How to Prepare: Candidates Working Long Hours

Candidates working long hours will have a challenging time preparing for the exam due to limited study time. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution for helping long-hours candidates find the time to study. The best advice I can give is to be persistent and determined. The following entry contains suggestions and ideas to help long-hours candidates prepare for and pass level 1.

My number one suggestion for candidates working long hours is to begin studying early. The benefit of this, is that you will have more time to study than if you began the traditional five months before the exam. Depending on how many hours you work per week you should consider starting up to 10 months beforehand. This may sound extreme, however, a candidate working 80 hour weeks may not be able to study after work and will have to do all of his or her studying at lunch and during the weekend.

If you have the luxury of choosing your projects at work, choose projects that require you to utilize CFA level 1 related knowledge.

Consult the article called Time Savings Tips. Use as many time saving tips as possible.

Try to take off the week before the exam to study. I realize that for candidates working long hours it may be difficult to take an entire week off.

Study during your lunch break. Also, study as efficiently as possible, meaning, keep yourself from day dreaming or talking.

Always study in a quiet environment like a library. Your time is to precious to be studying in distracting locations.

Take study materials with you everywhere, so you can study if you have a 5 minute wait before a meeting or a 10 minute wait before a doctor's appointment.

I would like to get advice from long-hours candidates on how best to prepare and what they did to free up time. Send me your story, JamesUlan@gmail.com