One of the most frequent questions I get asked: “Why am I not passing the CIA exams?”
In this video I share two of the most common reasons, and they aren’t what you’d expect, but I see them all of the time.
Listen to the video for the full scoop on these two.
Ultimately you have to be committed to spending $5-10K and investing 1+ year of really studying if you want to become a CIA. You have to be willing to put in the time and money, but that $5-10K investment can turn into another $300K+ over your career.
Are you willing to invest $5-10K now for $300K in the future?
If not, you might as well give up now and quit wasting your time and money. There are plenty of other certification you can get that don’t require that sort of an investment, like the Certified Risk-Based Internal Auditor (cRBIA).
Learn which certification is exactly right for you in the Selecting the Best Certifications for Your Career training. Normally it’s $99, but when you register using these links, you can get the 4-hour training for only $9.
You will learn exactly how to select the best certifications for YOU.
If you are committed to getting your CIA, and willing to put in the time and money, here is a different, and unconventional method to learn quicker and pass the CIA exam first time: http://www.meffordcia.com/
Join the CIA Exam Discussion Group on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13732881/
Transcript
Please excuse any errors since it was done by a computer
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Jason Mefford: Hey everybody, one of the questions that I get asked a lot about the CIA exam. “Why am I not passing?”
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Jason Mefford: Okay, there can be lots of different reasons why you aren’t passing the CIA exams and today I’m going to talk about two of those two of the reasons in this video.
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Jason Mefford: Now, before I get started, I want to share a story with you. Now when I was graduating from college, I was going to work for a public accounting firm.
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Jason Mefford: And as part of that, you know, in the United States, in order to be a partner or a manager and a certified public accounting firm, you need to get your CPA license and so
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Jason Mefford: Towards the end of my college career for kind of the last semester. The last about three months I was studying very, very hard because I was taking the exam in November, before I graduated in December that was back at the time when you could only take it twice a year.
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Jason Mefford: So I studied very hard and was very diligent in studying for those about three months so that I could take the CPA exam.
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Jason Mefford: And I went through. I followed a certain study regimen that I teach people now in in my CI review course.
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Jason Mefford: And I was able to pass. Okay. I was I was nervous. I didn’t feel like I was ready, because I had a short period of time.
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Jason Mefford: To be able to study. But I took those for exams and I passed them all the first time and I was happy. Right, so I just finished college I just passed the CPA exams and that man.
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Jason Mefford: I could relax. I could just go to work now and not have to worry about continuing to study for the CPA exam. Now, as part of, you know, once you complete your CPA.
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Jason Mefford: Exam reviews here in the US, there’s a second thing you have to do. So you have to have education or sorry, you know, all the education and stuff. You have to have you had to have two years of experience. So I was working on that. But also we had to take an ethics exam.
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Jason Mefford: Now I graduated, I went to work and you know people that I was working with you know I told them hey you know I passed the exam, they congratulated me. Everything was great.
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Jason Mefford: And now I needed to take that ethics exam. So I needed to take a course and pass the exam. And I remember telling some people at work. You know that I was, I was working on my ethics exam.
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Jason Mefford: And they just started laughing and they said, Jason, you don’t need to do that. Here’s the answers to the ethics test just go take the test.
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Jason Mefford: and be done with it. So you don’t have to worry about it. And I remember feeling sick to my stomach that someone who was a CPA what actually encouraged me to cheat.
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Jason Mefford: On the ethics exam. And I thought, there is no way that I just spent three months working really hard pass the exams that I am then going to cheat on the ethics exam.
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Jason Mefford: Because here’s the thing, right, CPA. There is a code of ethics that you follow, and I did not feel it was right to cheat.
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Jason Mefford: On your ethics exam and then be able to say, oh, yes, I am following the code of ethics. It just seemed wrong to me.
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Jason Mefford: And so I went through and I studied again I studied and I took the ethics exam and I waited for my results to come back and I failed.
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Jason Mefford: I failed my ethics exam by studying on my own. I took it again and I pass the second time.
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Jason Mefford: Now, one of the reasons for that is there were different rules for the AI CPA then for my firm and I had just learned more restrictive.
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Jason Mefford: Rules in my firm because I had to take that exam at my firm as well that I didn’t pass. But the whole point of this story is this right
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Jason Mefford: If you are getting a professional certification that requires a code of ethics, you need to make sure that your ethical as well.
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Jason Mefford: Now I told him you know this is a story to begin with because this leads into one of the two things that I want to talk to you about today. And the first one is, why aren’t you passing the CIA exams. Well, one reason that I see from lots of people is you’re cheating.
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Jason Mefford: Now let that sink in for a minute and a lot of you are going to say there’s not, I am not cheating. That is not true, Jason.
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Jason Mefford: Okay. Well, let me explain. Many of you are actually cheating and you don’t realize it. So what do I mean by that.
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Jason Mefford: There are lots of people and I had, I saw this again today online so I’m a little fired up about it, is somebody asking for someone to give them free copy of a book or something so that they can study
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Jason Mefford: Here’s the thing. There’s lots of study materials that are out there, but you need to pay for them.
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Jason Mefford: Okay, if you are using effectively stolen materials you’re just borrowing or getting free materials from somebody who’s already paid for it.
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Jason Mefford: And you’re not paying the people who developed the course or the materials, then you are effectively stealing.
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Jason Mefford: Now I know in some parts of the world, people may not have that same view or belief, but it is stealing.
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Jason Mefford: And if you are trying to pass the CIA exam by using materials that you did not pay for that is probably one of the reasons why you are not passing
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Jason Mefford: And here’s the reason. Again, as I told you, with the CPA. The CIA requires a code of ethics. If you are not willing to abide by a code of ethics and have integrity.
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Jason Mefford: And actually invest yourself in becoming a CIA makes perfect sense that you’re not passing the exam. And I’ve seen this.
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Jason Mefford: Quite a bit. In fact, I actually had one person who offered to pay me to take the exam for them.
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Jason Mefford: Now I told you I felt sick to my stomach when my coworkers past pet tried to pass me the the the exam answers. That’s even worse, right. So again, should that person pass the CIA and become certified. No way. Right.
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Jason Mefford: Because here’s the reality. Okay. The CIA is tough. It’s hard to get. And if you’re not willing to invest five to $10,000 and at least one year of your time.
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Jason Mefford: If you’re not committed to investing five to $10,000 and at least one year of your time. You don’t deserve to pass. Okay and here’s the deal. Right. Karma catches up with you.
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Jason Mefford: And so I know there may be some people that say, oh, that’s not cheating and I pass anyway karma will catch up to you.
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Jason Mefford: And if you don’t have integrity in actually getting certified and having a professional certification, it will catch up with you eventually
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Jason Mefford: So that’s the first thing that I see there are lots of people that are effectively trying to cheat to pass the exam. It ain’t gonna work, folks. Okay. The second thing that I see a lot is people really are not studying
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Jason Mefford: Hmm. Now, again, a lot of you are going to say, No, that’s not true. I’ve been studying. I’ve been studying a lot and I still can’t figure out why I’m not passing
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Jason Mefford: Here’s the thing, you’re probably not really studying a lot of people read a book, they do a few practice questions they kind of go back and forth.
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Jason Mefford: They do it a little bit, then they stopped and they go back and they do it again, they’re just kind of reading the book.
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Jason Mefford: And they feel like just because you read a book and maybe you answered a few questions that you actually understand the material, you do not, that is not studying
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Jason Mefford: Reading is not the same as studying. Okay, so if that’s how you’re doing it and you’re not being consistent. You’re not studying every day.
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Jason Mefford: That’s probably another reason why you aren’t passing okay you actually really have to study.
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Jason Mefford: Now some of you may be saying, well, I don’t know how to study. Well, don’t worry. That’s one of the things that I actually teach in the method CI review course remember that two to
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Jason Mefford: Three months when I pass the CPA exam I show you exactly how I did it. Then I show you exactly how I did it in the About three months when I passed all
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Jason Mefford: Of the parts of the CIA exam. Again, I did the same thing, but I actually studied
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Jason Mefford: It’s not just reading. It’s not just answering some practice questions. There’s actually some things you have, you have to do, and you have to be committed. If you are in fact
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Jason Mefford: Studying ok so the two things that we talked about today, if you’re not passing the exams. One reason could be you’re cheating and we talked about that.
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Jason Mefford: The second reason could be, you know, again, is you’re not really studying and if you’re doing either of those things. It’s going to be very tough.
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Jason Mefford: For you to pass the exams, just being honest with you, because again I watch lots of people waste a lot of time and a lot of money.
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Jason Mefford: Because they’re not really committed to getting their certification. And you know what, honestly, if you’re not really committed
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Jason Mefford: If you’re not willing to invest five to 10,000 of your own money and up to a year of actual studying, then you probably should just quit right now.
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Jason Mefford: Because you’re just going to waste time and waste money if you’re not committed. Now some of you may be saying, I don’t have the five to $10,000 and I don’t have a year to study.
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Jason Mefford: Well, that’s a decision you have to make. But let me put it to you this way, would you be willing to invest five to $10,000 and a year of your time to earn $300,000, is it worth investing five to 10,000 to get 300,000
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Jason Mefford: Should be okay so if that’s what you really want. And you’re having trouble passing the exam. One of the things you need to work on probably is your commitment.
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Jason Mefford: And making sure that you’re actually studying for the exams. So if you have any questions, reach out and let me know and good luck as we move forward. Like I said, those are those are two things that I see.
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Jason Mefford: Reasons why people are not passing the exams and I’ll share more with you in the future.
