Sometimes with exams, you have get back into the ring more than once to achieve the win you want. It’ a feeling BTS’s Natalie Dawes has experienced on more than one occasion. Key is how you manage it, she says.
You press that button to exit from the exam. Are you sure you want to exit? You hover, you deliberate but, you press to exit.
And then you see it.
‘FAIL’
You feel that real punch in the face. You failed your exam.
I’ve been there, with both a multiple-choice question (MCQ) paper and a written paper. A few times as well! So, when I say I get it, I’m not just saying it.
Deferring success is not something to be ashamed of, although it is a feeling I have experienced and I’ve no doubt that many of you have too. It’s partly why I’ve written this article. I want to offer reassurance, to let you know that if you have ever ducked out on a pass, it is ok.
Beating ourselves up
Ashamed is just one of the words we tend to hear from those that have missed the mark. Upset, angry, frustrated, disappointed, a failure, are a few others. The feelings can be overwhelming, a burden and I have known candidates to allow the situation to almost consume them. It’s like they have become their own punch bag.
Let me tell you this – it just isn’t worth it. It’s easier said than done though isn’t it? I want to share some of my own experiences, in hope that it helps provide some thoughts on how we can manage deferred success and the importance of doing so.
My first experience of it was with R02, in fact I’ve written about this before. The disappointment was unreal and came about because of two things. Having passed R01 first time, I had gained a bit of confidence and belief that I could do it. I’d also worked really hard, which is generally how it is when it comes to learning for me.
That confidence and self-belief plummeted. Hours and hours of study over many months hadn’t paid off like they had before.
Round two and three
Once I’d picked myself up from my metaphorical boxing ring floor, I decided to go for another round. Again, I was knocked out. My opponent that was R02, had well and truly beaten me.
In my somewhat broken state, it became apparent that there was another opponent that I had to face. This one felt even stronger than the exam itself and actually needed to be faced outside of the ring.
It’s important, that we think about the things that can impact our fight, whether that be for a first-time exam or a resit.
So, that’s exactly what I did. I stepped outside of the ring and thought on my two previous fights. Self-reflection, is a really powerful tool and the more we do it, the better we get at it. R02 kick started that for me and it’s a habit that I have formed and use when things aren’t quite going to plan.
I realised that I probably headed into my first round of R02 too soon. I’d done the learning and worked hard but I wasn’t able to apply the knowledge. When face to face with the CII questions, application was (and is) key. Consequently, I had absolutely no chance of winning.
The second round was about my mindset. I was feeling an immense amount of pressure (from within, not others) and as a result, my thinking wasn’t as clear as it could have been. Although I’d worked on the application side of my knowledge, when it came to the exam sitting, my head wasn’t in the fight and so, I lost.
Round three, required a different approach, one which you’ll be pleased to know paid off – but did I achieve this?
In training
I didn’t study every minute I could. I cut myself some slack. I also studied at times of day where I felt the calmest. Not right after putting the kids to bed when I know I need to be doing a million and one other things. Not trying to cram in 45 minutes at lunch, meaning I wasn’t taking a break.
What I did do, was set aside an hour every day, at a time when I knew there was nothing else going on, an hour that was purely for working on my fight. Having this uninterrupted and also specific amount of time each day meant that I wasn’t going into it already worked up and I wasn’t overloaded.
Over time, I felt my mindset shift and a sense of calm was restored and guess what, this absolutely had a positive impact on my technical ability. When round three came around – it was a straight knockout for R02 and I was pressing ‘exit’ on my exam screen with way less hovering and deliberation than I had been previously.
Deferred success
In an ideal world, we would all pass our exams first time. This just isn’t reality though and as I hope I’ve shown from sharing my own experiences, so many things can go wrong, come exam day.
The key is what we do when it does go wrong and throwing in the boxing gloves isn’t the way. We must evaluate our performance in the ring. This isn’t always easy to do on our own and you certainly wouldn’t find a heavy weight champion without a team of people behind them.
So, who is in your team? Who is there to talk you through the times that aren’t going so well? Allow me to let you into a little secret. R02 isn’t the only exam I’ve deferred success on, I also lost my first fight with AF5 but this time it was different.
Instead of internalising a lot of the fallout, I opened up to others about my experience. In doing so, I was able to pick myself up from that metaphorical boxing ring floor and think about the next round – after a little bit of self-reflection of course.
If you’ve deferred success, know that you’re not alone and our brilliant BTS team is right behind you.
Bespoke Training Solutions have been supporting regulated exams for 20 years this year! Known as ‘the exam experts’ within the industry, BTS provide support for the CII regulated exams by way of study guides, e-learning resources, and workshops for the full R0 suite and many AF and J0 units.
Natalie Dawes DipPFS, Cert CII (MP & ER) –is Candidate Support & Business Development Adviser at BTS
Visit https://www.bespoketrainingsolutions.com and check out the brand-new Careers Zone for study plans, answers to exam FAQs and lots more to support your journey.
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