“Chartered Accountancy”, the first thought that comes to the mind
is,it is very tough to clear the exams and this becomes evident by a look at
the previous pass percentage results and what we get to hear from the people
surrounding us. So, it is wise not to pursue for such a qualification as the
odds of success are marginal.
The same was the case with me as
well, but I took the decision to be a part of the elite profession and so set
afoot in the journey of becoming a professional in life, despite knowing the
chances of getting through and when many were not in favour of my decision,
mainly because I had a Science
background in my intermediate and the course itself being so tough.
It has been a good progress so
far and I have managed to sail through the exams each time with flying colours.
But, all of this has had come with a cost attached to it and sacrifices made in
the past, that, I know would never return in my life ever.
So, I thought of writing this
piece to share my story of“How I managed to clear the CA exams”, i.e. CPT and
IPCC with decent marks and what did I implement in my approach for the same.
How to have a proper preparation for CA Exams??
This q’s has been one of the
frequently asked q’s, which every CA student must have tried looking for as was
the case with me as well. But, after having cleared 2 levels of the CA
exams,IfeelI do have a few things to share with you which can help you to find
some answers to it :-
1. Coverage
of the whole syllabus of each paper– It is really vital and
essential to take care that the whole of the syllabus of any paper of any level
of CA exam must be covered to make sure that nothing remains untouched prior to
the exam and to increase the chances of improving the score in the exams. Many of
us have a habit to cover up only those topics which have more weightage from
examination point of view, but this can be very dangerous sometimes when the
exam pattern differs from regular pattern. So, do make sure that the whole syllabus
is in your grasp.
NOTE:Having said this, if
one is unable to complete the whole syllabus in time, then do make sure that
you have a strong base
in 20% of the syllabus which can fetch you 80% marks. But, this is an extreme measure when the time is limited
and the coverage needed is way more than that.
2. Proper
planning for preparation - This is a really crucial step for an
optimum preparation taking any exam in consideration. You need to be very clear
in your approach about when you should complete your first level of preparation,
and then go for revisions depending on your requirements. Let me explain this
taking my example:
When I was preparing for IPCC exams I found out that
though I had put a lot of efforts for the exam ,but I was short of confidence as I didn’t have a well laid out plan
beforehand to face the exam. It was because of the very reason stated above. It
was due to this I had to drop my MAY 2014 attempt and had to skip to the next
attempt. Then I changed my approach and just did one simple thing:-
I took a diary
and started noting down all the important q’s of
each and every chapter that I had been through from any paper,the first time.
Those were such q’s which needed to be revised for sure due to the complexities
involved in solving such q’s or because I couldn’t solve it the first time on
my own. The q’s were accompanied by page nos. and
also the source of the material from where I had encountered such a q’s.
This was completely a time taking activity and needed a lot of effort as well
to put it properly. But, believe me guys, it will
help you channelize your efforts in a proper direction and will help you track
your progress everyday. I had also set targets for each day, which
inturn turned into weekly targets, that gave shape to monthly targets and
ultimately helped me save me enough time for revision as well. The best part of
doing this is, it keeps you always in check and the day when you don’t meet
your targets makes you regret about it and makes you to work harder the next
day to achieve the targets. It motivates you when you achieve the targets for
the day and helps you improving your performance. The first revision can cover
up those q’s mentioned in the first round rather than going through all the q’s
once again and so on in the second revision as well which covers the q’s picked
from the first revision.
NOTE:Everything discussed
above must be in writing and shouldn’t be thought over and implemented.
3.
Set
the benchmarks and standards for your preparations- I have often heard
people asking a common q’s, “How many hours did you put to clear the exams”.Well,
in my view this q’s makes more sense when it’s modified into “How many
effective hours did you really put to clear the exams”.
What I mean to
say is that, you need to set benchmarks for yourself when you study for the
exams. Suppose, you are able to solve 3 q’s within 40 mins of time and you feel
its an optimum effort and can’t exceed beyond that. Then you will never ever
achieve better results ahead and will remain stagnant in your approach. You
must make up your mind and try to beat the previous effort and thus set a new
benchmark for yourself. This is really vital to ensure you are improving and thus
gain necessary skills to beat your previous performance.
NOTE: Develop your own set of approach for the exams
andcompare your ownperformance with your previous one. Please don’t compare it
with your peers as it is you who knows best of your own capabilities and thus
can work on improving it.
4. Don’t ignore the ICAI Study materials-Be
sure to go through the ICAI study materials thoroughly atleast twice before you appear for the exams. This is
extremely important as I have seen many tend to avoid ICAI study materials
because they find it of no value as compared to other reference books and
publications available in the market. I am not against any other authors as I
myself have referred to other books and relied more on it at times for
conceptual clarity.So, I do have a neutral view in such regard.
But, I have never ignored covering practice manualq’s,
RTP’S, mock tests, past papers. It makes sense that ICAI would definitely
like the students to present their answers the way ICAI has always recommended
to present through various publications like suggested answers, RTP’S or
practice manual. Thepractice manual and
RTP q’sare of utmost importance
from the exam point of view and needs to be practised several times for scoring better marks.
NOTE:Having said as above, it is upto the
person’s choice of whether to go for ICAI materials or any other material in
which they are comfortable with. Other reference books do present a good
presentation style for the answers and are also easy to understand.
5.
Group
Discussions – Group discussions help a lot in improving various skills such
as interpersonal skills, communication
skills, leadership skillsetc. I know these things are irrelevant from
examination point of view, but they do help you a long way in grooming your
personality as well. It helps to mitigate your shortcomings in any subject
where you face difficulty and also helps you to build a strong concept in the
subject which you are comfortable with. So, it is always a WIN-WIN situation provided its properly implemented.
I remember when I had stepped into CA, and
had my CPT exams approaching I found out that I was poor in accounts paper
which is a core subject for CA. Being from a science background in my
intermediate, I had absolutely zero knowledge in that paper, but I was quite
strong in the QT section and was really confident in that. So, I discussed
about this problem with my friends and we unanimously decided to conduct GD’s
regularly during every weekend where we discussed various topics from each
paper and thus, in the process we helped each other to learn and grow. We all
used to set the topic for discussion beforehand and everybody used to stick to
it and discuss about the topics in the GD’s. The best thing was I found out
that I was improving in the accounts section and also my friends who were poor
in QT were doing pretty well by that time. This boosted our confidence very
much and we all were happy to have such sessions. But, we couldn’t conduct any
GD’s during IPCC as we were always short of time to study, due to intense
workload of studies. Visit this link for my experience at the Orientation
Programme and role of GD’s in it.
NOTE: It is
really important that GD’s must be restricted only on discussion about studies.
Gossips must not be a part of it, otherwise it would simply turn out to be
waste of time .Initially you may feel that the other people in the group are
not reciprocating properly and are not sincere in their approach, but slowly
they will realise the effectiveness of such GD’s and will also try to add value
and be a productive part of the group.
6.
Be regular and sincere in your studies – It’s
really essential to be always regular in your studies and try to be in touch
with the books always. I have been through such instances in my preparations
where even a few days gap from studies has been fatal and has always broken the
flow of preparations and I had to face many difficulties. So, always try to
minimise breaks and distractions as much as possible to maintain the
preparations on a regular basis.
7.
Mock tests and past papers – To acclaim
the taste of victory of the real battle, one should put himself to test through
dummy like battle scenario. The mock tests and past papers do exactly that.
It becomes very
easy on our part to solve q’s when we take one q’s at a time but the same would
create a problem when we are put to solve numerous q’s in a 100 marks paper in
exam and we are unable to solve it to our best in time though we know the
answers to it.
As it’s said, “Practice makes a man perfect”, the
same statement would be perfectly justified if we sit for mock tests and
practice the past papers. Here’s a look at what I did in my case:-
It was SEP 2014 and
the NOV 2014 IPCC exam was approaching. Although I had made a preparation
beyond my capabilities in the best possible manner, I was still lack of confidence as I had
never been put to test in real like exam scenario beforeas the NOV attempt
was my first. It’s when ICAI declared mock tests were about to be conducted
soon and so I thought this would probably help me to optimise my performance
and help me regain confidence for the exams. Surprisingly we were only a
handful of students who had registered for the exams among a crowd of many who
had to appear for the exams. I sat for the mocks and found out that I had
scored merely 41,33,40,41 respectively in the four papers of the first group. I
started to doubt on myself and q’s hovered in my mind whether I would clear the
exams or not. I stepped up my efforts and studied really hard without any break
to get through. I HAD MADE A PROMISE TO
MYSELF EARLIER THAT I WILL NOT SIT FOR ANOTHER SIX MONTHS AT ANY COST TO CLEAR
THE 1ST GROUP OF IPCC AND WILL GIVE EVERYTHING TO THE PREPARATION IN
THE FIRST INSTANCE ITSELF.
That thought
process worked in my favour and I even gave 3-4 past papers of all subjects
just a week prior to the exams. The
process was simple, I locked myself in a room, set the timer for 3 hours and
started to write the past papers when the timer started backward counting. It
helped me in several ways as mentioned below:-
1.
It improved my
writing speed as I had to race against time to complete the paper in time.
2.
It helped me to make
a strategy of how to attempt the q’s,i.e. which q’s to attempt in priority over
others.
3.
It helped me
immensely to remain calm during exams and utilise the 3 hours to the best
possible extent.
4.
Most importantly it
helped me to regain my confidenceback.
NOTE:
Try to give the mocks and past papers during the end
period of your preparations during the last 2 weeks prior to the exams as you
will be completely prepared for the exams and can benefit immensely from it.
Also do make sure to self-evaluate the papers yourself and give marks to
yourself being the checker and try to find out the range where you score to
assess your performance. Also you can register yourself at various websites
which provide you q’s papers and also send your scores and help you to assess
your performance.
8.
Avoid wasting time in unnecessary
activities- Try to reduce the no. of hours spent on various unnecessary
activities which reduces your day’s effectiveness and this includes a range of
activities such as using FB, chatting on Whatsapp or other kind of
distractions. I am not against any use of such media, rather they are essential
in today’s digital age. But, these will be effective only when we use it for
the purpose for which I am writing this piece and rather wasting time in such
websites doesn’t help in any way. Remember you will have enough time once the
exams are over.
NOTE:Use various professional websites and try
to participate in various forum discussions and be a part of it. It definitely
helps you very much to improve your concepts learnt and also makes you a better
individual. It helps to scale up your learning experience and clarify many
things.
9.
Try to find some
very powerful inspirational statements or quotes and write it down in all the
books or copies which you are using in your preparations. It works wonders and
stimulates a positive energy in your body to work for your goals.
Change your name with the addition of prefix of CA in it. You will definitely be motivated to
work for your goals and would never think of deviating from your objectives.
Try to have a look at it atleast once in a day, you can feel the difference in
yourself.
Visualize being a chartered accountant and the dreams you
always have aspired for yourself from the profession,before you sleep. Try to
write down in a diary about the activities done by you throughout the day which
took you a step closer to your goal, before you sleep.
Try to talk to your peers, discuss the problems with them
where you don’t understand something, take the help of seniors, teachers or
anyone else with whom you feel comfortable. Never ever let a doubt remain as a
doubt and try your best to find answers to it.
In the end find a reason to associate yourself to of why
are you working so hard to be a part of this profession. Be sincere in your
approach and you will always find several reasons to cherish about your
sincerity. Take the guidance from those who already have made it and learn from
it to compare your strategies with theirs, never hesitate to communicate in such
regard.
I would like to conclude this by saying a
statement once said by my teacher and role model, “DIL ME HAMESHA CA BANNE KI AAG
JALAYE RAKHNA, JAB TAK YE AAG JALTI RAHEGI TABTAK TUM USI AUR APNI KOSHISH JARI
RAKHOGE”(Keep the desires of becoming of CA in your heart alive
always, as long as you are passionate about it you will always be inclined to
work on it).
Having said all
of the above, I do have many more things to say, but I guess these are
sufficient for the cause for which I am writing this piece. I would definitely
like to get your feedbacks,comments and suggestions for improving this article
further to help each other associate ourselves for the common cause.
I hope I have
been of any service to you and could help you in anyway through this piece.
Visit this link for my other articles.
My
best wishes are with you for your future endeavours.
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