I’ve been helping people prepare for the CQE Exam for the past 10 years.
Over time, I’ve noticed 5 big mistakes that have derailed even the best students.
I want to help you avoid those mistakes!
By the way, making these mistakes doesn’t mean you’ll automatically fail the exam.
But it does decrease your likelihood of learning the material, passing the exam and growing your career.
So try to avoid as many as possible 😊.
Before sharing those mistakes, I want to clarify something about becoming a CQE.
Passing the CQE exam won’t grow your career.
To grow your career, you have to learn new skills, and putting them into use.
I want to remind you of that point because it is the foundation of this entire argument.
It’s more important that you learn new skills, than it is that you pass the exam.
Because some of these mistakes are strategies people use to pass the exam that don’t result in true learning and understanding.
Mistake #1: Re-reading, highlighting and underlining as a learning strategy
I’ve spent time researching the most effective (and ineffective) strategies for teaching and learning.
The research is clear that passive learning techniques like re-reading, highlighting text and underlining texts is VERY SUB-OPTIMAL.
When I first started preparing for the exam I was guilty of this too. . .
I would go through my study material multiple times, re-reading, highlighting new information, underlining key sentences and concepts.
Little did I know that the research shows that these strategies are terribly ineffective.
The research calls these types of strategies passive learning.
Passive meaning that you’re attempting to put material into your brain.
The opposite of passive learning is active learning.
Active learning is when you take new information OUT of your brain.
Active learning strategies include taking practice exams, doing a brain dump, group discussion on problems, etc.
Any activity where you’re putting new information into practice is considered active learning.
And active learning is SO MUCH more effective than passive learning.
This is why I always recommend active learning techniques like practice exams.
Mistake #2: Not Taking Enough Practice Exams
This is basically an extension of mistake #1, but this is another common mistake.
Not taking enough practice exams.
Let me explain why.
Your brain is constantly dealing with a ton of information.
And it’s trying to decide which information is important and should be remember, and what it can forget.
One of the signals your brain uses to determine if something is important (and should be remember) is when you recall information from memory.
Researchers call this active retrieval or active recall.
Researchers have also discovered that practice exams are one of the most effective forms of active retrieval.
They lead to better understanding of a topic, along with improved long term memory of that topic.
So you understand it faster, and you retrain that information longer.
A classic win/win.
Practice exams are important.
It’s why on each page on this website you’ll find two free practice exam.
An easy quiz at the top of the page to get you started.
Then, a harder, timed quiz at the bottom to mimic the time constraints on the actual exam.
Mistake #3: Studying without Picking an Exam Date
Everyone start their CQE journey all fired up.
They’re motivated and excited, and they study for the exam.
Eventually that motivation fades along with their studying.
And without an exam date, it’s easy to delay. . . . and delay. . . . and delay. . . . Until one day you give up.
Having an exam date picked out keeps that motivation alive.
So if you’re committed to becoming a CQE, I highly recommend signing up for the exam and picking an exam date.
This puts more of your skin in the game, and will become a big source of motivation to continue learning and growing!
Mistake #4: Not Using Your Skills at Work
A person who won’t read has no advantage over a person who can’t read – Mark Twain
I’ve seen this mistake first hand.
Someone passes the CQE exam and never puts what they’ve learned into practice.
Then, that same person expects a raise or promotion. . . . I just wanna scream!
To grow your career, you have to become a more valuable employee.
You become more valuable when you put new skills, knowledge and tools into practice.
Remember…… passing the exam WILL NOT grow your career.
Your boss does not care if you pass the exam. She cares that you’re getting better at your job.
And you can start getting better at your job even before you take the CQE Exam.
In fact, you should start putting your new information/skills to use IMMEDIATELY.
Don’t wait till after the exam to start using your new skills. Start today.
Practicing what you’re learning is a form of active learning that provides context and deeper understanding of the material.
This also allows you learn the material more deeply and start reaping the benefits of the learning immediately.
This will again provide more motivation to the study process and propel you along your journey.
So you should be actively looking for opportunities at work to use this new information that you’re learning!
This is especially true with statistics.
Statistics is one of the most underused topic in the workplace.
Because it’s hard.
But the fact that its hard also makes it an opportunity for you to shine.
If you’re able to find ways to use statistics to improve root cause analysis or decision making, then you’re really going to shine!
And you’ll stand out amongst your peers and set yourself up for that next promotion.
Mistake #5: CRAMMING . . . . . . . THE WORST
You know what cramming is. . . Waiting until the last minute to study.
This mistake is so devastating because research shows that cramming doesn’t lead to long term memory.
You end up forgetting everything you “learned”.
So while cramming might help you on exam day, it won’t lead to true learning and career growth.
And remember, becoming a CQE is all about learning and career growth.
When you cram for the exam you might pass the exam, but you certainly won’t learn anything new.
And if you don’t learn anything new, your career won’t grow.
Cramming means YOU WON’T BENEFIT from becoming a CQE.
Which means you’ve wasted your time.
The Best Way to Avoid Cramming
You have to create a daily study habit.
And your daily study habit starts with a study plan.
That study plan should break down the CQE Body of knowledge into manageable daily chunks of information.
Here’s my personal 26-week study plan that you can steal from.
Once you have a plan, you have to work your plan!
Block your calendar and tell your co-workers that you’re busy.
The best thing I ever did for my career was to create a habit around learning.
This habit has fueled my career to unimaginable heights!
What to Do Next?
Ready to start that journey to become a CQE?
I have an awesome free resource to help you get started.
It’s a free 10-day online course covering the Top 10 Topics on the CQE Exam.
Each day I’ll email you another important video lecture.
Along with that lecture comes a 15-question practice exam covering that topic and others.
You can also download those lecture and the practice exams to save for later or take with you.