Comments on: Laura’s CBAP Journey: I’m Smart, Why Do I Feel So Stupid? (Week 9)

By: Felicia Arambula

Felicia Arambula — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 08:10:33 +0000

Laura,

It’s the home stretch and you have home base in your sight. It’s senior year and senioritis is attempting to set in. In other words, you are close to the goal you have set for yourself and your mind and body are becoming anxious. It’s very understandable. You’ve received some great advice to keep you on track. I am positive you will do an outstanding job of showing this test who is boss. Stay focused and positive!

By: Laura Brandenburg

Laura Brandenburg — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:25:37 +0000

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. What an interesting diversity of opinions. I am starting to see now why certification causes so much angst for some! I’m feeling better about committing more time to better digesting the BABOK and less to practice tests that are shaking my confidence. Of course, I’ll still do both in the two weeks until exam day!

By: Michelle Swoboda

Michelle Swoboda — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:54:36 +0000

Laura, keep up the positive and believe in yourself!
Linda has a good point – read the questions and put it in the context of the BABOK.
I know you can do this – you know you can do this!
Get your mind into winning 🙂

By: Dave Schrenk

Dave Schrenk — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:05:21 +0000

Laura,

Short answer … knowledge of the BABOK information should be sufficient. As a self-motivated / self-learner, all I did to prepare was to study the BABOK and then dove head first into the exam. I know I didn’t win any awards for the highest grade ever achieved but I passed. Go into it knowing and accepting that you may struggle with a certain percentage of the questions but have confidence in the remainder and you will pass.

As a side note, I was a member of the passing standard study for the CCBA exam last fall and, based on what I remember, the majority of questions were very clear as long as you know the information in the BABOK.

By: Tom Miller

Tom Miller — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:07:12 +0000

As far as I can tell, like the PMI folks, the IIBA has a specific style/mindset that they are trying to teach/test to. This means a perfectly competent BA or PM can fail the exam unless they have managed to “catch on” to the exact way that the mindset is setup. This is certainly true in PMI world. My test prep materials for the Certified Associate in Project Management come down on this real hard.

I hope your test training materials help you find the keys you need to pass the exam.