The class of 2024 investment bankers have graduated and are about to embark on new beginnings. Of course, what comes with new beginnings is another rite of passage. That rite of passage includes passing the Series 79 Exam.
In today’s post, we highlight what these students should and shouldn’t do.
Class of 2024 Investment Bankers: Don’t Take it Lightly
A very common approach new employees take is to take their first shot at this exam in haste. At Professional Exam Tutoring frequently hear bad stories from students like this.
What often happens is the student studies very little and misses by a mile. Viewed as no big deal, since two other attempts are available, the student has begun painting themselves into a corner.
The reason: If you fail your first exam by a wide margin, it can still be unclear as to how much effort needs to go into passing. When this approach is taken, we often see students’ second attempt a miss by only several points, but a miss no less.
Last Try
Most employers lose patience if an employee fails a third time. As a result, a student that takes the above approach creates a lot of pressure for themselves if they have to try a third attempt.
Even if your employer is forgiving, failing a third time requires a six month pause on your test taking. With such a lapse in time, you’ll have to start studying over from scratch.
What To Do
Most likely you’ve been given Knopman Marks or STC study material. Knopman is by far what we see as the most effective for the most students for the Series 79 Exam.
A lot of people will tell you to skip reading the book. We highly recommend against that. There’s no need to read the book over and over again, however, read it at least once. Don’t underline and don’t highlight. Just get through the book once over. Try to understand the material as best you can, but at least some familiarity with it will help you with your practice questions.
Once you get to your practice questions, then start taking notes on questions that you’re getting wrong. Specifically take note of definitions, rules, regulations, and investment banking processes that you don’t understand.
You really want to have a set of notes that are tailored to your gaps in knowledge. There’s no need to take notes on everything. Otherwise you’ll end up with notes the size of your textbook and not want to look at them.
Overall, the class of 2024 investment bankers will start out with some work. But once you get over this hump, all your focus goes to your career. And then the real work begins! Let us know if you need any help – like a Series 79 tutor. Feel free to reach out. Good luck!