and the references listed in the back of the BABOK™. It’s also important to have had significant experience as a business analyst, as some of the questions are not “right from the book.”
  
• Any training that is specific to business analysis, requirements development, etc. would also be beneficial. CBAP™ Preparation courses and workshops are being developed by a number of vendors.
  
• Some local IIBA chapters have formed or are forming study groups for CBAP™ exam preparation. We don’t have study groups for our chapters, so that option wasn’t available to us. Contact your local chapter for more information.
  
• Project Management experience and training won’t directly help with preparation, as the exam is focused on business analysis work.
  
• We looked for sample exams or exam questions and couldn’t find any. At present, IIBA does not publish any “sample” exams and/or exam questions.

Could I take the exam again if you didn’t pass?
It is possible to re-take the exam. You’d have to wait three (3) months, and there’s a fee of $250 for IIBA members ($375 for non-members) to re-take the exam. See the IIBA website for other requirements to re-take any exam.

What happens when I pass the exam?
You will receive a certificate suitable for framing (and without the frame), a wallet card, the right to put the letters “CBAP” after our names, a file containing the CBAP™ logo in a number of formats, and guidelines for the use of the logo.

Will I need to get recertified in the future?
Yes you will. However, IIBA hasn’t yet published the requirements for recertification.