1) A career as a BA comes well before the CBAP certification. The CBAP has stringent requirements that must be met before sitting for the exam. One of which is 7500 hrs of BA experience.
2) The CBAP certification is not intended to be a tool for Jr Analysts to land jobs. While taking a test and exhibiting "book knowledge" is beneficial as it shows that you understand concepts, it is never a replacement for practical experience.
3) The CBAP is intended to show that a Sr. Business Analyst with several years of pratical experince is a well rounded business analyst with a diverse skillset. Why is this needed...because many "Sr Business Analysts" with years of experience float along throughout their careers never picking up any in depth experience. They do what they are told and don't think for themselves...they are not true analysts.
My opinion as a hiring manager with many years of BA experience:
To call the CBAP irrelevant is misleading. The CBAP is relatively new so few hiring managers or companies state it as a requirement for a position. However, if I find someone who has the CBAP certification (which is still fairly rare) AND if they have excellent communications skills (which a certification can't demonstrate) 9 times out of 10 I would hire them over someone who doesn't have the certification. So it's hard to call the CBAP irrelevant.
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