Giving Up Is Not an Option

I would like to address some of the common mistakes made by candidates during the CFA® exams and how those mistakes can be avoided so that you don’t have to go through the rigmarole of taking the exams multiple times in order to pass them—which unfortunately was the case for me. While I am not proud of the fact that I had to take the exam multiple times, and some might consider it foolish to talk about failures, I learnt much from those failures. So, at the risk of sounding like a motivational speaker, here are some of my observations and tips:

Start Early

It’s not at all easy to prepare for the exams while maintaining a full-time day job, family, and kids. Most of us end up cramming at the last moment. But starting early can pay a lot of rich dividends. First and foremost, you're giving yourself adequate time to actually understand the material. If you are completely bowled over by a topic or section, there's enough time to go over it as many times as you need. And by starting early, you get some time for a little break or recreation later on—there’s no need to keep studying 15 hours per day two days before the exam!

Spend Time Solving Questions

Don't spend all your preparation time reading the material. In my view, this is the most common mistake made by many of us. Spending all your time reading the material leaves you with very little time for questions. After you have read through the material once, you should move on to solving questions. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t understood a few sections of the material; solving questions is very, very important. In fact, in my case, I came to understand a lot of tricky material by solving the questions and analyzing the feedback. Personally, I found sections like quantitative techniques and fixed-income analysis much easier to grasp after I started solving questions for those sections. As a simple rule of thumb, you should allocate 50% of the time solving questions and 50% reading materials.

Try to Be Consistent across All Sections

You can’t master all the topics, so don’t try. The ethics section has always been challenging for me. I always felt torn between two options for each question. Unlike other sections, I would find it hard to believe that there was just one correct option. I realized that I was spending too little time on ethics and somehow ignored it till the last moment. It might be the same for you, so try and devote more time to ethics. The material may be easy to understand, but the questions are not easy to answer.

Don’t Waste Time Trying to Solve Something That Looks Too Difficult

I believe every exam paper has a few questions that are super tough. On exam day, if you feel there is something that you haven’t read before or are just clueless about, just move on. Remember: if it’s tough for you, most likely it would be tough for all of the candidates. It’s easy to waste a lot of time trying to solve something that’s probably unsolvable for you. Personally, I feel confident when I’m able to solve the first couple of sets with ease. It sets the tone for me. If you’re having trouble solving the first couple of sets, start working from the end. Believe me, it helps. By not spending too much time on the tougher part, you might avoid missing out on something that’s simple for you.

Keep the Exam in Perspective

By equating the exam to a life-or-death struggle, you are just putting yourself under enormous pressure, which doesn’t help. Remember, it’s just an exam, and you should treat it as such. Yes, the CFA designation is a prized objective for all of us, but if you consider it to be the be all and end all of your life, there’s a high probability that you’re going to fail rather than succeed. All candidates feel exam pressure, and performance does tend to go down a couple of notches on actual exam day compared to the mock exam performance. Even if you’re able to perform near your normal best, you should do fine. You just need to pass the exam. There’s no gold medal or silver medal for coming in first and second!

Stay Motivated

When you feel bogged down by studies and start having thoughts of giving up, think about the good things you’ll do once you’re done with the exams. Maybe it’s cruising through beautiful Alaska, trying your luck in Las Vegas, or scuba diving in Florida. It helps.

Best of luck!

About the Author

Sumit Gutgutia, CFA, works as a supervisory analyst within the research division of a global investment bank based in Jacksonville, Florida. As a supervisory analyst, he ensures that all information present in analyst research reports is accurate and complies with company guidelines, as well as securities industry standards (FINRA/NYSE). He is also a qualified chartered accountant by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.