[hasy]

I want to start off that my story probably isn’t the saddest or most uncommon but here it is.

I switched to accounting during my last year of college and I scraped by with a minor in accounting. Started off networking really late and I only got a small tax position, whose partners led me to believe that I could stay after I finished college. However, following tax season, I was laid off, purely due to the fact that there was no work for me and they couldn’t afford to keep me. By then, I chose not to go to any job fairs for winter or spring because I was working tax season, even on weekends as a student. When I graduated, I had no job waiting for me.

Continuing on with the job search, I was lucky to land an audit internship and a full-time tax offer. I was led to believe that if I worked hard that I could probably get an offer with the audit firm, thus I chose the audit internship. Unfortunately, as great as a job I did, they simply did not have the work for me again. Now I’m back at square one.

However, I got lucky again and landed a full time position at a small firm as an audit staff. Five months later, without warning or performance reviews, I was laid off. I genuinely did not expect this, though it felt somewhat expected since my last 3.5 weeks at that firm were spent for my BEC studying. A month following my departure from that wretched firm, I learned that I have passed my first exam. It is something I am very proud of since I remember studying for a lot of weekends for that. But I am trying to open this FAR book and absorb this material. It is simply not working.

TL;RD

After being laid off twice, I simply cannot muster the motivation to take these exams despite passing one of these beasts. I have FAR and REG and the last day I can take those exams is 4/28. I want to conquer this beast before 2017 changes. Should I divert to REG and save the journal entries later? (Also, I’d like to add, I found a temp-to-hire position that may require overtime in January.)

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

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BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[monikernc]

congrats on passing BEC! don't forget those jobs count toward experience requirement for CPA license. so you are making forward progress. will REG be an easy fit for you since you have so much tax experience? i worked as a temp (no perm option) last tax season and i really enjoyed it. it also helped me get the job that i have now which is giving me experience in the field while i study for exams and look for an even better job. the career path is a journey. sometimes it is difficult. you have a degree and that's good, too! the holidays can be a slow hiring time but keep looking for something permanent. things will get better. now is a great time for you to study so dig in. working toward your next exam is a way to harness something you are in control of which will give your confidence a boost. you can even try joining your state cpa association for networking opportunities. they usually offer a student rate for the first year out of school.
keep us posted on your progress. good luck!

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[hasy]

Thank you, monikernc, for replying. I will heed your words. I'm not sure yet but I do see REG a little more manageable. But let me ask you, how did you study for FAR so efficiently? Care to share your secrets? How are you studying?

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

-

BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[monikernc]

Hasy everything i knew about far i learned in school. I just got lucky when i took the exam instead of letting my nts expire. I honestly think taking that exam without any expectation of passing and a lot of luck – definitely easy/med/easy testlets and i must have bombed the pretest sim – helped me pass. Audit was a nightmare and i would have preferred a better experience and another 76.
The take away for me from both are prepare but don't add pressure. I am working on that for BEC.
what was your secret to BEC – all that crazy info from every business subject – it is baffling after the discipline of audit.
Tell me your secret.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[hasy]

My friend, it's the same shit with BEC. My degree is in Economics, so yes, that section was a breeze. I definitely got med/easy/hard. 3rd testlet's questions were out of this world. During the test, I was already resigned to re-taking it. I used Roger's for BEC and for reals, that is not enough. You need NINJA for this exam. I actually did all of Roger's IPQ questions, did 700ish questions from NINJA and 800ish questions from WTB (my ex coworker gave it to me for free). Honestly though, it's literally luck of the draw for all these exams because I felt that I was tested heavily in areas that I was not strong at (i.e., Capital Budgeting and IT). So know those areas or what your weak areas may be.

For sure, give yourself time for WC, they're SUCH easy points. I gave myself 45 minutes for WC because no matter how much longer I looked at the 3rd testlet, I wasn't going to get the answer so I just moved on. I know for a fact that's what gave me an 80. My secret is probably consistently doing the MCQs and for every MCQ I got wrong or looked weird to me, I took notes on the answer and the other explanations for why it was wrong. So good luck! May the force be with us.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

-

BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[Anonymous]

Oh, puh-lease… Dont get me started… J/K… 🙂

I LOVE talking about motivation, so, since you asked… 🙂 I will make this my daily affirmation ritual…

1.) Place motivation at the top of your list of priorities, but remember that motivation seems to exist on various levels per this test… The reason you are taking these tests is probably to get a job credential, salary, career, etc… That's a very high level goal… But there's lower level reasons to focus on too… If you are studying Auditing or Regs at a certain point in time, then it's probably BECAUSE you are prepping to take that *smaller* section of the overall exam, right? Well, so too with each particular topic on a specific test… Each type of problem set within a test has it's own reasons… SO… when you ask for motivation – you might want to whittle it down to what the actual problem is… then look at it's solution…

2.) Make motivation your first priority, but DO IT REASONABLY, and I'm pretty sure you cant lose, even if you are struggling with something.

Do a SWOT analysis of your work per each MCQ and Sim. ID the bugs in your thinking, and work out the glitches in your weak areas. But stay focused on identifying WHY you made a mistake or a right answers (noting guesses and lucky shots don't count as right answers). Faulty reasoning isn't always hard to correct, but once faulty reasoning is brought around to thinking through the problems in the correct manner, those small decisive moments (being true) will help synergize your overall sense of determination. Thus, there's really nothing to lose by getting things wrong, at least in practice. And, your reading comprehension an understanding will improve overall…

This may seem awkward at first, but I really believe the best thing you can do is to work off of reason. It's hard. Sometimes the solution theories are complex. Sometimes the questions make no sense. But always: 1.) look at the question to see what the subject is, and 2.) then try to figure out what the problem is actually asking. Next recall the solution theory, and then work it out… And, if you cant figure it out, there's probably a reason why… so try to figure out why the problem doesn't make sense… It may take a long time to do this, and you may fail a lot, but remember – as you work out those bugs – you are also working toward a correct understanding, and you are inevitably motivating yourself toward the solution one step at a time. Then – once you DO figure it out – the light of reason and motivation will make you very happy. It may be a little slow – and even dimly lit at first, but the most important thing you can do is identify the correct logical progression (this stuff is actually reasonable) and then gradually practice and maintain that correct workflow, bring it up to speed, and you'll stay strong and motivated.

3.) Try reading this that I wrote, which is all about motivation:

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/why-2

4.) You have nothing to lose. This knowledge is valuable information, even if you dont become a CPA. Plus you've already invested in what you're doing, so you dont want to waste the opportunity you've already afforded yourself.

MOTIVATION = POWER

Stay motivated!

S'okay, ha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 I probably left a ton of stuff out, but I hope it helps…

Gotta get back to having fun learning… 🙂

Enjoy!

[monikernc]

well hasy, there you go. this round we are both travelers in foreign lands. BEC will be new territory for me and FAR for you. i have ninja mcq and book and plan on mcq'g this thing to death. i enjoy studying and do a lot of what Another has talked about. studying is a great way to spend your down time between jobs and while looking for work. if you have education credits to take since your degree is in economics you can knock out a class too. maybe one that will help with far like government/non profit. now i am up for another day of studying working toward the adaptive phase in ninja mcq. hang in and keep in touch. so many people here will jump into help whenever you need it! good luck!

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[Author]

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