[OnMyWay732]

So first things first. This is NOT a bragging thread. I am not bragging and I don’t feel like reading about anyone else bragging.

Second, I am very happy with my job and I am not looking to change at all, this is purely just out of curiosity.

So I got through all exams. First attempt for each. Started studying May 14, finished my last exam end of Jan 15. I am very proud of myself, so regardless of anything else, getting through it the first time is such a gratifying feeling.

Anyway, when going to an interview, talking with a higher up at your company, etc, is there any good way to bring up that you passed all on the first try without sounding like you’re bragging?

“Oh so I see you passed the exam..”

“Yep, luckily on the first try”

Just curious if any one has any experience on this

AUD - July 2014 - 76
REG - August 2014 - 82
FAR - November 2014 - 78
BEC - January 2015 - 81

DONE!!!!

Used Becker online. Who needs a text when you can burn your eyes out staring at the screen for months on end?

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

[Anonymous]

“All else held equal” is hard to determine. If I literally had 2 twin resumes, with the only difference being the names and that one said they'd passed on the first try (both had passed)…I'd call them both in for interviews. However, if it came down to deciding between the two as final candidates, and everything else was 100% equal (same resume, interviewed same, etc.)…well, then I guess if they each had one million points, and this gave one 1 point more than the other, then it'd make that one win. *shrug*

In reality, you wouldn't have two 100% alike except for one having passed on the first try. So, in reality, listing (or mentioning) it isn't likely to be a make or break thing. But, I think it has as much chance to be a small positive as to be a small negative, and I think that most people won't put too much stock in it either way.

[Mamabear]

If you don't have any work experience and are only competing against people that have passed the exam as well then it may grant an interview if it was on the resume OR not. Only the hiring manager for each job can answer that one.

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[NYCaccountant]

I have been in interviews where people were impressed with passing on the first try. I think it depends on the market you are in. I am more impressed by the people who fail and keep going because it shows preserverance and focus.

FAR - 93
REG - 87
BEC - 84!!!!
AUD - 99!!!!!! CPA exam complete.

[zoctoman]

My 2 cents given that I passed all 4 on the first try,

I am very proud of my accomplishment. I passed 3 out of 4 while not working, albeit reg I took 3 weeks after getting laid off and had to battle the psychological trauma of losing my job with a baby and wife to support. My last I passed while working and got a taste of what the work/baby/pregnant wife deal was all about. However….

I knew I did not master the material, I marked multiple simulations all zeros/blind guesses so obviously I didn't do my due diligence on those topics.

Jeff Elliott is a major reason why I passed multiple sections….he did not pass on the first try but that experience helped him become who he is today…and I think without his help I certainly could have failed a part.

In conclusion, the cpa exam was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. My wife tried just as hard as me but failed a section due in large part to having a toddler to take care of whilst being pregnant. Her 71 is extremely impressive given the circumstances not to mention the power went out for an hour and a half right before her test.

If you pass all 4 the first try, congratulations. However, I simply don't think it makes us better or more appealing than the hard worker who came up short or the young guy out of college who needed a wake up call before finally bunkering down and passing.

Audit(11/5/13) - 89
Reg(5/16/14) - 86
FAR(7/18/14) - 82
BEC(11/14) - 85

[NAT]

For Kimboroni and OnMyWay732:

Thanks a LOT for your feedback, all tips on the study-plan and sharing specific details. I REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE it.

One out of five (20%) chance of passing all 4 CPA EXAM parts on the 1st try – you are not only great, you are SPECIAL !! Especially, considering all challenges with a FULL TIME JOB, like most of us have, family and children….

Just imagine how much money NASBA makes every year on re-pass & re-schedule fees. Than multiply it 50 states, calculating it on the federal level….

FAR - 07/2015
AUD - TBD
REG - TBD
BEC -TBD

We suffer one of two things in our life. The pain of discipline or the pain of disappointments.
When you are disciplined, there is no pain of disappointments.

[mw798]

“One out of five (20%) chance of passing all 4 CPA EXAM parts on the 1st try”

When you put it that way, it sounds like it's all luck when that's not the case. If you put in the time and effort you can pass all 4 in the first try.

Another way to look at it, assuming that each part has a pass rate of around 45% is that you only need to be in the top 55% on each test. Beating out 55% of the test takers doesn't sound so incredible now does it? To put this in perspective, you need to score in the top 0.5% and beat out 99.5% of test takers just to be a national merit semi-finalist, not even a finalist (remember that from high school?).

Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good accomplishment, but let's not go overboard here. This is coming from someone who passed all 4 in their first try.

[Anonymous]

Passed all four on the first time as well, and while I'm proud of it, I would certainly never mention it unless asked.

[Anonymous]

I generally subscribe to the “hurdle” theory in life — that in most situations where there's a minimum bar, you don't need to go wildly over it in order to achieve success (however it's defined for that given situation). That being said, I think there is value in being able to say you passed on the first try, or that you passed with great scores, or both.

The problem I have with these types of conversations is that there's a certain arrogance about the very act of calling someone out for arrogance. “Well son, don'cha know that personality, attitude, and work ethic will take you further than a good test score, yah hear now?” Thanks grandma/pa – never would have guessed that. Maybe it's time to take your pearls of wisdom to LinkedIn and write a 3-6 bullet point article explaining how important attitude is in the work place. Never been done. The implicit/underlying statement when someone pontificates about how attitude/work-ethic/etc.. is more important than test scores, is that people who are good at tests are either:

A. Robots. Boring, knowledgeable, and dry

B. Jerks. Arrogant in their infinite wisdom, and at such a young age!

The fact that someone wants it known that they passed the CPA on their first try does not in, and of itself, automatically make them arrogant. Additionally, no matter how infinitesimally small the advantage is, it can be a leg up. I had 3 exams under my belt when I was interviewing for positions 3.5 years ago, and more often than not I'd reference my study plan as a means to communicate project/time management skills, and drive/motivation. “Illinois is phasing out their registered credential in June of this year (2012), and given that I'm not interested in holding an active license, there's no room for mistakes or redo's in my plan. The three tests have been very challenging, but I'm confident I'll pass AUD, this window, as well”. At the time, I had to pass all 4 parts in 2 windows, or I would miss the chance to get the “Registered CPA” title – there was literally zero room or failure. Additionally, I had no accounting/analytical experience – the CPA was a career changing move for me. High scores gave me more credibility to interviewers who had typically thought of me as “A cool guy, who seems bright, but is totally unproven”.

Fast forward to the present. I'm far from an expert on hiring, but according to my time sheets from 2014, I interviewed at least 51 separate candidates, in person, for Financial Analyst roles during 2014. My thoughts are:

A. The CPA is a hurdle, and as long as the person passed it, I'm happy — provided they have a good attitude, a good work-ethic, and they aren't a jerk. Most people I speak to aren't CPA's, and frankly, I'm always excited when someone is. I've never had someone call out that they passed on the first try, but if it came up in a natural way, I'd give them credit for it.

B. Sob stories are never good to put out there during an interview. Everyone has problems, and everyone's problems are tough to them. Mine are tough to me. I discount a person with a sob story (ie, “I'm the first person in my family to go to college, paid for it by working in a coal mine, and my dog ran away last night”), to the exact same extent as an arrogant person. The only difference is that I won't explicitly call that out when providing feedback to co-workers about the applicant.

C. The circumstances of someone getting their CPA, or accomplishing anything tough, are relevant. If a person was working 50 hours a week while raising their daughter, that obviously takes a lot of motivation. This is a slippery slope, though, and I struggle to work with people that can't be held accountable because of legitimately bad life circumstances. I've walked in those shoes to a certain extent, and it wasn't fair to me, either – I missed out on a lot of development. It's hard to give feedback when you know a person is hurting. You feel like you're kicking them when they're down, and I don't like to kick people when they're down.

D. Small advantages make a difference in very tight decisions. If interview candidates are trying to accrue “points” during an interview, then consider passing all the exams on the first try (with decent scores), 1 extra point on a 100 point scale. All else being equal, if two candidates are a figurative “90”, passing on the first try might bump one of the candidates to a 91. As long as they've got a good personality, I'd give the nod to them. People obsess over getting a 760 on the GMAT when Harvard's average is closer to a 720. They think it'll give them a leg up, and maybe it will — even if the hurdle for elite MBA's is closer to 700. Competition shooters spend $600 on a barrel that performs ever so slightly better than a $200 “plebeian” barrel. Race car teams spend hundreds of thousands (if not millions) on small performance tweaks. Body builders spend hours at the gym to shed that last half a percent of body fat. Lots of people do crazy things to put themselves closer to the top. In the grand scheme of things, wanting to pass the CPA on the first try (and being proud of it) isn't that offensive, or crazy.

[mla1169]

“Maybe it's time to take your pearls of wisdom to LinkedIn and write a 3-6 bullet point article explaining how important attitude is in the work place.”

Did you miss the fact that the OP requested opinions on a message board? If its arrogant to give an opinion that someone might disagree with, sign me up!

Your opinion is different, great. But yeah, some of us have been in the workforce for 20, 30+ years and as hard as it may be for someone who took the time to review their 2014 time sheets to post about them to believe, have very valid points as the result of our experiences.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[OnMyWay732]

For the sake of erasing some sort of dividing line that may have been created, I'll say this.

There hasn't been one post that I completely disagree with. Some points maybe, but everyone has their own valid way of thinking about it. For the record, I would not say, “Hey, My name is Joe Schmo, and I passed the CPA all on the first take.” However, if I get the question “Why do you feel you are the best candidate for this position”…I may include in my response, “I am completely dedicated to my task at hand. This shows in studying for the CPA exam, I was able to complete them in one take. This is how I work in any situation I am handed…etc”.

This isn't knocking anyone who didn't do it on the first attempt, but I do think it is worth noting if you did. I don't agree that it makes you seem arrogant and I do think that it would give you the leg up. I understand there are things going on in people's lives that may prevent them from being able to accomplish this, but for the less than 20% of CPAs who did, the corporate world most likely would see it as an advantage.

AUD - July 2014 - 76
REG - August 2014 - 82
FAR - November 2014 - 78
BEC - January 2015 - 81

DONE!!!!

Used Becker online. Who needs a text when you can burn your eyes out staring at the screen for months on end?

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

[mla1169]

I gotcha, its all about context. If an interviewer asks “what personal/professional accomplishment are you the most proud of” then yeah, passing all 4 first time out is an exceptionally appropriate answer. If the question is “tell me why you'd be a good fit for this job” it may not be the best answer. (or maybe it is, all depends).

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

mla – I don't think we're necessarily on the different pages here. I agree with you that someone who has an awesome attitude, a solid work ethic, and at least meets the baseline requirement for technical skills, is more likely to be a successful hire than either the “hotshot” or the “human robot”. The issue I take with some people is the double standard around disliking arrogance, yet having no issue standing upon their years of experience as a platform from which to be condescending in how they preach about something else not mattering. It's no different than a little kid who says, “oh, so you're good at layups? That's lame, I'm awesome at free throws, which makes me a better athlete”.

On the topic of experience, I've worked with 20 year old “kids” who had less than a year of professional experience, yet were far more capable of solving complex problems than the CEO of a small middle market company. I've also worked with CEO's from larger middle-market firms, who's experience and insights were absolutely incredible. I discount people who fall back on the “Well son, I've been doing this for 10/20/30+ years, don'cha know..”, because not all experience is equal, and context is always important. I'd take someone with 5 years of hard consulting experience (ie, 70+ hour weeks, travel, dealing with clients who are on the verge of failure, etc..), over someone with 15 years of corporate accounting/finance (ie, dealing with timely receivables, budget planning for a single LOB or product, etc…).

Granted, I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth here, but when you try to cut down my limited, but relevant recruiting experience in a borderline snarky way, it's hard for me not to assume that you're being defensive over a belief that is very subjective. My sarcastic comment around “pearls of wisdom” was not aimed at you specifically. It was directed towards people who think that experience is measured in years, as opposed to the quality of activities, projects, and situations, a person has successfully (or unsuccessfully) dealt with. This is 2015 – not 1950. We're not on a forum about manufacturing jobs, where years of experience is almost always is the best determinant of proficiency within a role.

All that to say, you're not wrong in stating that personality, attitude, and work ethic are important. I agree with you. I also happen to believe that high achievement – even in very small areas – makes a difference. I'm also all for opinions being shared when someone asks for them. However, there's a big difference between condescendingly sharing common knowledge (ie, “you're gonna fail if you're an arrogant jerk, or a human computer”), and simply stating, “I haven't seen passing the CPA on the first try become a determining factor in someone's hiring – but it probably wouldn't hurt if it's brought up in a natural and humble way during an interview”. Giving an opinion, in and of itself, is not inherently an arrogant thing to do – and I know you're aware of that, despite your request to be “signed up” for the arrogant opinion giver club. How you give an opinion, though, can absolutely make an otherwise logical/sane position sound smug. You're obviously a top contributor to the board, and I have no doubt you've dealt with at least as many (probably way more) challenging career situations as me. Because of that, I'm not sure why you're resorting to the very tactic this thread is focused upon avoiding: arrogance.

Then again, as my posts tend to prove, I don't always follow my own advice. 🙂

[Author]

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