Dear Wizard Learner

Exam success: Where there is a will there’s a way

I remember being asked once by a client wishing to train his advisory team towards higher level qualifications, how I had managed to pass my qualifications whilst still doing a full time role.

The answer was then as it is now. There is no real secret other than a good evaluation of current knowledge and understanding compared to what you need to be learn from the syllabus being studied, how to learn that type of information and a big dose of the right attitude.

Before I go on to the others points, I will talk firstly about attitude. This may seem obvious, but you have got to want to learn rather than feel you have to. This is especially relevant in the current climate with the RDR and advisers thinking that they are staring down the barrel of a gun just to keep their jobs. If you feel like this too, try to put yourself in the right frame of mind. Whilst we may all feel we are being “made” to raise qualification levels across the industry, is this such a bad thing?

Benefits to yourself and your clients
For instance, if you are planning on taking level 4 or above qualifications, think of the benefits to yourself and your clients. You will have a good level of detailed, up to date knowledge. You will have confidence to explain and advise on more complex areas to your clients without referring to others. You will certainly at this stage, have an advantage over many of your competitors and will make both yourself and your firm far more marketable. In any event, you are opening up opportunities for the future that you would not have by merely standing still.

Evaluate where you are now
As well as attitude, the other points are also very relevant. How many of us when studying evaluate where we are now? By examining the syllabus of the subject you will be studying, you will have a clear idea of what standards you will be expected to achieve. You will also get a good idea of how much you know and understand already. Will this help you to reduce the amount of study on certain areas so that you can concentrate in more detail on other subjects? By carrying out this analysis you may find that you need to increase your levels of study due to inexperience of the subject matter. It may even be a good idea to study for an intermediate qualification to bridge your studies.

The other big important point is how you get there. Obviously it is a very good idea to study both early on the style of the assessment itself. In most financial services scenarios, external qualifications will be studied by exam and all institutes will provide either free or at low cost, copies of past or sample papers. These give an excellent example of how syllabus areas are examined in terms of content and style.

Will a blended approach to learning help?
However, many people stumble along with how they learn the main body of the syllabus. Often they will simply rely on one course book from the examining institute and slowly drag their way through it. This is not necessarily wrong, but much will depend upon your learning style and whether detailed passive study suits you. In many instances a more blended approach will help. For instance working through case studies, knowledge questions, real life scenarios alongside the main study text. Wider reading is always recommended either through specialist books, trade press or the Internet. Many people appreciate studying in groups whether formal or informal. This can have great benefit in terms of interaction, sharing ideas and understanding, working with guidance from an expert etc. If you are not one of those people that constantly wants to study alongside others, I would suggest that a final group revision session would still have its benefits especially in terms of verifying how well you know certain subject areas and having the opportunity to formally assess those areas through for example, practice exam questions.

A disciplined and structured period of study
Ultimately, its up to you. The right attitude needs to be there otherwise you will never get through a disciplined and structured period of study. You need to properly evaluate your learning at the beginning, during and at the end of your studies and finally you need at all stages to know how you are going to get there in terms of the type of learning you undertake. Otherwise money gets spent on areas that are inappropriate for you or the other members of your organisation.

Can Wizard Learning help you?
Fortunately Wizard Learning is a leading provider of online learning material to help individuals pass financial planning exams.

In addition to our online learning material we are also pleased to say that we can provide face to face training and revision courses for CII and ifs finance exams as well as offering a learning and development consultancy. In these respects, our aim is to find out exactly what training you need and deliver what is most appropriate taking into account all your circumstances. In the first instance please contact us>>> with an initial summary of your or your firms exam plans. Remember to add you phone number if you would like an informal initial discussion.

Kind regards

Mike

Wizard Learning
www.wizardlearning.com

Winner of the Best Online Educational Initiative at the November 2008 Online Finance Awards

Wizard Learning is run by Mike Goldsmith a Chartered Financial Planner in association with a team of highly qualified, industry experienced individuals in order to assist finance professionals pass industry exams and help meet their CPD requirements.

Contact us if you have any comments or questions.

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