If you are a financial planner or a banker, exam stress can put a tremendous amount of pressure on you. You have to know your stuff inside and out; you must have great interpersonal skills in order to survive in this cutthroat business. One thing that many exam companies will do is create an “exam laboratory” where all financial candidates will take an exam in. This allows each candidate to experience the pressures that the financial environment puts on the successful professional.
As a financial planner for over 18 years, I have never had an easier or faster exam. It was always a nail-biting, high pressure situation. I had to prove to the examiner that I could create financial models that would be profitable for our clients. I had to show them how I determined investment value by financial modeling techniques that were proven profitable on our clients. I was stressed out, anxious, and downright miserable as the entire examiners looked on me like I was nuts.
If you are a financial planner, who has passed the exams and is now looking for a new position; don’t worry. If you think you have what it takes to work in a high stress, high pressure environment you can still find your niche in the banking industry. I worked in the insurance industry for many years before becoming a financial planner. Although I was not in the financial sector, I did enjoy the challenges and rewards of helping people solve their financial problems.
If you are looking for a job as a bank examiner, I recommend that you contact an exam company. These companies have resources and information that they use to grade the financial candidates. It is important to find a reputable company that is well known and has a good reputation. If you choose to use one of the free online resources available, keep in mind that the exams are not written in stone.
I feel it is a good idea to take a practice exam with a real bank examiner to see how things go. Many financial planners try to cheat the test makers by taking practice exams with blank questions. If this happens, the company will detect it pretty quickly. It will be very costly for you to continue practicing. When you take an exam under real life conditions, you will know exactly how hard it is.
When you finally make it through the exam, it is important to make sure that you do well and get a positive result. There are three types of financial documents required for examiners to study. They are the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. You will need all three to pass the exam. Make sure to spend plenty of time studying for all three.
Once you have finished the exam, you will be paid. The exam company will reimburse you for the cost of the paper, software, and any questions that you missed. You may even be able to get some nice discounts on your fee if you find the right broker. Just make sure that you do your homework ahead of time. You never know how much money you will make!