Many people would like to attempt the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) exam, but they are scared that they would not pass the exam. .
But like most exams, if you prepare properly you would be successful in becoming CBAP certified.
Here are a few tips that made me successful when I wrote my exam :
- Read the BABOK: while many people would love to skip reading the BABOK and just read a summary of the book, you have to read the actual book.
I know that reading that lengthy book of that length with such technical subject matter can get very tedious and boring, but just do your best and persevere.
2. Understand the knowledge areas: you have to understand the BABOK knowledge areas, its inputs, outputs and tasks.
While many of the inputs and outputs overlap, you have to understand what the individual tasks in each of the knowledge areas are and in what order you have to perform them.
3. Attend a structured Business Analysis training: there are many business analysis trainings available out there, so you have to ensure that you go to an IIBA approved reputable training that has a proven track record of preparing CBAP candidates.
Also ensure that you chose a CBAP preparation training because there are numerous business analysis trainings available with these trainers. So you have to chose one of these trainers from the approved list of business analysis training agencies on the IIBA website.
4. Practice, practice, practice : after you have attended the training and read the BABOK, make sure that you practice with mock questions.
While you may think that you are ready, practicing with mock questions would help you become familiar with the type of questions that you would see in the exam.
5. Give yourself enough time to prepare: while I have read stories of people who applied for the CBAP exam, got approved and then wrote it all in the same month, I would not advise it.
You need to give yourself adequate time to prepare for the exam.
It takes a couple of weeks to fill in your application and get it approved, a week to complete the training, another two weeks to read the BABOK, two weeks to practice and a week to register for the exam.
That is two months in total and this is if everything goes according to plan. So you need to give yourself atleast 3 months to plan, practice and write the exam.
6. On the day of the Exam: on the day of the exam make sure you have a good nights sleep and try not to study on that day. Rushed studying would only make you feel anxious and unprepared.
Once you start the exam, take you time and read the questions fully before you select an answer. Try to answer every question but if you cannot, chose the most probable answer.
Once you finish the exam, your result would be computed and displayed.
If you passed, then congratulations but if not, don’t worry, you would just learn from your mistakes and do better next time.