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THE
CAREER DOCTOR
CLEARING
HURDLES
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Q:
I
want to enter a particular branch of accountancy
but I have failed my professional exams for the
third time. Is it time to give up and look at
another career path?
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If you were to throw a rock, you will
hit three accountants who have had to take numerous stabs
at clearing the exam hurdles – they just don’t
like to admit it. (Same with
doctors, lawyers and other professionals.) If you are
really concerned as to your core abilities, you should
get yourself assessed on IQ and on the major aptitudes
to make sure that you are up to the task. Assuming you
are, you then need to look at your study habits and, more
importantly, at your exam technique.
Study
Habits: It can be a nightmare to pursue professional
qualifications while working, keeping up a relationship
(or raising a family) and having any sort of a social
life – time management is critical. Look back at
your previous attempts and score yourself harshly under
the following headings: prioritising, concentration, studying
at the optimal time of day, minimising distractions, starting
early enough and working to a countdown schedule. Have
a chat with some classmates – try and get past the
posturing and glean how hard they are studying, how they
strike a balance, and how much work they think the process
needs. Is your thinking in line with theirs?
Exam
Technique: This is of paramount importance. I
have seen far too many clients flunk for the want of a
practised approach in the examination room. Talk to lecturers
and examiners – what is the expected standard? What
constitutes an okay answer on Subject X versus a superb
answer? Are they interested in what you know
or in what you think? How do you allocate time
in the exam hall? Has your problem been that you had too
much information and not enough time or that you simply
can’t remember salient data under pressure? (If
stress is an issue, you need to understand it, know how
it affects you, and put coping mechanisms in place.)
Finally,
if you are considering giving up and changing path, you
need to do this in the light of a long-term plan. What
was your plan when you embarked upon this course of study?
Where was the ‘destination’ on this path?
How was that going to affect your personal life? Perhaps
all you need is a pause in the study and to come back
invigorated for the next run. Possibly you should do some
capacity-building before your next stab. If the long-term
picture of this career path is particularly rosy or if
it is something you have hankered after for a long time,
you will need to have very clear
reasons for abandoning the path and stepping on to another
one …
Rowan
Manahan is MD of the career management firm Fortify
Services and author of Where’s My Oasis?
Irish
Independent, Jobs & Careers supplement, November 25th
2004.
If
you have any job problems you would like answered by our
panel of Career Doctors, please email: careerdoctor@whitespace.ie
or write to Jobs & Careers, Career Doctor, Whitespace
Ltd., Top Floor, Block 43B Yeats Way, Park West Business
Park, Nangor Road, Dublin 12.