The CIMA Thread

bmwguy

kilburn wrote: »

Have done any course or going it alone?

There are lots of analysis videos on YouTube

Thanks, I will look up youtube so. Going it alone. Up to my nuts in work and it has just crept up on me. Ah well it will be an experience anyway

uberwolf

any one else in the position of having done no prep work whatsoever? I've passed the 3 exams in the last 6 months, but ran out of steam. I have 4 days.

kilburn

Pretty much have not opened a book

uberwolf

I had ruled out doing it pretty much, given up until November. But I reckon I might give it a spin. Get my head down for 2 or 3 days.

uberwolf

done. Wasn't bad. Wouldn't state with confidence that I passed, not having so much as done one sample answer out in preparation.

kilburn

Didn't sit it in the end. What was your variant like

uberwolf

kilburn wrote: »

Didn't sit it in the end. What was your variant like

not sure really. I had not done any practise questions in advance and had only read the preseen once. So to really critically assess I would need to have had some questions marked by someone.

I had signed up with BPP, so took the last two days to watch a few of their case specific debrief videos and had a sense of how the answers were to go. Following the exam I had a look at CIMA's 'sample' answers.

To judge from BPP I might have passed. To judge from CIMA my answers were not in that category at all.

I wasn't surprised by any of the questions, but I simply hadn't the study done to bang out the answers.

1 month to wait.

greggles2015

Hi everyone,

I am brand new to this, hoping to start cima in october, am exempt up until p2 from doing business in UL, was wondering is it do-able to study from home with the textbooks and revision packs or would you need to sign up for tuition?

Also can you sit the exams and case study when you want or is there a certain window?

Thanks :-)

uberwolf

Case study, available for a week four times a year. The other exams are on demand.

Jotiz

Hi guys,
I'm looking for a study buddy based in dublin about to start or already started the operational level. I had planned to start studying for the exams few months before but just kept pushing it. And just after starting a new job at the time, did not make it easy for me. I plan to do home study, will just purchase the books and use freely available materials online-if any. Any takers?

daheff

uberwolf wrote: »

. The other exams are on demand.

really? Can you do any exam (except TOPCIMA) you want any day you want now?

uberwolf

daheff wrote: »

really? Can you do any exam (except TOPCIMA) you want any day you want now?

Structure has changed. There are three levels as ever, but for each level you do three exams on demand and then a case study.

Meursault

I have finished with the exams and the final case study and i am booked to do the interview to be awarded the CGMA in October

did any of you complete this already? if so, any advice would be great

cheers

Rusty Rothar

Meursault wrote: »

I have finished with the exams and the final case study and i am booked to do the interview to be awarded the CGMA in October

did any of you complete this already? if so, any advice would be great

cheers

Same as, have been putting off the written submission for a while now and cant make the interview in October so would also appreciate any general advise on this

johnb25

I did the application and interview a while ago.
One thing the assessor said to me was if they see you have solid, consistent experience with larger companies that are known e.g. MNCs, they will rely heavily on that, as you would not survive in those companies if you were not competent.
For owner/managed or SME sector, they will rely more on the documentation, and do more to evaluate your experience for themselves.
If you are with companies that are known here in Ireland, I would recommend the interview process. If you rely solely on application, your documentation will reviewed in UK, and everything will depend on how well it is completed.

Meursault

Thanks for the update Johnb25

All my experience is with globally recognised multinationals, so hopefully that will help

I have around three years accounting experience and also plenty of accounts payable experience, prior to that

did anyone hear about the associate membership award? what is all that about? i assumed if you have the 3 years experience and do ok in the interview, you get the CGMA. there is also a Fellowship award, which sounds way beyond my levels of experience, going on the way they describe it

My interview is on the 3rd of Oct, so i will let you know how it goes

booked that date to put some pressure on myself to complete the professional experience report.

Crybabygeeks

Hi folks
I'm also booked in for the 3rd but havent even looked at it yet. Can anyone give an indication of how long it'll take to complete the report and what I can expect to have to talk through on the day? Background is consulting.
Thanks a mill.

Meursault

Hi crybabygeeks

I am currently working on that report and its a bit of a slog, to be honest. you should get cracking as soon as you can

from my discussions with those who have already been through the interview, the questions are focused mostly on the experience you have mentioned on you report. apparently there is nothing much to fear from the interview, as long as you able to discuss your work experience. the major reason those who are unsuccessful is because their membership application is incomplete and does not provide enough detail.

the best of luck with getting the report together.

Crybabygeeks

Thank you. I'll look at it this weekend. Have avoided it up to now!

Best of luck

Meursault wrote: »

Hi crybabygeeks

I am currently working on that report and its a bit of a slog, to be honest. you should get cracking as soon as you can

from my discussions with those who have already been through the interview, the questions are focused mostly on the experience you have mentioned on you report. apparently there is nothing much to fear from the interview, as long as you able to discuss your work experience. the major reason those who are unsuccessful is because their membership application is incomplete and does not provide enough detail.

the best of luck with getting the report together.

uberwolf

Operational case study results out today. Passed comfortably by the looks of things. Surprising given lack of work and decision to sit exam with 2 days to go, but the work for the earlier exams stood to me i guess.

HarleenQuinzel

uberwolf wrote: »

Operational case study results out today. Passed comfortably by the looks of things. Surprising given lack of work and decision to sit exam with 2 days to go, but the work for the earlier exams stood to me i guess.

What time did your results come in at? Awaiting results on the SCS and wondering if they'll be coming in at all hours of the morning or worse again... after I've arrived into work.

uberwolf

HarleenQuinzel wrote: »

What time did your results come in at? Awaiting results on the SCS and wondering if they'll be coming in at all hours of the morning or worse again... after I've arrived into work.

6 a.m by email. Site was down half the day to check the breakdown, but the important number was first thing. Good luck

Meursault

Did anyone here attend the interviews in Dublin on Saturday? How did you get on? Went fine for me. I'm glad I did it now, despite my reservations. Feels good to have finally finished.

Crybabygeeks

Meursault wrote: »

Did anyone here attend the interviews in Dublin on Saturday? How did you get on? Went fine for me. I'm glad I did it now, despite my reservations. Feels good to have finally finished.

I did and it was fine. Would definitely recommend doing it as the verbal update got me through. Thank god it's all over!

Meursault

Crybabygeeks wrote: »

I did and it was fine. Would definitely recommend doing it as the verbal update got me through. Thank god it's all over!

well done Cbg. its a great feeling alright.

cheers

Cara10

Hi all, I am hoping to sit the strategic case study in November. What happens then (assuming I pass it)? Do I just send in my work record/experience and then that's it? I see the last few posts mention an interview. Does that need to be done too in order to qualify?

Apologies for the questions - I don't know anybody else doing or that has done CIMA and I can't seem to find the answers on the CIMA website. I've done it all so far by home study i.e just buying the kaplan books and booking the exams so don't have access to anyone else doing CIMA. I basically just want to know what I do once I've passed the Strategic Case Study and also is there a template for the work experience details? Any advice/help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Meursault

Cara10 wrote: »

Hi all, I am hoping to sit the strategic case study in November. What happens then (assuming I pass it)? Do I just send in my work record/experience and then that's it? I see the last few posts mention an interview. Does that need to be done too in order to qualify?

Apologies for the questions - I don't know anybody else doing or that has done CIMA and I can't seem to find the answers on the CIMA website. I've done it all so far by home study i.e just buying the kaplan books and booking the exams so don't have access to anyone else doing CIMA. I basically just want to know what I do once I've passed the Strategic Case Study and also is there a template for the work experience details? Any advice/help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Cara,

the interview is optional, but i would recommend it. They go through your work record in detail and if there is anything at all amiss, or that they are unsure about they will send it back. The advantage of the interview is that if a discrepancy is noticed (such as an incorrect date, whether some of the experience you have marked as Core is in fact supplementary, etc) then you have the opportunity to explain that in the interview without have to wait the 6 weeks by sending off the report again to London.

The success rate for the interview route is higher than 90% i think, so you should consider this option.

Hopefully you will pass the case study in November. if you need any advice in the meantime let me know

Meursault

sorry, i meant to include this link aswell from the CIMA website. you can download the forms from here.

Templates for Sections 1, 2 and 4 are provided. Section 2 (the record of your work experience) is submitted in whatever format you deem appropriate, but there are some questions on this section that they expect you to address in your report:

http://www.cimaglobal.com/Students/Gaining-the-CGMA-designation/Practical-experience-requirements/Record-your-practical-experience/

again, any queries let me know.

Cara10

Thank you so much for that - can't believe I couldn't find that on the website. I spent ages looking. Thanks again

Meursault

Cara10 wrote: »

Thank you so much for that - can't believe I couldn't find that on the website. I spent ages looking. Thanks again

No worries. The CIMA website isnt very user friendly, so its tricky enough to find these details alright