Looking ahead into the distant future can be very daunting, especially as you approach a crucial moment in your career such as your accountancy exams.
As much of a hindrance as they may be for you when studying or sitting them, you can learn a lot more from the exam process than simply memorising the content for each paper.
You might be surprised to know that the act of studying for, taking an exam and reflecting on the experience is an invaluable journey you go through during life, however much of a cliché that sounds.
I constantly work with students on my Accounting Exam Accelerator Programme who despise the exam experience, but it’s one which I reassure them is worth the hassle for both the qualification you receive at the end and skills you pick up.
At this point you might be wondering where the proof is, because it’s easy enough to say an exam sets you up for life but you’d want to hear the reasoning behind why; well look no further as I’m going to tell you exactly what you can benefit from undertaking exams, grades aside.
1. Organisation
We all need to learn how to organise ourselves and to have effective time management, something which the exam process drills into us from the very beginning.
Whether it be sorting out your notes, creating an effective study plan or prioritising your revision time effectively, you are actively building a skill that provides you with an excellent foundation for your future career.
Employers want to see that you can take on different tasks simultaneously and that you are giving priority to the most urgent ones before you move on to less urgent activities.
2. Independence
Employers also want to know they can rely on their employees to work independently, without the need for continuous micro-managing.
Studying for exams allows your independence to thrive because you tend to mostly study on your own; whilst being part of a study group is excellent at improving your skills when working as part of a team, you ultimately need to be able to work independently on tasks also.
You know what you have already retained, and you know what you still need to work on and the ways in which to assess these in your studies.
3. Resourcefulness
Aptly linked to number two, it takes a certain amount of independence in one’s character to be resourceful, as you are the only person that knows where you stand with your work.
It’s important to seek out the answers to any questions you may have and that you do so in a timely manner, with using your resources wisely being a great way to get ahead.
4. Preparation
Not to be confused with organisation, preparation skills ensure that you remain on-time and complete work within all given time-constraints and deadlines.
In your current case, your upcoming deadline is the exam date, but a deadline in the working world could be the date tax forms are meant to be submitted or the date of a presentation you have to give the board of the company.
You are able to effectively manage your time so that whatever task you are undertaking, you meet the deadline assigned, whether it be studying for a certain date or answering each question during an allotted time frame in the exam itself.
Being able to effectively manage your time so that you meet the deadline for whatever task you are undertaking, whether it be studying for a certain exam or answering each question on a past paper during timed conditions. My article on Why Past Papers Are Your Best Revision Tool covers exactly why you should be using them as a study technique.
5. Resilience
It’s likely that you’ve found yourself at a point of loathing with the exam process and it’s true that it’s not an easy one to experience, but persevering shows you have a lot of resilience to achieve your goals.
Instead of giving in and walking away from your exams, you will have seen all of the challenges associated with your exams to the very end and received the qualification that made it all worth it.
Even when faced with failure, continuing with the journey is one of the biggest lessons you can learn in life and I aim to help every student through both the pleasant and the unpleasant times.
6. Willpower
As human beings, we have an incredible will to move on, no matter what the costs, meaning that we are able to push ourselves even when we want to quit.
Our reward for finishing the exam is ultimately a passing grade and hopefully moving on to employment or even studying further, a great example of goal setting, even if we don’t realise it.
Learning to tough it out is the way we made it to our exam, to sit a promotion interview or go to the bank and get the business loan you need to start your own business, and whilst we may sometimes fall short of that goal, it’s imperative that you keep going and motivate yourself in whatever way works.
7. Equanimity
Simply put, equanimity is the ability to work well under pressure and anyone who has undertaken an exam knows all about pressure.
We put pressure on ourselves and we also receive added pressure from those around us, forcing us in one way or another to be able to deal with this pressure, even when it can sometimes feel unbearable.
Being able to deal with this pressure is what gives you a great trait to take forward in life as you learn to prioritise your tasks and be self-aware.
8. Perseverance
Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock has experienced failure because it’s an inevitable part of life, but we can’t let it stop us.
Whether you fail at something academic such as an exam or suffer a personal failure, being able to bounce back and continue on with the road you were going down is a fantastic achievement and a perfect display of perseverance.
Both the experience and the content that we go through makes us who we are, so whilst you might hate to remember the negatives of your exam, they will have had a huge impact on your character without even realising it.
9. Perspicacity
When we consider the idea of promotion or moving on to self-employment or even something like buying your first house as an investment towards one day getting a bigger house, we are thinking about our long-term goals.
We complete our exams as a way of looking to the future to achieve what we really want – maybe in the short-term a good grade is your goal, but you’ve taken the exam to utilise that qualification in the working world.
10. Growth
There are breaks in the road we are travelling on and we learn to cope with the pressure that they create by pushing through to the end, with each step of the way acting as a learning process.
When we study for exams, we learn to retain the important bits while ignoring the less important bits, allowing us to learn from the world around us and use that information to be a well-rounded person.
Whilst we think that learning ends when you leave full time education, the same skills you need during studying to retain and understand information never stop being necessary in your career and wider interests.
11. Self-Awareness
Our ability to be self-aware ensures that we know where our strengths and weaknesses lie, as well as how we measure our success.
From an exam score to your skills within a career, we use our experiences as a source of feedback on how to improve and progress.