Business analyst certification/s?

[BridgeRunner]

A friend of mine is thinking about getting some certifications in business-y type areas--not necessarily project management, but business analysis or similar. Anyone know what I'm talking about and the relative value of such certifications? She's having a hard time finding solid info that isn't a sales pitch.

[mtnbkr]

I don't know of any offhand.  Most of the folks I know that do BA work have degrees in business and/or IT.  A good friend of mine who has worked as a BA on and off for the past 15 years has a double major in Finance and IT.

It seems most of the Business arena work still requires either very specific experience or a bachelor's degree (or even master's).  Project Management is the outlier with the PMP cert.

I could be wrong, but that's what I've seen after 15 years in business and IT consulting and project work here in the DC Metro area. 

Chris

[vaskidmark]

Probably the best certification anybody can get is JSPS.

No, not the one on the first few pages of a google search that have to do with Japan or Java.

The real, earned one.  That you can only get by somebody else examining you, finding you meet all of the qualifications, and awading it to you.  First guy I knew with the certification went around adding the initials after his name, which was unusual back then.  Nobody added initials after their name unles they were the guy you went to to get a prescription written (M.D.) or get out of being put in jail (Esq.).

Somebody finally asked him what the initials were for and what did they mean.  After he told us we realized we all probably qualified but none of us really wanted to be awarded the title:

Just Some Poor Schmuck

Write the initials after your name and people will think you are important.  Most professions nowadays do not judge on actual merit/ability but by what initials you put after your name/certificates you have hanging on the wall.  I know that when I finished my degree program and could honestly write initials after my name I got loads more respect than my performance reputation ever garnered me.  Nobody asks their doctor what their class rank was, they just look for the M.D. after the name.  Same with lawyers and the J.D.  (Not that I'm bashing doctors or lawyers.)

stay safe.

[roo_ster]

Lord save us from the credential police and their paper tigers.

The only analysts of any sort I have met worth a darn have years of work experience.  Yes, every once in a while someone outside the field/industry has some useful input, but these folks are few & far between.

I have been part of hiring analysts in my industry and beyond the concrete degrees (engineering, hard science, math), most certs are not worth the paper they are written on.

[MillCreek]

I have some professional certifications in my field of healthcare risk management.  I think the key to determining value is the following:

Are the certifications provided or recommended by the leading professional association/societies in the field?
Do job postings in the field often ask for or require the certification?
Are the certifications provided through an academic institution, or is there academic credit associated with it?
Is there some degree of professional or academic rigor associated with getting the certification, or is it little more than sending in a check?

Especially in times of difficult job hunting, fly-by-night certifications are a dime a dozen.  I have seen a lot of people waste several thousand dollars on a certification with little to show for it.  A good example that I see in my field is nurses getting a legal nursing consultant certificate.  The person who created the certificate program is an excellent marketer, but I sure hear from a lot of unhappy nurses who spent all that money and have not been able to use the certificate.