Over! Done!
Saw the back of it!
As some of
you probably remember, yesterday I sat for the Level III exam. I think I did
well. Unlike fellow candidates to whom I spoke at the test centre, I found the
exam quite easy and approachable. I’m hoping for the best and wait until 11
August 2015, when results are sent out. I somehow cannot imagine myself putting
this tremendous effort again.
When
signing up for the Level III soon after learning I had passed Level II I
resolved to go an extra mile to do it properly and ensure I would get it right.
The amount of work one has to do to pass the hardest in my opinion Level III,
is so vast that it simply does not pay off to cut corners and risk a failure. I
suppose the time spent to prepare for Level III once, yet properly is shorter
than time spent to swot up twice, yet without going the extra mile. I somehow
envy those candidates for who the first Saturday of June (and weeks preceding
it) was a wipe-out for a few years in a row and still they haven’t got ahead.
For the sake of clarity, I don’t know whether I pass, yet I feel quite
comfortable, yet the fail scenario seems conceivable and stays somewhere at the
back of my mind, just in case.
Plus I feel
a lot of admiration to folks who have families and have managed to earn a
charter while working, running the house, looking after children. For those
guys the challenge was much bigger than for me and no wonder in that group the
percentage of candidates who give up is higher so hats down to those who hammer
it home.
Average age
of the candidates who took the exam with me was definitely below 30; probably
many of them even if they pass for the time being will not be eligible for the
Charter due to too short work experience. Plus it has to be noted number of
Level III candidates (I estimate around 200, most of them were retaking the
exam – since in Poland asset management industry is not well-developed, many
concepts from the Level III curriculum are vague for Poles, so pass rate in
Poland is quite likely below average) augurs the number of Charterholders in
Poland this year is likely to exceed 500 (currently the Institute’s page shows
460 Charterholders from Poland).
If I am to
share post-exam thoughts, I’d reiterate the ones committed to the blog after Level I and Level II and supplement or repeat the following…
1) In
Poland the Charter does not give you any specific qualifications, it rather
bears testimony of your intelligence (not everyone is capable of passing all
three levels, let’s face it) and willpower (it takes a lot of determination and
sacrifices to get to the top)
2) The very
exam tests not only your knowledge and ability to crack exam questions, but
also your physical endurance and planning capabilities or even adroitness (how
to take a piss and not drop your calculator to the urinal). I do not know why
it is held in early June, but I suppose it has something to do with checking
out whether candidates can resist the temptation when the springtime beckons,
it has something to do with weather (yesterday not very conducive, day-time
high of +27C, despite air-conditioning switched on it was sultry inside the
testing room).
Currently I
find myself slightly unable to set my mind into the post-exam mode (I had no
problems finding myself free after Level I and Level II). The prospect of not
having to pore over books fills me with pleasure, yet I am much more tired-out
than after Level I (with hindsight, it was a piece of cake) and Level II, when
I was bound to set off for holidays (on Tuesday I have to return to work and
I’m bracing myself for a head-on collision with the gruelling corpo-reality).
Time to pick up the pieces and maybe the life will not be about putting out
fires as it has been since late February.
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