How to prepare for CFA exam?
1) Take it slowly: Keep your cool. Research in your own pace and don’t be rushed. One of the major drawbacks of CFA training is that you must follow the group’s pace, which may be too fast or too sluggish for you. It’s also more convenient to use reference materials and internet study and research at your own pace and without being distracted.
2) Making use of free resources: Many free test questions, history guides, and other study aids are accessible. Many online course providers (such as Vast Talent and KESDEE) offer a free demo so you may try out their products before you buy.
3) Practice by taking tests.: Practice, practice, practice is the only way to get comfortable with the exam (and the pressure of the day). This guarantees that you continue to analyse questions (before bed, on the bus, at work) to be familiar with the vocabulary and types of questions and work more efficiently on test day. It’s easier to take one or two full-length, timed CFA level 1 mock exams in the month leading up to the exam to familiarise yourself with the time and timeliness of the exam.
4) Maintain a current knowledge base: Read newspapers and financial publications to keep up with business developments (Financial Times, Economist, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, CFO Magazine, etc.). Not only will you learn a lot about what’s going on in the banking world, but you’ll also meet some valuable resources to help you prepare for the test.
5) Get a good night’s sleep: It’s safer to be well-rested than to be stranded yesterday night. Because you sleep well in the evening and appreciate it during the (long) day, your brain performs at its best. You will need a lot of endurance to complete all parts of the exam, so take your beauty sleep.
6) Arrive early: There’s nothing worse than feeling overwhelmed during tests, so make sure to arrive early (the best time is a few hours before the review begins, which allows you to spend up to an hour in the spring period before the start time), and look out the space to come for convenience. Although there are restrictions on what you can bring to the exam site, arriving early will allow you to psychologically prepare.
7) Ignore issues: Don’t get caught up in a question you know you won’t be able to answer since it will take too long. Because you have a lot of questions to answer in a short amount of time, it’s advisable to ignore some of them and come back to them later (time permitting).
Essential tips for the day CFA Exam
- There is no penalty for answering incorrectly, so please try to answer all of the questions.
- Before selecting any option, look over all of the options.
- Please base your answer on the information provided in the question. Don’t base your decisions on your own assumptions.
- Learn how to efficiently manage your whole time. Start with the questions and sections in which you are most confident. Then go on to the question and part that you’re not sure about. In a perfect world, Level I: Each question should take about 90 seconds.
- Set of items for levels II and III: Allow 18 minutes for each question in the item set.
- Level III essay topics include: As mentioned in the exam book, allow a varied amount of minutes for each essay question.
- Stay cool if you don’t know the answer to a question.
- You are not required to attain a minimum grade in any subject area. Your overall score determines whether you pass or fail. Only “ethics” is an exception to this rule.