Exam Result - Jan. 27th

Happy new year everyone. Hope you all had a relaxing holiday and now coming back to start the year with a fresh mind!

It’s been a while since my last post, I’ve taken my time getting used to the slow paced holiday season for the past month. It’s business as usual now but I haven’t been able to find time for the site. However, I feel there’s an obligation to write on this special evening before the big day tomorrow. You might have a bit of anxiety right now before knowing your exam result, and the anxiety is only going to grow until the moment you check the email from CFA institute. After taking the exam for the first time, I’ve adopted a behavior for the day result comes out. I prefer to go to somewhere private before I check my email, this way no matter what the result turns out to be, I can adjust my mood before going back to the office. Either way the day is typically a write off because I would be too depressed or too happy to work anyway.

Frankly speaking, I did feel the most thrill when I passed Level one, the following two levels were not so appealing maybe due to the amount of hours accumulated over the years was beyond the point that I can appreciate. But passing level one was definitely the most pleasing among all three.  

No matter what it turns out to be tomorrow, the result was determined the moment you handed in your exam papers. There was nothing you can do about it. So I hope everyone had a worry free time until now. If you do get a pass result tomorrow, that’s fantastic news, have a couple of celebratory drinks and register for level 2 exam in June.

If your result turns out to be fail, a typical question for yourself is whether the CFA study will be relevant to your job/career choice, this will help you decide if it’s worth more time investment to continue.  If the answer is yes, my personal experience suggests the best course of action is to write it again.  Why? Because you already put in over 300 hours in the study, and you are off to a head start compared to someone who’s new to the exam, the time you already invested doesn’t have to be sunk cost. I know this is easier said than done. Afterall, it’s okay to fail a couple of times before you pass the exam, most people take four years to complete this process, which means they probably failed an exam at least once or perhaps twice. Speaking from personal experience, failing level one may be a very minor setback in the bigger scheme of things, as long as you keep push ahead, your hardwork will be rewarded eventually. I know quite a few people who failed level 1 a couple of times but passed level 2 and 3 at their first attempt. At the end of the day, it all depends on how important is CFA to your career development goal.

Lastly, no matter what result you are getting tomorrow, keep looking at the bigger picture, not simply passing or failing an exam.