Applying for CBAP

or CCBA Certification

Presented by:
The Professional Development Committee
Rochester Chapter IIBA
December 19, 2012

CBAP Contributors . . .

Chris Gangai

Bob Lewis

Don Solan

Mike Ponomarev

Michelle Walter

What well talk about . . .

What? Successfully completing the Application

How? Leverage the experience available

Where? Apply online

Who? Its your responsibility

When? Start when you are ready

Why? Must have an approved Application to sign

up for exam

What is it?

There are 2 certifications offered:

Certification of Competency in Business
Analysis (CCBA)
Certified Business Analysis Professional
(CBAP)
Each has its own Handbook and Application
The experience requirements (in hours) is different
for the 2 designations
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Where is the application?

Each Application and Handbook has its

own area under the Certification tab
on the IIBA web-site:
http://www.iiba.org/
The Handbooks contain all the details to
complete and submit the Applications
For questions, send an e-mail to :

certification@iiba.org
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How do I start?

Read the Handbooks and decide which

certification you are qualified for
Applicants ARE NOT required to be IIBA
members, however becoming a member
upon submission will get you a good
discount on the exam price.
Open and read the Application for the
certification you choose. You may want to
print it for reference.
Gather all your information ahead of time,
including names and addresses.
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How To Fill Out Application

There are 5 parts to the Application:

Confirm Personal Information

Education
Work Experience
Professional Development
References

Recommendations:

Start with References usually take the longest to return

Use a work sheet for your Work Experience
The Personal Information is pulled from you application, but is editable
Education is what it is only a high school education is required
There are 21 PDUs required for the Professional Development area
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Tips to Completing the

Application

Before starting the app, review the BABOK and keep notes
as you go:
To help familiarize yourself with what is considered
BA work (M. Walter)

To understand what knowledge area a particular task

resides. (M. Walter)
Make a personal matrix to help with filling out app and
studying for exam (M. Walters).
When describing what tasks you did for a particular BA job,
use the wording from the BABOK (e.g. if you met with the
customer to determine what they thought they needed, call it
requirements elicitation using interviews.

Tips to Completing the

Application

Do not choose or include items that are for a different knowledge area
than you are claiming, and do not choose items whose verbiage are not
consistent with the BABOK (M. Walter)

IIBA does not indicate which knowledge area tasks are not approved
IIBA BA choices, however they will evaluate your application
suspiciously if you avoid every task that appears to be non BA related
especially for older projects. (C. Gangai)

If you cant remember exactly what you did from six years ago, use the
BABOK to remind you of different tasks that you might have performed
(M. Walter)
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Tips to Completing the

Application, contd.

Its difficult to remember all your actual tasks on a project from years past,
unless you happen to record everything For older experience try marking
experience based on tendencies for that period of time (e.g. supported testing
or design). (C. Gangai)
Confirm Personal Information
If you were a BA full-time, make certain that your BA-hours do not
exceed an estimate of what a full-time BA would actually work. (E.g.,
calculate estimated hours using the following formula: 1928 hours/year
(allows for vacation time) * 80% (to allow for misc. non-BA work and such)
= 1542 BA hours/year = 128 BA hours per month.

This will help keep you from being audited.

Using a 90% factor would be fine, too but 80% is probably quite
safe.

Make certain, even if you were working 100 hour weeks, that you dont
show more than an average of 40 per week. The calculator most likely
calculates the dates and hours and flags you for audit if you claim more
than what is reasonable within a normal work-week.
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Tips to Completing the

Application, contd.

Calculate work experience hours in Excel prior to entering into the

application. In addition to the 7,500 hours, the application requires your
work to be spread across multiple knowledge areas. Ensure your hours
meet both requirements. (B. Lewis)

When calculating the amount of time you do Business Analysis in a

given week, take into account things you do that are not related to BA
tasks (Example: Attending a department meeting).

References take the longest to get back. Contact your references and
get them going on writing their recommendations early to avoid delays
(D. Solan, M. Walter, B. Lewis).

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Tips to Completing the

Application,
contd.
Use a start date that is before the allowable time window for work done.

For instance, say that I worked for company X from 2000 2007. I
plan to submit my CBAP application on January 1, 2013. When this is
the case, your experience to qualify for certification can only begin in
2003. Heres the BA hours you worked while at company X:

2000 500 hours

2001 700 hours

2003 1000 hours

2004 1000 hours

2005 1000 hours

2006 1000 hours

2007 1000 hours

On the application, put dates from 2003 2007, with 5000 hours.
Contact references and get them going on writing their
recommendations early in the process to avoid the app being held up by
saving this until the end.
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Tips to Completing the

Application, contd.

Find an old resume or job application that actually shows what dates
you worked at which companies. (M. Walter)
Document ALL BA work youve done in the past 10 years, even if you
think you are way over the number of hours required. (M. Walter)
Regarding the Exam: Use whatever study method was successful for
you in High School/College. Obviously, it worked well enough to get
you here Go with what you know! (M. Walter)
Be prepared to be audited. Ensure you have a method to defend your
work experience. Also if possible, enter more hours than required in
case a portion of your work experience is deemed invalid. (B. Lewis)

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How do I finish?

Most sections and fields are editable,

but the editor leaves a little to be
desired.
You may start and stop the online
Application, but most screens will not
let you save them until they are
complete.
DO NOT press the COMPLETE
until you are completely finished with
that section, and have check it over.
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When do I start?

It is a personal decision on how long to wait after completing you studies to

take the test. Plan a comfortable amount of time to fill out the application,
get it approved, and set a test date.

Before submitting your application, plan out the next year as it relates to
taking the exam. You need time to study for the exam. Also ensure you have
enough time to retake the exam if you dont pass the first time.

Applications are assessed and results emailed to applicants within 21

business days of IIBA receiving the complete application and the
application fee

The application fee is $125 USD and is not refundable (i.e. regardless of
whether your application is approved or declined). The exam fee is $325
USD for IIBA members and $450 USD for non-members
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Help

The Rochester Chapter has several CBAP

certified personnel who are willing and able to
help with the Application Task
The Handbooks have all the necessary
information in them to complete the
Application
Questions can be directed
to the IIBA: certification@iiba.org
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Q&A

Certification FAQs are found under the Certification tab

Contacts for many of the projects worked on over the past 7 or 10 years
are no longer available. How do I document this in such a way that I can
still get credit for the hours performed? Please indicate the situation in the
description field for the specific project in question.
Are there any possible substitutions to the application requirements? No,
you must meet all of the requirements as outlined in the CCBA
Handbook or the CBAP Handbook (as applicable) to be eligible to write
the respective exam.
and many more!

Address any unresolved questions to Professional Development at:

ProfessionalDevelopment@rochesterny.theiiba.org
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