[todd6414]

Wow, wow, wow. I failed BEC with a 71 and today I received the candidate performance report. My multiple choice was comparable but my written communication was weaker. I started the written communication with 15 minutes to go and had to just write and go, only got to review the first written communication. Im a good writer and really didnt prepare for this section. I listened to the BEC lecture twice. Any suggestions on how to prepare or is it just to give yourself enough time? Also the report showed me weak in 2 areas, comparable in 2 areas, and strong in 2 areas-Should I focus mostly on the weak areas? Im all ears guys and gals.

Thanks

[Minimorty]

I'm sorry, are you surprised that you scored weaker on the WC after leaving 15 mins for 3 written communications?

[Anonymous]

15 minutes???????

I had 28 minutes left and i was literally shaking , my first WC- 15 mins , I had 13 mins left for other 2 WCs , I wrote definitions in 2nd para and concluded with definition again( but in different wordings.). 🙂

Just make sure leave enough time (atleast 45 mins), and I am sure you will pass.

Good Luck

[Anonymous]

I think you may have learned a very valuable lesson: time management. At a minimum leave 45 minutes for the WC's! I know, time gets away very easy and very fast.

Is this your first exam? Take this experience and LEARN from it, especially if you have AUD, FAR and REG to get through.

Good luck on your retake.

[Anonymous]

When I took BEC I had 20 minutes left for the written communications. I knew I was probably screwed, and 2 of them I didn't even BEGIN to know anything about. I wrote 3 sentences (no exaggeration whatsoever) for each one. Here's what I did (passed with an 82, and DEFINITELY didn't get full points on the MCQ or anything):

“The purpose of this memo is to discuss ____________”.

“_____________ is an important part of blah blah blah blah (I just repeated the question back to them for the 2 I had no idea about and said it was ‘important', seems legit? For the one I actually knew something about, I included in the sentence a reason why it was important”).

“I would be happy to discuss _______ with you at your earliest convenience if you need any further clarification”.

NO. JOKE. I had 9 sentences TOTAL for my written section, and only 1 of those sentences contained actual content/knowledge. Based on my experience I am 99% sure they just grade this section based on buzzwords (standard greetings, repeating the question back to them) and grammar/complete sentences.

I hope this gives some people hope!!

[Anonymous]

I had 15 minutes for the WC and somehow managed to finish all three. Walked out with an 85. Try not to get too worked up over the score report. If you read it carefully, you will see that it really doesn't mean much. They tell you not to rely on it. LA doesn't give score reports if we pass so I have no idea where I was weaker or stronger, but my score would have been outside the parameters anyway. They only compare your performance with scores between 75 and 80. All you can do is study for it again like you've never seen it, take it again and try to leave more time for the WC. Good Luck!

[jenuno01]

Wow you guys are hardcore! I had over an hour for the written SIMS, and I felt rushed. Although I went totally overboard with my writing. I think I wrote about 3 paragraphs for each! Lol

Class of 2012

[Anonymous]

@jenuno01 – I had three paragraphs on each of them. I guess I just got lucky that I pulled topics I understood and didn't have to BS on. But I had been practicing them for weeks. Some people say that you don't have to practice the WC but I wasn't taking any chances.

[Whatdidyou]

I would be terrified of writing 3 full paragraphs! The more writing you do, the bigger the possibility that you make an error/mistake.

Also, I'm pretty sure that content does not matter (meaning what you say/advise doesn't matter as long as you stay on topic and use “buzzwords.” All of my memos were very basic, brief, and to the point. I got an 89. I think I usually had 1-2 intro sentences, body paragraph of 1-4 sentences and a 1 sentence farwell. Even if you don't know what you are talking about, I think it is important to BS a couple of sentences in the middle.

I forget how much time I used. I think I used 45 minutes or so, but that was overkill – had time to go back and re-read each one & make changes to my heart's content.

REG - Passed!!
BEC - Passed
FAR - Passed
AUD - Passed

Study Materials: Becker basic course

[pkd1982]

Could've been the time constraint, could've been other issues that got you. Did you use acronyms without defining them? Not address the questions asked, or not refer to the specific topics being discussed? Not use the names of the companies you were writing to? And no matter how good a writer you are, could it be that you have some regular writing gaffes? I know a number of people who are otherwise good writers who will mix up “than” and “then” regularly, or who think “per se” is spelled “persay” or whatever. If you can find someone with experience to proofread some of your practice memos, that might help you see any tics or regular mistakes you make. Strunk & White's Elements of Style is also decent review material.

REG: Pass
BEC: Pass
AUD: Pass
FAR: August 2013

[Author]

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