Tips For Preparing For Professional Certifications

If you want to advance in your career, setting academic goals and accomplishing them is a viable option. But if you are already working as a professional, pursuing a full-fledged academic program is a tough choice to make. After all, who wants to leave their job and spend additional years studying and going through the same phase again?

Luckily, acquiring a professional certification can fill the gap that is a major barrier between you and your career growth. Getting certified can open doorways for new and better employment opportunities, higher pay scales, and amenities, thus helping you achieve your career goals. Studies have shown that most employers tend to prefer certified individuals compared to those who are not.

If you are looking to prepare to acquire a professional certification, these tips are worth following.

Get expert guidance

While making up your mind to get certified is an encouraging start, achieving it requires a practical approach. Typically, professionals find it difficult to take some time out of their hectic work routine and make time to study. Meanwhile, some of them even struggle to find a direction on how to prepare for passing their certification exam.

Wiley Efficient Learning is a great platform for professionals that allows them to get certified. They have qualified instructors with vast academic and industrial knowledge required for developing business skills and career growth. Besides, Wiley also provides learning material for multiple professional certifications such as CPA, CMA, CFA, CMT, and many others. For instance, if you are pursuing the Certified Management Accountant certification (CMA), enroll yourself. Consequently, you will gain access to instructor mentoring, Wiley CMA test bank, video lessons, digital flashcards, and much more. You can study via online classes with flexible class schedules to help you confidently clear the CMA exam. Besides, you will also receive a strategic partnership with IMA.

Research certification aims and specifics

Before you pursue professional certification, researching its aims and specifics is vital. You should know what the certification is about, its importance, its prospects, and why you are chasing it in the first place. You can find loads of information about any professional certification on the internet. You can review the syllabus of the desired certification and its objectives. You can find most of this information on the certification exam website.

Ideally, you should keep a note of all the objectives that your desired certification has to offer. It also includes skimming through the sub-objectives as they cover various academic domains and skills. Each objective has its weightage, which is sometimes revealed on their website. The more the weightage of an objective, the greater its importance and the more of it you can expect in the exam.

If you want to prepare for the certification exam, you must study all the objectives and skills that it encompasses. You should also know if there are any prerequisites, such as working experience, to pursue the certification. Above all, don’t forget to follow the correct exam version, duration, format, and passing marks.

Choose a suitable method of learning

Getting certified while working long shifts simultaneously can be difficult to deal with; hence, making the right decisions at the right time is essential. You must choose a suitable learning method that aligns with your work routine and studying habits. Some people prefer self-study, whereas others deem classroom sessions more effective.

The good news is nearly all certifications offer you the luxury of choosing your training method. You can also access numerous study guides, books, courses, visual aids, and the flexibility of selecting a live or virtual teaching session. Be mindful that picking the right study material lays the foundation of your entire preparation. Although most certification providers feed their students all the learning material they might need, you should revisit your studying resources frequently. After all, you don’t want to miss out on any topics or skills.

Moreover, you can seek help from third-party study resources and guides that are widely available on the internet. Unfortunately, not all of them are credible so do your research. The best way to determine their authenticity is to check whether the certification providers approve them. If they don’t, then you know what to do.

Develop a study strategy

Strategizing before chasing your goals is the most practical way to adhere. If your goal is to advance by getting certified, making a suitable study plan is a must. Unless you have a proper plan, you are likely to fail the certification exam. Not to mention being not well-prepared and ending up with a retake exam.

Your study plan must encompass certain aspects you need to consider before devising it. One factor you must consider is how much time you have for the certification exam preparation. For this purpose, you can draw a schedule to note your study progress. Although the familiarity with the course is a vital determinant of establishing a schedule, figuring out how much time to dedicate daily to study isn’t less important.

Ideally, you can chart a weekly roadmap, inculcating study hours per day. Some people tend to create a schedule where they allocate the bulk of their study hours two to three weeks before exams. In contrast, others might prefer distributing their study hours evenly throughout their schedule to avoid overburdening themselves in the last few weeks. So, how you go about with your study plan depends on your preference.

Do a lot of practice

Undoubtedly, doing a lot of practice is the most effective way of preparing for your certification exam. Most people believe there is no shortcut to achieving your goals. If you want to accomplish your goals the right way, doing a lot of practice can help.

Because practice can give you a deeper understanding of your academic concepts, it is worth it. You can utilize technology to facilitate you throughout the preparation, such as practicing skills using the software. Or you can try and solve practice tests that familiarize you with the testing process, thus highlighting your weak and strong points.

Conclusion

Certifications exams are no joke. Therefore, you must equip yourself with all the skills and bookish knowledge to help you clear the exam. Although most people believe in hard work, working smart is a better option. After all, seeking expert guidance, researching your certification aims, devising a study plan, and doing practice can see you through your certification exam.