My Journey To CBAP

David Ghotbi
January 2015

Agenda
O Why IIBA CBAP?
O Application Process

O Exam Preparation
O Taking Exam
O Tips

O Resources
O Contact

Why IIBA CBAP*?

O It is acknowledged by industries and governments around

the world.
O Two other major certifications for BAs:
O PMI-PBA (Professional in Business Analysis)
O PMI is new in the BA domain.
O BCS Business Analysis Certification (Foundation,

Practitioner and Diploma Levels) [BCS British Computer Society]

O I attended and completed 3 of 5 required Certificates for the

Practitioner level.
O It is more interesting for BAs in Europe.

O It is a personal achievement.
O It helps your professional development.
O It helps performing business analysis more structured and

effectively.
*Certified Business Analyst Professional

Application Process
O

It could be a time consuming process.

O

O
O

What are you aiming for: CCBA or CBAP?

Do I need to read BABOK Guide V2.0 to fill out the application?
O

O
O
O

It is not necessary, but it helps to know the KAs and the tasks that will show
up in the application process.

Consider the required two references soon in the process!

Do I have qualified 21 hours of Professional Development (PD)?
Capture your work experience separately in the CBAP Application Template
spreadsheet.
O
O

Where to get help: IIBA Chapter, Study Groups, LinkedIn BA Groups, Training
Centers or ask your peers and colleagues

There are many useful templates out there; select one that youre comfortable with.
An overview of all project hours and relevant tasks for the purpose of application
process: do I have required BA hours to apply for registration?

Once approved you have one year time to take the exam, but each time you
fail you must wait three months in order to re-take the exam.
O Check out the IIBA Certification site for recent changes to the process and
more details: http://www.iiba.org/Certification-Recognition/Certification/iibacertification.aspx

Exam Preparation I/III

Hope Is Not A Strategy
O

Know the BABOK GUIDE V2.0 INSIDE OUT from the first page to the last
page!
O

Read BABAK Guide at least 4 times:

O

Round 1: Get to know the KAs, Diagrams, Tasks, Elements, Techniques,

Stakeholders, Underlying Competencies, Usage Consideration and Glossary;
O Round 2: Analyze each KA to comprehend the details;
O Round 3: Synthesize related KAs until you know the associations between the
information you learned very well;
O Round 4: Review your knowledge and visualize each KA and their tasks; ask yourself:
why should I do this task? Why should this stakeholder be involved etc.
O
O

Round 2 and 3 should take the most of your time.

Your own experience is helpful to understand BABOK but for the purpose of passing
the exam you need to know BABAK even though your experience is telling you
something different.

Memorization is okay if you have comprehended what you are memorizing

and learning.
O Use acronyms and mnemonics to learn material; create a story to remember
the tasks, elements, techniques, stakeholders, etc. That helps a lot!
O Spend ca. 20 hours per week for ca. 6 months = ca. 480 hours

Exam Preparation II/III

O

Practice sample exams in real conditions as much as you can; go for the hard
ones!!
O

Set a time line for your exam date and plan your learning material with the defined
time. Plan your project!
O

There are many online sample material for CBAP exams but not all of them are
really useful as many of them are really easy and can give a wrong picture of your
real capability and knowledge.
Compare your test result with BABOK Guide V2.0 to find out what went wrong and
why you chose the wrong answer. Use SWOT technique to analyze your answers!
Consider any test score under 80% as not passed. By this you will strive after
higher score which gives you a sense of security once you sit for the real exam.

Keep in mind that you also have a work to do which requires your energy and time
as well as a life for yourself and with your love ones who want to see you from time
to time, too!

Fill the knowledge gap by using different learning methods as you learn the
material in each round
O

Examples are: highlight and/or underline important passages in BABOK; write your
comments/conclusions/questions next to each relevant passage; create your own
questions and write them down; this helps with quick reviews

Exam Preparation III/III

O

Prepare your memorized cheat sheet to download the most

important information in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the exam.
This will be your reference sheet for the upcoming questions.
O
O

Anxiety will really haunt you once you sit on the exam chair and the
time is running.
Your brain is concentrated 100% and it gets tired as the time moves
on; give it some support with this reference sheet!

O Questions outside of BABOK Guide are possible but related

to Business Analysis profession. Some topics could be:

Tuckmans model of Team Development,
Maslows theory of motivation Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid,
Types and level of power (five bases of power),
Motivation theories: X-Y Theory (McGregor), Motivational
Theory (Herzberg),
O Five conflict approaches and conflict management.
O
O
O
O

Taking the Exam I/II

O Schedule your exam date at least two months in advance.
O Dont let too much time between finishing your study and the exam time; take
the exam as long as the material is still fresh in your memory.
O Sleep enough the night before exam.
O Read the questions and the ANSWERS carefully!
O Dont panic if you are not sure about the answers; mark them for review

but answer them; there is no negative point.

O
O

To my opinion the first guess is the most accurate one.

If English is not your first language, spend more time to understand the
meaning between similar answers.

O Be prepared for different type of questions: Comprehension and

Situational (Scenarios)
O
O

CCBA is more focused on comprehension questions;

CBAP is more focused on scenario based questions.

O Use the entire exam time for answering and reviewing your answers.

Taking the Exam II/II

O From time to time take deep breaths to relax your mind. Small

stretches are helpful for relaxing your muscles. Keep in mind:

You want to sit on that chair for 3 and half hours!
O Youre allowed to go out of the exam room and drink water, have a

snack or use washrooms, but be aware of your remaining time.

O The CBT location and the exam room is busy and loud. Do not

expect to have a quite environment for the exam time.

O The CBT location should provide you with ear cushion or plugs
O At the end of the exam you can evaluate the CBT location and the

staff.
O The exam result will be provided to you at the end of exam once

you press the submit button or when the time is over.

O You will also get a printed copy of the result from the CBT staff.
O If you dont pass the exam, the printout will tell you how many points

you scored from the minimum pass score. It also mentions the KAs
that you need to improve and learn harder.

Tips I/II
O Preparation Is The Key To Success: Read BABOK and read it again

and again.
O It is manageable to answer 150 questions in 3.5 hours (210
minutes); for each question you have one minute and 40 seconds.
O

Not all questions have the same score!

O If you dont know the answer of a question or youre not sure, use

your best guess and mark it for review.

O

Dont panic if there are many questions with marks; try different techniques to
answer the question, for example by eliminating the wrong answers.

O It is useful to have some project management knowledge but it is not

required for the exam.

O

There are some similar terminologies with different meaning or content, such
as Solution Scope vs. Product Scope vs. Project Scope, Risk
Management in Project Management vs. Risk Management in Business
Analysis, Stakeholder Management vs. Stakeholder Analysis, etc.
O There are also overlapping concepts that are useful for business analysis and
BAs should know them; for instance diminishing returns, WBS, gold plating,
different estimation techniques, etc.

Tips II/II
O The BABOK Guide V3.0 will be ready for public sometime in

April 2015. In the next months the current V2.0 exam will be
updated to the V3.0.
O

So, if you want to use the advantage of existing materials out in the Business
Analysis world which are aligned with BABOK Guide V2.0, plan your
application process soon; once you submit all required documents, it takes
ca. 30 days to get your application approved.

Resources
O WWW.IIBA.ORG: Hundreds of online public and member webinars,

books, articles and white papers.

O CBAP Application Template that I used to fill out my projects and hours:
O

Follow the instruction on the first tab to understand how you can add your
information.

O These books have been helpful for my preparation:

O CBAP/CCBA Exam Prep, Premier Edition, Barbara A. Carkenord, 2012
O The Ultimate CBAP/CCBA Study Guide, Yaaqub Mohamed, 2013
O Other books:
O CBAP Certified Business Analysis Professional All-in-One Exam Guide, Joseph
Phillips, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2009.
O CBAP/CCBA: Certified Business Analysis Study Guide, Susan Weese and Terri
Wagner, Sybex, 2011.
O Determining Project Requirements: Mastering the BABOK and the CBAP Exam,
Second Edition, Hans Jonasson, CRC Press, 2013.

Contact
O David Ghotbi, MSc, CBAP
O Senior Business Consultant/Analyst
O My LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/dghotbi
O Ill be happy to help you in your journey to CCBA or CBAP.
Send me your questions regarding CCBA/CBAP or
Business Analysis and Ill get in touch with you.