Certificates are for Children
Certificates Are For Children
What is a certification really worth? Children get them for good school attendance or winning a race. Yet, numerous college institutions, and other organizations, are passing Business Analyst Certifications off as though they are equal, in some way, to the degrees they confer upon graduates.
When asked whether someone should complete their college degree or get a BA Certification instead, I recently posted the following on LinkedIn:
I think completing your degree will give you the most “bang-for-your-buck”. Here are a few reasons I feel this way:
- You already have significant experience as a BA. Right now, the CBAP is not as widely recognized or required by employers as, say, the PMP. A quick search for CBAP on the major job boards will validate this.
- A degree provides you more options if you find you cannot advance, specifically if your company does not have a career track beyond Senior BA.
- In my opinion, many of the Certification programs offered are way overpriced. You can acquire additional BA knowledge cheaper online or through books. This works best when you find a mentor or two that you can have direct your knowledge seeking efforts.
If you are more business oriented, I would suggest a Bachelors in Information Systems or other Business degree. If you are very technical, I would recommend a Computer Science degree. If you are hoping for further advancement, I would recommend the MBA which can lead to higher management levels.
Worthless BA Certification Exceptions
There can be exceptions. The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) is a fine example. The PMP is a certification recognized across all industries and backed by a mature organization with a history of steady improvement. Employers across the globe demand PMP certification as a basic requirement. The closest thing Business Analysts have is the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). However, the IIBA is not yet mature enough to engender the same sort of recognition as the PMI. Don’t get me wrong, the IIBA will become what the PMI is, but that is going to take years.
Experience and Training – NOT a Piece of Paper
A quick search of the job boards proves that current employers are searching for people with particular experience and training. You would be better off plunking down $6,000 on a SAP or Business Objects training course than a Business Analyst Certification. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay for training. On the contrary, you should purchase training, but you can do it much more cheaply by taking online Business Analyst training courses and buying books. If you do decide to get the certificate anyway, just make sure you are doing it to get the training to develop experience and NOT just for the piece of paper.
{ 7 comments }
I completely agree with your assessment. Certifications are often used as a method for HR personnel, who often are not familiar with the role, to determine if a candidate has minimum knowledge of the subject before passing a resume along to the hiring manager.
As you mention the CBAP is not widely known therefore I don’t believe really differentiates one candidate from another. As a hiring manager I often ignore certificates since it usually translates into the candidate was capable of studying for an exam. I am more interested in the candidates work experience and product.
While I may beg to differ with a few of the things you’ve stated, I think you raise a very valid point when you say that: “Right now, the CBAP is not as widely recognized or required by employers as, say, the PMP.” What I would be interested in hearing, would be your take on how we could improve the take-up of the CBAP designation, and our overall value to Business Analysts world-wide. If you were in my shoes, as VP of Certification for IIBA, what would you recommend?
Paula,
I was hoping to shake things up a bit with this post, and I’m glad you posted a comment.
First, I think there is going to be a natural, time-based, component to the wider acceptance of the CBAP that I’m not sure you can do anything to speed up. I think the IIBA is doing a great job of being the leader in promoting the BA career though it’s certification and the BABOK.
Second, I think the new Corporate Membership option is probably the IIBAs best vehicle to position the CBAP as THE choice for Business Analyst Certification. The more larger, media visible companies you can get to sign on for the Corporate Membership, the better. Many of the smaller companies I have worked for will follow the lead of GE. IBM, or Microsoft. It’s the “if it works for them, it can work for us” mentality.
Third, the IIBA should consider sponsoring some academic research to help provide the “proof” that certified and highly trained Business Analysts can make a tangible difference to a company. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence, but nothing really concrete in the academic literature. I think some solid research could translate into implementable metrics to show the BA value. Once you have the value proposition, executive management will be much more likely to accept the costs associated with things like training and the Corporate Membership.
I could go on-and-on, but I’ll leave it there for this post. Feel free to contact me directly for further discussion: brad@primeproficiency.com
I landed in business analysis in the DC after first starting writing specs in Oklahoma and then as a product manager in Philadelphia. I found that “business analyst” is actually a rather regional term. But, I digress… nothing irritates me more than certification for certification sake. Yes, if it helps you get a job… I suppose that is fine but I have interviewed many prospective analysts in my still very young career and I must say that being certified was the last thing I looked for or cared about.
It’s hard for me to understand the argument that certification helps our field. Frankly, I think what helps our field is staying relevant. Middlemen and translators are always the first to go, and just added “Certified” to those descriptions doesn’t really help if the role is seen as costly and inefficient.
Ultimately, there is simply no substitute for common sense. I’d take a junior BA with an open mind and common sense into a project with me over an over-educated, “certified” BA any day of the week!
Thanks for getting us all riled up!
Interesting take Brad.
I would tend to agree with the sentiments that no one is really asking for this certification on job boards. I suppose when the time comes that some are asking for it, then I will consider it.
Secondly I am reluctant to apply because of the “double dipping” of experience on the application. Asking for non-BA hours then removing experience off of your application because of certain tasks not aligning. That seems a little too subjective and arbitrary to me. Until I get told what tasks do not align or they are removed from the application I will hold off.
This post is awesome Brad!
I’m a project manager and not a business analyst, but I think your assessment is right on. I especially enjoyed this sentence, which could just have easily come from my loud mouth:
“If you do decide to get the certificate anyway, just make sure you are doing it to get the training to develop experience and NOT just for the piece of paper.”
I can’t remember how many times I’ve written or talked on that exact sentiment.
Cheers!
-Josh, pmStudent.com
Hey Brad! Nice article! I had recently participated in a LinkedIn discussion, and stated that CBAP will not make you a better BA! It all essence its just a piece of paper. I have met a couple CBAPs that lacked some basic BA approach to solving a real business problem. (This is for sure an exception rather than a norm)
However, having said that I am still a big proponent of the CBAP certification. For a couple reasons:
>> This is a starting point for the BA community to have one convergence point to discuss BA related terms, and approaches. A lot of peripheral activities of IIBA is helping bring all the BAs together (Chapters, Events, Conferences, etc) – this hasn’t happened before.
>> This should help a BA (and is helping) to reassess their level of skills, and knowledge; facilitating any knowledge gaps.
IIBA certainly has a long road ahead to make the certification process more smooth, bring in some automation for the approval / application process, and propagate their agenda more strongly to the corporates! Unless a strong leadership drives this at their end, they can potentially be abating their progress! [someone should suggest the leadership team at IIBA to read - "The tipping point"
]
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 3 trackbacks }