Are You Ready to Apply to Become a Certified Business Analyst?

Studying for one of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) certification exams is a big commitment, but first there is the application process. Documenting your experience can be a daunting task. The IIBA requires a certain number of overall business analysis experience hours as well as specific experience hours in several of the knowledge areas listed in the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK). Professional development hours are also required. Here is the breakdown:

• The Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA) requires 3750 hours of business analysis experience in the last 7 years. It also requires 900 hours in two knowledge areas or 500 hours in four knowledge areas.
• The Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) exam requires 7500 hours of business analysis experience in the last 10 years as well as 900 hours in four knowledge areas.
• Both exams require 21 hours of professional development in the last four years.

A good time to start documenting your hours of experience is as soon as you decide you are interested in certification. You will need to track hours separately for each project you have worked on. In order to meet the standards on the IIBA certification applications, you will need the following information:

• Project Name and description
• A project contact - your manager, project owner or the project manager
• Start and end dates for the project
• Total hours spent on BA work during the project
• Of the total hours, how many fall into each of the six BABOK knowledge areas

After you have done some initial recording of all of your BA work by project, you can evaluate the following to determine if you are ready to apply for certification:

• Do you have enough hours to qualify for one of the certifications? If not, will you have enough in the next two months?
• Does your breakdown by knowledge area meet the minimum requirements for the exam you want to apply for?
• Can you meet the professional development requirements for the application?
• Have you read the certification handbook on the IIBA website for the exam you want to apply for?
• Have you read through the BABOK at least once?
• Do you have two references who would be willing to recommend you for business analysis certification? They must be career managers, clients or current CBAP certification holders.

If you cannot answer yes to all of these questions, it is best to postpone starting your certification application until you can. You must take the exam within one year from when your application is approved. However, it is best to take it within six months so that you have enough time to take it again before your application expires if you do not pass on the first try.