University and college students hear a lot about different certificates, but they are usually associated with knowledge of a particular language.
Yet, there are indeed some important special ones necessary in a particular field. Because if you want to become a professional in any sphere, you need not only practice but also the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. Also, many want confirmation of a certain level in the form of a particular document.
This, of course, is not necessary for absolutely all spheres, but the business analysis is one of them. Yet, before getting to the details, we need to ask our readers something.
How often did you fail tasks with burning deadlines or scored poorly because of lack of time or skills? Proper preparation helps to save lots of energy and nerves. Remember, the certificate is much more profitable while you can easily delegate that essay to a professional and concentrate on what will be more beneficial to you.
Several international certificates confirm the qualifications of business analysts. In this article we will concentrate on the following items.
The first one is the CPRA certificate – Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering. It is intended for individuals who work in the areas of Requirements Engineering, Business Analysis, and Testing.
IREB – International Requirements Engineering Board – is a non-profit organization that is the creator of a professional standard of knowledge. In this article, we will talk about three main differences between them.
What Is What
To begin with, let’s figure out what we are dealing with. CPRE is a personal certificate for individuals who work with employee requirements. It was founded in October 2006 in Germany.
Since 2007, nearly 50,000 people from 79 countries have successfully passed the exams for this certificate. It is valid throughout life and does not need to be re-examined repeatedly to confirm knowledge and competence. There are three difficulty levels: foundation, advanced, and expert level.
For the first one, you do not need any additional conditions for trying to pass the exam. The second one requires an entry-level certificate and consists of three options for testing knowledge to choose from. Those are extracting and consolidating, modeling, or managing requirements. Everyone should choose their own direction, which is most suitable based on work tasks.
The latest expert level is currently under development. It is believed that the most effective way to pass the exam is to complete an additional training course. They are optional, and you can go through the education yourself.
What is IREB? This is the holder for the international certification scheme. The organization’s primary goal is to support a single, universally accepted, international qualification scheme by providing the core syllabi and setting guidelines for accreditation and examination.
The organization’s board consists of leading experts in the field of requirements engineering. These are representatives of science, research organizations, industry, and consulting companies. Until 2017, REQB certificates from such an organization also existed, which caused confusion due to common goals and very similar licenses and candidate verification models.
After 2017, the two organizations joined forces, and a single certificate was developed based on IREB CPRE with the same functions and capabilities.
Complexity
The entire examination process takes 75 minutes and consists of 45 questions. Questions are rated based on their complexity. Easy questions – fewer points, while more complicated ones bring higher scores.
The most significant difficulty is that among several possible answers, there may be not the only one correct. Only the choice where all the necessary options are selected will be considered the right one. For example, if a question has five possible answers and 2 of them are correct, then you need to choose two right ones to get all points. Otherwise, the answer is considered incorrect, and you do not get a single mark.
It is strictly forbidden to use any materials other than a dictionary during the exam. A person must score 70% to pass successfully. The exam can be taken in several languages: Chinese, French, English, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese. Upon request, you can be given another 15 minutes.
Opportunities
What does this certificate give? Firstly, like any other document confirming your expertise in anything, it provides an increased chance of being hired. Secondly, if you are already working and want to move up the career ladder, then this certificate will be a convincing argument on the path to promotion. Thirdly, it will help you structure the knowledge you have and get additional skills.
Obtaining a CPRE certificate gives many opportunities to every professional or those who wish to become one. If you have chosen the field of business analysis, this should be one of the critical steps on the path of your development and self-improvement.
Wrapping Up
It is worth noting that even if you have already received a certificate of the first level, you can always go to the second one. Together with other champions in this field of knowledge, await the creation of an expert level. Why not prove to yourself and the whole world that you are truly worthy of the highest payment and recognition for your work?
