• A Personal Message from Catriona
• Featured Article:
  Stress Less During Exam Time!
• Moving On – Climbing the Career Ladder
• Out Now: IFS CeFA/CeMAP Module 1 and 2 Audio Masterclasses, CeFA2 Mock Papers, CII IF4 Mock Papers
• What's Around the Corner? CII J08 Case Studies
• Exam and Learning Resource Updates
• We Recommend… CF5 Workbook
• Quote of the Month

I had a very interesting experience a couple of weeks ago regarding customer service. This IS relevant to you, so bear with me! I’m looking to move home and contacted an estate agent about a property I had seen which I wanted to view. As I don’t live in that area, I have to request Saturday viewings. They booked me in to see it the following Saturday. An hour later the manager of the estate agent branch called me to say that they “do not do first viewings on Saturdays. They only do 2nd viewings from proceedable buyers.” I explained that I do not live near the area so can only travel to view on Saturdays. I also explained that I was viewing a number of properties in the area that day in order to narrow down our ‘shortlist’ to one or two. In response to this, the manager simply re-iterated that they “do not do first viewings on Saturdays. They only do 2nd viewings from proceedable buyers”. He then added “This is our rule.”

So I then asked if the vendor was aware that they were cancelling viewings on their property. At this point the manager got extremely defensive and was downright rude. It was clear that the vendor did not know this and would have been shocked to know (especially as the house was empty and so they needed to sell asap.) He became so rude I had to hang up. He left me a voicemail about 5 minutes later to say that “I was about to say that we will do the viewing on Saturday after all.” In other words, he had stopped, thought about it, and realized that he was not doing the best for his vendor and that he knew that his vendor would be far from happy (and would almost certainly change estate agents) if they knew what was going on.

So why am I telling you this?

I’m telling you this because there are times when we all need to stop, step back, take a deep breath and “think.” As major exam sittings come around, we experience the panic of exam takers. We sometimes get emails from people who are obviously stressed out but who haven’t “stopped, stepped back, taken a deep breath and thought.” Instead, they have panicked and emailed us with a query that could be answered if they reviewed the study text themselves (but in their panic they forget this).

Unlike the estate agent, we DO pride ourselves on our customer service and we do respond to all queries when we can. But please be aware that when major exam sittings come around, we can’t always respond instantly, but we will respond when we can. We try to be super-human, but alas we are not.

Wishing you lots of luck if you are sitting any exams this month. http://www.brandft.co.uk/examprep

If you have any questions or comments, or any suggestions as to what can be included in this newsletter to help you maximise your potential and pass first time, please contact me directly at Catriona@BrandFT.co.uk.  I would love to hear from you.

Stress Less During Exam Time!

This article is relevant to anyone who is suffering from exam stress associated with trying to balance exam revision, work commitments and family or personal life demands.

You sit staring blankly at the same page you have read and re-read at least a dozen times. Your exam is in two days and you can’t remember anything you just read.

Your employer announces that you will need to work late several evenings this week – the same evenings you had set aside for studying for your exams at the end of the week.

Your son reminds you that he has several school functions to attend this week – functions that you completely forgot about – leaving you no time to study prior to your exams.

If you can relate to any of these scenarios, or if these images inspire other more personal examples of exam time stress, read on for easy tips on how to stress less during exam time.

Manage Your Time

The number one cause of exam stress is a sense of not having enough time to study. You can help reduce sensations of being overwhelmed by organising your time more efficiently. Be sure that you create and write down a schedule, with times and tasks clearly marked, then post copies of your schedule wherever you spend time throughout the day. Start by creating your schedule from your to-do list. Decide which tasks can be shortened or eliminated to make room for extra studying time. By both creating the list and a time frame by which to complete each task, you will feel in control of your time and better able to manage your responsibilities.

Allow yourself to say No.

It somehow seems to happen that whenever we are most busy and most overwhelmed everyone suddenly needs our time and attention. It is important to allow yourself to politely decline requests for your assistance in matters that are not absolutely necessary – without feeling guilty. How do you know what is necessary and what isn’t? Ask yourself this: Will this task be accomplished with or without my help? Is there someone equally capable of completing this task without harm to me or someone else? If your answers are yes, then it is time to respectfully decline the request with no sense of guilt. If your answers would seem to imply that you are needed, then be sure to adjust your schedule accordingly.

Study more by studying less.

Though your overall total amount of studying time won’t lessen, it is important that you limit how long in one sitting you try to study for your exams. Your brain can only absorb so much information at any one time. Instead of sitting down to study for hours on end, instead chunk your material into 30 minute segments. Spend the first five minutes reviewing the last study session’s materials, 20 minutes learning new material, then the last five minutes reviewing. Be sure to get up and be active between sessions. In this way your studying will be more productive. Another good practice is to make flash cards for yourself as you study. Keep the flash cards with you for times between study sessions when you can steal a few moments to review.

Be sure to rest, exercise and eat well.

The first thing to get eliminated from our schedules when we are feeling overwhelmed is taking care of ourselves. No matter how busy you may be you will not be able to function properly without rest, healthy activity and balanced nutrition. Turn off the telly and go to bed early. Take a brisk walk or do some stretching just before you start studying. Avoid junk food and fizzy drinks, and instead choose nutritious foods and water. Your brain will work best when you take care of yourself.

By following these few simple steps, you will help yourself stress less prior to your next exam.

Do You Have An Article You Would Like Us To Publish In Our Newsletter?

We’re always interested in reading and publishing any articles that may be of use to our readers. They can relate to the financial services industry, the general insurance industry or to studying and exams in general. If you would like us to consider one of your articles for publication, please email it to catriona@brandft.co.uk.

Recruitment consultants can seem quite pushy in getting information from you, quite often asking for everything all in one go and having only spoken to you briefly beforehand. A good consultant will want to know everything there is to know about you, including things that you might not deem relevant. It’s the job of the consultant to satisfy the client’s needs and the more they know about you the better they can do this. The advantage to you is that the consultant will have a much better idea as to what you are about and what is the best option for you based on that information. Be sure your chosen consultant explains the reasons behind their actions and keeps you abreast of the developments as the process unfolds. It’s your information and you need to agree who sees it, in what format and for what reasons.

RecruitUK – The independent specialist IFA recruiter. Ensuring the right people are in the right places for the right reasons.

More information can be found at www.recruitukltd.co.uk         

To discuss your recruitment needs in more detail please contact Terry Hall, directly at terry.hall@recruitukltd.co.uk

Audio Masterclasses for IFS CeFA/CeMAP Module 1 and Module 2

Our audio masterclasses are now available for
IFS CeFA/CeMAP Module 1 at http://www.brandft.co.uk/ifs/cefa1mclass.asp
and IFS CeFA Module 2 at http://www.brandft.co.uk/ifs/cefa2mclass.asp

These are separate audio masterclasses covering important elements of the Module 1 and Module 2 exam syllabus. A great way to vary your study methods, make studying more interesting, and increase knowledge, understanding and information retention. You can listen on your PC, transfer to your MP3 Player or iPod, or burn onto a CD.

IFS CeFA Module 2 – Mock Papers

We have just launched our 3 sets of mock papers for the IFS CeFA Module 2 exam, plus a free taster set.

These are written by Brand Financial Training in the same style as the IFS papers, but they are not duplicates of the IFS mock papers.

Our mock exam question papers ensure you get the practise you need to achieve exam success. 

• Free questions
• 3 full sets of 100 questions to purchase with 80 multiple choice questions and 4 case studies with 20 multiple choice questions on each paper
• All answers include cross references to the IFS study text
• All of our questions are kept up-to-date to reflect any changes to the exam syllabus and tax year
• All of our papers are provided electronically in PDF format - you can print them out and complete them wherever you wish - no need to sit at a PC and no waiting for the postman!
• All purchases come with our 14 day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee

You can claim your free set, and purchase our 3 full sets at http://brandft.co.uk/ifs/cefa2mockq.asp

CII IF4 Insurance claims handling proccess – Mock Papers

We have just launched our 3 sets of mock papers for the CII IF4 exam, plus a free taster set.

These are written by Brand Financial Training in the same style as the CII papers, but they are not duplicates of the CII mock papers.

Our mock exam question papers ensure you get the practise you need to achieve exam success. 

• Free questions
• 3 full sets of 75 questions to purchase
• All answers include cross references to the CII study text
• All of our questions are kept up-to-date to reflect any changes to the exam syllabus and tax year
• All of our papers are provided electronically in PDF format - you can print them out and complete them wherever you wish - no need to sit at a PC and no waiting for the postman!
• All purchases come with our 14 day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee

You can claim your free set, and purchase our 3 full sets at http://brandft.co.uk/if/if4mockq.asp

We have had so many requests for help with the CII J08 exam that we are now developing a book of case studies for this exam. These will provide you with vital practice and guidance for this exam. We’ll have more information in next month’s newsletter, but they will be ready in time for the July exam sitting.

Updates to our Learning Resources

Updates to all of our learning resources can be found at http://www.brandft.co.uk/updates.asp

It is essential that you visit this page periodically to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information regarding your learning resources. Please do not email us with any resource-related queries before checking this page.

Time and time again we are told that everybody struggles with the product selection and portfolio creation part of question 2 in the exam. A lot of people lose marks on this question simply because they don't realise how much time it takes to answer properly, and they don't have a methodology in place for getting this question answered quickly and easily without missing out any of the numerous important facts.

For that reason, we have developed a workbook for CF5 which focuses specifically on this part of the exam. It works through the thought processes needed to provide a suitable 'model' answer. We also provide a checklist for you to work through so that you don't miss anything out. We then use this methodology and apply it to 3 case studies, providing step-by-step thought processes and answers. We also provide a bonus workbook giving you a further scenario with step-by-step thought processes and a model answer.

You can find out more, including a video demo of what's included in the workbook at: http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf5wkbk.asp

And don't forget our money back guarantee - You are either satisfied or you get your money back.

"It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you choose to battle."

Richard M. DeVos, American businessman