The PMI’s (Project Management Institute’s) PBA (Professional in Business Analytics) is a relatively new course but it is one of the best certifications in the project management area these days. Moreover, there are only a few thousands of these professionals in the market and therefore completing this certification might actually help you stand out from your competitors easily.

That being said, it is not easy to become a PMI Professional in BA (Business Analytics) since it requires a particular academic background and experience for just qualifying for this certification exam.

These are the criteria that one must qualify before enrolling for this certification exam:

  • If a candidate has a bachelor’s degree, higher degree or any global equivalent then must have completed at least 36 months or 4500 hours as a BA practitioner. Also, he must have completed at least 2000 hours as a project leader in a project management team.
  • Similarly, a candidate who has a secondary degree i.e. high school diploma or any other equivalent global degree must have completed at least 60 months of 7500 hours as a BA practitioner and 2000 hours as a project leader on a particular project.
  • Apart from this, all the candidates must have completed at least 35 hours of training in BA practices.
  • Therefore, if you too qualify for a PMI-PBA certification then you can apply for this course after filling the application form and paying the necessary fees.

The exam pattern of the PMI-PBA certification course is as follows:

The syllabus of the PMI-PBA certification course is divided into 5 domains. Each domain consists of a set of activities and activities that are required to be taken by a BA practitioner depending on the situation and project. Also, the questions in the exams are divided into these domains in different proportions.

These five domains are –

NA – Needs Assessment

PL – Planning

AN – Analysis

TE – Traceability and Monitoring

EV – Evaluation

Further, these domains are segregated into 6 PGs (Process Groups) and 6 KAs (Knowledge Areas). Moreover, the PGs and KAs are grouped in 35 different logical processes that you need to study in order to understand the concepts better. One must keep in mind that maximum questions focussed on PL, AN and TE domains whereas less number of questions are asked on NA and EV domains. However, one must study all these domains as they can play an important role in getting you the passing marks.

PMI-PBA exams

The PMI allows the candidates to choose an exam schedule as per their convenience. Also, the exam will be of MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) type that means that you have to select one answer from the different choices. In total, there are 200 questions in which 175 are MCQ type questions and the rest 25 which are not evaluated in the final scoring are included to verifying the difficulty level and validity of the asked questions. Also, there are no negative marks in this exam which means that you can attempt maximum questions without any worries.

You can choose to give the test on a computer or you might also go for the paper-based exams. However, it is more convenient to go for the computer-based exams since they provide the results directly after the completion of the test. If you do not score the passing marks you will have to reschedule the test after paying the exam fees again.

The overall marks you score in the exam is rated on the basis of 4 categories viz. Needs Improvement, Below Target, Target and Above Target. If your score meter falls in the ‘Above Target’ category it means that you have scored well above the passing marks. If the score meter falls in the target zone it means that you have managed to pass the exams whereas ‘Below Target’ means that you have failed by some marks. If your score meter suggests Needs Improvement it means that you have scored far below the passing marks.

Some tips to pass PMI-PBA exams:

  • Before preparing for the exams try to go through the PMBOK guide that includes all the information about the PMI-PBA exams.
  • Read all the study materials carefully and understand each domain and process in detail.
  • After studying enough, start giving mock tests. The number of mock tests you give the better you will be used to answering the questions in the actual exams.
  • Analyze your strong and weak points after every mock test. It is important to revise the study materials accordingly.
  • Start preparing months ago and do not rush while studying the concepts.

These were some of the methods that will help you to become a PMI Professional in Business Analysis. A thorough understanding of all the concepts and a smart preparation strategy might work wonders for you so never give up while studying or practicing in mock tests.