No doubt, no finance background creates additional obstacles for someone trying to pass their FINRA exam. That said, in our experience, someone without a college background, or work experience, in finance can still get over the finish line. Some tried-and-true study methods tend to work across the board.
In today’s post, we will discuss those methods.
No Finance Background: Not a Non-Starter
At Professional Exam Tutoring, we get many students that come to us with no financial background. This could include a lack of accounting knowledge, financial ratio knowledge, or even much business background.
Or, all of the above.
Some common examples of this situation include when we get equity research associate clients that specialize in biotech and have to pass their Series 86 Exam. We get a lot of PhDs with science backgrounds, but nothing in the way of finance.
Nevertheless, they are expected to pass the same exams as those who’ve done it with an MBA, or undergraduate degree in economics or finance.
The good news is that most people competent enough to achieve a PhD, can pass an entry-level examination at the start of one’s career in finance.
The biggest obstacle presented with these exams is the language.
In the same way that scientists need to know terms unique to chemistry or biology, they will also need to understand financial terms which often have multiple synonyms.
In essence, studying for these exams, largely becomes a test in language. The mathematics used on all of these exams includes nothing more complicated than addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Where Do I Begin?
The two very first steps to take when studying for FINRA exams, whether you have background in finance or not, is to read the textbook (or watch the videos) and then take a full practice exam.
To streamline your studying, after your full practice exam, all of your attention should be paid to the weak areas from that first practice exam.
Unless you know that you specifically scored a few questions correct that unintentionally led to a high score in certain areas, focus your attention on anything with lower than a 60% score.
Spend no more than a few days targeting those specific areas. Then, try another full practice exam. With no background in finance, this should help pound home specific concepts.
Incorporating this process enough times makes it easy to see how you can fill in enough gaps over a three week period to make passing the exam seem more than doable.
In short, the process tends to matter more than the students educational background. If you can apply an effective study method, then you’ll get over the exam one way or the other. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! Good luck!