Finish line crossed

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.