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welcome to a special episode of becoming
boss C it is celebration time because I
am officially a certified internal
auditor so I can finally say goodbye to
all my test Banks study materials notes
and video lectures here is what the
official CIA certificate looks like if
you are a subscriber then you probably
already know that I am a certified
public accountant who entered the
internal audit profession in 2020
and when I became an internal auditor I
decided that I wanted to take advantage
of my company's generous education
tuition assistance program
and so I knew that my company would
reimburse me for passing the CIA exam
and I had the mentality that I want to
maximize employer-provided benefits
whenever I switch jobs so I did just
that I first ordered my study materials
in September 2020 and passed part one of
the exam in January 2021
then I began studying for part two in
February 2021 and passed that exam in
September of 2021. so as you can see I
really took my time from Family Life to
work life to other personal goals and
managing my YouTube channel I have done
a ton of juggling and balancing so I
figured that it would take a while to
obtain the CIA designation
now I feel super comfortable comfortable
and confident when I took Parts one and
two of the exam even though I only had a
few months of professional experience
and internal auditing I was a fast
learner on the job and I realized that
my organization followed the institution
of internal auditing Professional
Standards and framework very well
so I think that had a lot to do with my
success when I passed both of those
parts on the first attempt
going into part three
oh I was immediately terrified of the
information technology or I.T and
information security domains
I am not an I.T auditor and I do not
interact much with it Auditors at work
other than the occasional status
meetings my one Saving Grace or silver
lining was that I am a CPA so I felt
prepared for the financial management
domains
and the business Acumen domain seemed
simple enough since I took business
administration courses in college but
again the I.T and information sex
security domains
just account for 45 of the exam which is
huge as of 2022 and so I knew that part
three would be a challenge because those
information technology and information
security domains are just not my
expertise
I studied for the exam using the Wily
certified internal auditor exam review
course which came with a study book that
was over
990 pages long
video lectures that reviewed each
syllabus topic and notes that were
condensed into a smaller version of the
study book and a test bank with 4
5 54 multiple choice questions yep you
heard that right the Wiley test bank had
over 4 500 questions for part three
I will make a separate video about how
many questions I actually answered and
my statistics on how many I got right
and all of that I started studying for
the part three seriously around November
2021 but then I took a break around
Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and
then I started back studying in January
of 2022 and I took the exam for the
first time and passed in August 2022. so
why did it take me so long to study for
part three well remember I work full
time as an internal auditor I was well I
am actively working on my YouTube
channel in hopes of finally getting 1
000 subscribers hints hints I was still
being a great daughter sister Aunt
friend and Community volunteer I was
wearing so many hats and playing so many
roles like like most of us do so
studying was not always a first priority
for me I was fine with my progress for
part three and I knew that it would take
a bit longer due to my unfamiliarity
with it and information security I also
was fortunate because I had a cushion of
time because I passed Parts one and two
both within a year so I knew I had about
two years to pass part three I was not
truly in a rush but I also knew that I
did not want to take more than two years
to become a certified internal auditor
if there were any promotion
opportunities at my job I wanted to have
my CIA designation there in black and
white secured to help my advances
and chances of being promoted
plus I knew that exam fees were going to
increase in September 2022 so that
motivated me as well okay
so around April 2022 I finished my
990 Page Long study book and watched all
of the related video lectures then I
started working on the test Bank
answering questions I noticed that I was
still answering many questions
incorrectly which was very frustrating
since I had been studying for part three
for so many months at that time
one random day in April 2022 I received
an email from the IAA stating that it
would host a CIA part 3 exam webinar
remember
I was uncertain about my level of
preparedness for taking part three so I
quickly registered for the free web free
webinar during the webinar the Ia had a
raffle contest for a free live course
for any section of the CI exam all that
you had to do was attend the webinar and
stay online through the entire session
well
I was ecstatic nonetheless I mean you
can imagine I was so excited when the Ia
announced that I had won the free live
course it was exactly what I needed to
help me pass part three remember at this
point it was April 2022 and I had a goal
to pass part three by Memorial Day 2022
which was at the end of May well
there was one slight issue the Ia only
offered the live training during my work
day in May so I could not take the live
course in May however they offered live
course options for June right after work
from 5 PM Eastern Standard Time through
8 PM Eastern Standard Time for a total
of six sessions three hours each
that's right it was an 18 hour long
course
so
I signed up to take the live courses in
June and looking back I'm so proud of
myself for investing so much time energy
and effort into getting my CIA
designation
working eight to nine hours as an
internal auditor and then taking another
three hours to study
for those days was not fun in June but I
did it regardless because I had a goal
in mind I also have a video about my
live IIA webinar course experience so
you should definitely check it out after
this video
while we are at it go ahead and like
this video if you made it this far and
comment below congratulations I would
love to read all of your congratulatory
messages and consider subscribing if you
want to watch more videos or simply
support the channel
back to the story
I took the iia's webinar course in June
and they also gave me another study book
that was about 360 pages long guess what
I wanted to ensure that I was fully
ready for the exam so I read that entire
book from the Ia within the month of
July
after attending the live course sessions
reading that entire IA part 3 study book
and still answering testing questions in
between I finally felt comfortable
scheduling my exam
so
I logged into cecms which is the
certification candidate management
system that the IA
sponsors and CCMS is a user-friendly
application that you
that helps you to apply for this yet the
CIA designation complete and also
maintain your designation so of course I
start the scheduling process by
searching for a Saturday in July
so I look at July 16th is there any
availability nope no availability
July 23rd no availability
July 30th you know availability
wonderful this is going off to a great
start
so my second option
is that people usually cancel or
reschedule their exam appointments a few
days before the appointment date right
you know if they get nervous or they
feel like they're not prepared yet they
just cancel or reschedule well
I figured that I would just wait until
Wednesday or so to see if there was any
last minute appointment that had an
opening that someone canceled but nope
nope
nope that didn't work either
so it was time to be boss C and just
scheduled my exam for August
so on July 27th I scheduled my exam for
the first week of August and there was
only an eat like an early afternoon
availability so I took Parts one and two
both in the morning at 8 A.M because I
feel most alert and focused in the
morning but my appointment was at 1pm
so it was not too late but it wasn't as
early as I desired it to be
to make sure I was adequately prepared
and just mentally ready for a two hour
long exam I took a practice exam with
Wiley on the very next day July 28th
and
I want to make sure that I was you know
in a good spot for taking my actual exam
well I took the practice exam by
answering those 100 muscle choice
questions
all within an hour and 40 minutes
remember you have two hours to take the
exam but I finished the practice exam in
an hour and 40 minutes and I received a
score of 77 percent
to pass the CIA exam Parts you have to
score at least 600 out of a potential
750 points which is about an 80 percent
so while this may have scared other CIA
candidates that 77 percent may have made
some candidates feel like uh maybe I'm
not ready I personally recall that I
scored less than 80 for parts one and
two as well so sometimes the practice
exam is not always an accurate
reflection of your level of preparedness
for the exam
specifically
I remember scoring about a 70 percent
for part two
in other words I developed a review
process and fortunately my work
assignments and my job were not as
intense and then I keep me busy during
that week
I had also decided to take two days off
for vacation time so that I could study
all day
for one day
and then take my exam the following day
I may even create a video on how to
review for the CIA exam how like how
many questions to answer what sections
you need to review Etc
at a high level I definitely recommend
that you read the exam syllabus and its
entirety and in detail
and literally put check marks next to
the subjects that you feel proficient in
proficient in and then focus on the
parts where you are not so confident
so the day before my exam
I am I was not feeling well I was not
feeling my best at all
I was doing what I would tell anyone
else not to do I was literally cramming
for the test at this point my body felt
stressed and tired but my mind was in
overdrive and I was determined to leave
no stone unturned or I guess the better
phrase is no page Unturned
so it was now the morning of the exam
day and I made sure to get into bed
early the night before and to not set an
alarm to wake up because I really wanted
to get at least eight hours of sleep
before the exam and I did just that
so hours passed and I look up some
topics at the last minute I organized my
keys
my car keys my ID and I grabbed my
bottle of water
a weird feeling of calmness came in came
over me as I weaved it out of traffic
and even had a car cut in front of me at
one point so still regardless of all the
traffic that was distracting me I remain
composed and I finally arrived at the
test center 20 minutes early
so since it was a weekday the testing
center did not have many other test
takers waiting at the front desk so
instead of starting my exam at 1pm
I actually started around 12 45 pm
my mask is on Pockets aren't seed
belongings are locked I walked to my
computer station and began my exam
before I knew it I was flying through
muscle choice questions and I
occasionally saw some questions that
were just foreign to me that I had just
had to make an educated guess on so with
five minutes and about 20 seconds left I
finished answering the 100th question
along the way I flagged about 18
multiple choice questions so I went to
the review page and Revisited those
questions
for some reason whether it was mental
fatigue or exhaustion I stopped
reviewing flag questions and I I do not
I did not make any more changes to my
answers now with a little over two
minutes left
on the clock I clicked the end exam
button and a warning message appeared
asking me are you sure you want to leave
the review page
without hesitation
I'm telling you I ended that exam the
screen went black for one second three
seconds 20 seconds I took my headphones
off and I swiveled my chair around and
attempted to stand up but the Proctor
held up her hand and told me to remain
seated I forgot that I had to raise my
hand before standing up
the Proctor entered the testing room and
escorted me out of the room with her
after returning my headphones my
calculator and notepad I retained my
locker key and driver's license and
walked to the front desk half scared and
really have curious about what my
testing results were
so I asked the woman at the front desk
can I please have my testing results she
explained that my results were not ready
yet and handed me this little strip of
paper and I'll put it in here
what is this what does this mean I have
all I had always gotten a quick score
report that said passed so why aren't my
results ready yet does that mean did
that mean that I failed I accepted the
pathetic strip of paper open my assigned
locker and retrieve my keys and other
belongings my heart was racing as I
stepped onto the elevator with another
test taker who had his score report in
his hand and seemed pretty content
finally in my car I go to CCMS and check
my exam status which states scheduled
the same status from before I took the
exam scheduled
this is Uncharted Territory for me this
has never happened to me even after
taking all four parts of the CPA exam I
always received a score report even when
I took the first two parts of the CI
exam I always received a school report
I attempt to calm down and go on about
my day but that does not last for long
let me tell you I had to call someone an
event because
I just couldn't containment but I did
not tell my parents loved ones or
friends that I was even taking the exam
it is such a catch-22 I called a close
relative and let out my frustration with
that person not yet having a clear
result and prepared my mind for a
potential test failure
before falling asleep I checked CCMS
again and the status is now shown as
taken so it switched from scheduled to
taken
the night Drew near and I slumbered with
uncertainty
the next morning I started my routine as
normal but I felt this urge to check
CCMS again for my score results like
maybe something happened overnight or in
the morning
so I logged on to CCMS with my
personalized credentials scroll down and
I saw this
wait Am I Dreaming
what does this mean I stared at it
longer and relief enters my body
and I immediately start calling and
texting everyone and anyone who
supported me in this journey it was over
my life is back
I am done with the CIA exams
and I look over to my kitchen table
which still holds my
which still was holding my study books
and notes no more studying was necessary
I am a certified internal auditor
I hope that you all enjoyed listening to
my personal story uh finally becoming a
certified internal auditor if you made
it this far I am impressed like this
video And subscribe for more videos
comment below and let me know how you
would react if you're in my situation
thank you for riding along with me on
this crazy Journey to the CIA
designation thank you for supporting
becoming bossy and as of the date of
this recording the channel has 934
subscribers we are on a journey to 1 000
subscribers we are so close and you can
help by continuing this journey with me
so please feel free to subscribe to the
channel of course I like to thank my
family friends professional colleagues
and the creators of my study materials
for supporting me and helping me get
through this 23 month long journey to
whom much is given much is required
I hope to make more informative videos
about the certified internal auditor
exam so that others can experience this
feeling and sense of enjoyment and
fulfillment that I feel right now as
always stay blessed and stay bossy now
check out this video for more tips on
passing the CIA exam
