Seven Steps to Passing the CBAP or CCBA Exam: A Foolproof Plan

The CBAP^® (Certified Business Analysis Professional) certification from IIBA was begun in late 2006 to screen, test, and certify qualified and senior BAs. The CCBA® (Certified Competency in Business Analysis) was added in 2011 for intermediate-level BAs. As of this writing, we number over 9200 CBAPs and 1350+ CCBAs around the world, with more added every week. IIBA’s newest offering, the ECBA, is not a certification but a certificate and over 1000 ECBA certificates have been granted as we speak. This article focuses on the CBAP and CCBA and is an update of our past foolproof plans.

What are the CBAP and CCBA and Why Become Certified?

The CBAP and CCBA were created by the IIBA® (International Institute of Business Analysis). For those of you who don’t know of it, the IIBA is a non-profit organization created to promote the growth and professionalism of business analysis. A large part of IIBA’s mission is to document and maintain standards for business analysis, and to recognize and certify practitioners. Visit https://www.iiba.org/Certification for more information, including qualifications you’ll need to apply for the exam.

We estimate there are thousands of eligible people thinking about or wanting to become certified, but who haven’t started yet. Both the CBAP and CCBA applications and the exams are difficult, yet many people do make it through the process!

This article briefly summarizes the CBAP and CCBA programs, and how eligible business analysts can create a “fool proof” plan to obtain their certification. Bear in mind that any certification plan is only foolproof if you personalize it, commit to it, and follow it. The majority of the article covers the crucial steps for your plan and several tips to help you execute it to become certified.

Richard Larson, PMP, CBAP, PMI-PBA and Elizabeth Larson, PMP, CBAP, PMI-PBA, CSM

Richard Larson, PMP, CBAP, PMI-PBA, was the founder of and is now a consultant for Watermark Learning. He is a successful entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience in product development, business analysis, project management, training, and consulting. As an internal entrepreneur, Rich led the development of several Watermark Learning online products as a business analyst and product owner. Rich is a frequent speaker at Business Analysis and Project Management national conferences and IIBA® and PMI® chapters around the world. He has contributed as a lead author to the BA Body of Knowledge version 2.0 and 3.0 and was a lead author on PMI’s Business Analysis Practice Guide. He and his wife Elizabeth Larson have co-authored five books on business analysis.

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Adnan Khan says:

January 4, 2020 at 7:16 pm

I would like to know more on how can I prepare for my cbap exam
- Watermark Learning says:
  
  January 9, 2020 at 2:43 pm
  
  Hi Adnan,
  We offer a number of options to help you prepare for the CBAP exam.
  a. First – obtain a copy of the BABOK and review the material.
  b. Attend a CBAP prep class. We offer live virtual classes every month.
  c. Purchase a Video-on-Demand recording of the class that you can listen to during your own time.
  d. Purchase any or all of our CBAP products (CBAP study guide, study tables and flash cards) to help you study. If you attend a class or purchase the Video-on-Demand, you automatically get a copy of the CBAP study guide, study tables and 90-day access to the online question bank.
  e. Purchase access to our online question bank to test your knowledge once you have studied.
  g. If you are unable to attend a class or purchase study materials, know the BABOK inside and out, paying particular attention to the knowledge areas, tasks and techniques (how to use, when to use and how to read the models).