Time allowed to pass SIE/Series 63/79
Fellow monkies... recently received a lateral FT offer from a BB IB group. I'm excited... except for the part of my offer letter that states I have 90 days to pass the SIE, Series 63 and 79 or my employment ends. You get one chance to re-take an exam if you fail. The 90 day hard deadline seems a little draconian, but maybe it's pretty standard? This was an off-cycle offer obviously so not part of a formal analyst program. How long do other people get to pass these?
You have to wait 30 days between test attempts anyways, so I think this is basically them telling you that you have two tries (2-3 is usually standard for people who start with a class). Start studying now, because it's a lot easier now than when you're on the job. If you actually put in the work to study, it'll be easy, but it can be a bit of work.
Thanks - the letter actually says you get two tries, and your employment ends if you fail the second so makes sense. I'm going to get started now as I wait on BG check, notice, etc. Any recommendations on Knopman vs. Pass the SIE (Examzone)? Heard exam zone is a little bit more plain-spoken (I do not have a finance degree).
Use Solomon Exam Prep. I cannot advocate for them enough. I passed the 63 with very little effort (Started studying Wednesday night and took it Saturday morning) and I needed the 52 for my spot. I failed the 52 with one of the bigger ones and felt like I didn't even study half the exam with their practice exams and easily got a 90%+ using Solomon.
How did you find out your score on the exam? I thought they stopped publishing them in Oct
Related, how does this work if coming through the traditional pipeline (internship -> return offer)? Do you study this material in your off time or does the EB/BB bring in people to teach the course?
Traditionally you have 6-10 weeks of training before your full time employment starts, in which you also prepare for the 79/63. Some banks take it earlier in the training period and some almost at the very end. The EB/BB bring in a trainer such as Knopman Marks to prep you for a full week (that is, 8 hours a day for 5 days) before you take the exam but it helps a lot if you have read the material beforehand. Some people get away with not doing that, but I think that's a risky move. You do NOT want to be that guy/gal who did not pass the exam and can't work on real stuff once everyone hits the desk.
Cheers, thanks. I will try and pass the SIE prior to graduation so I can focus on the other material. Appreciate the answer.
I will provide my 2 cents as I just took the SIE and Series 63 (working on the 79 at the moment) and what I recommend how you approach the exams and studying. Like one of the posters said up top, the key is to do as much studying before you start as your bandwidth on time significantly shrinks the moment you walk into the office. If you have already started your position you just need to devote any spare moment you have to studying as the quicker you get the exams out of the way the faster you can actually be a value to your team.
The SIE exam is a comprehensive overview of finance, meaning that its not a mile deep and an inch wide but an inch deep and a mile wide. The information you learn will not require deep understanding but there are a lot of details that you need to cover. Whatever study guide you use, do not base your studying on just doing the Q&A found in the online resource ( I used Kaplan for this). You actually need to read the book and take notes on the details as I mentioned before as this will make up roughly 60% of your exam. I spent 10 days studying for the exam, but quite literally writing notes on anything that was not bolded or italicized as there are questions on the exam that come from areas that are not heavily emphasized in the book. Once you feel you have a good grasp on the concepts you can actually go to the FINRA website and they have a mock SIE exam. I HIGHLY recommend doing so as this is actually a fair gauge on your understanding of the concepts that you will find on exam day. I only got 45/75 right when I did it, which meant I had to go over everything again until I could recite some of the most asinine concepts that will never be applied again. But if you follow that you should be good to go.
Series 63 - this has to be the most boring exam of all time. But it is crucial if you actually want to be paid a bonus or commission on your job. My approach was a bit more thought out on this one as 3 of the 5 sections carry a significant weight so I focused my attention on Section 1, 4 & 5 which constitutes about 85% of the total exam. Make sure you still read the other parts as the questions from those sections are not that difficult and you don't want to lose easy points. Once again you should read each chapter answer the questions at the back of the sections and go over the 3 sections with the highest weight the most. If you have an online resource even better as this exam is based completely on situational scenarios. The majority of questions you find on exam day will go like "Tim works at a BD, and has a client in State X but is only registered in State Y, customer does..." you get the drill. Be sure to understand what happens in each type of scenario for BDs, Agents, IAs, and IARs. This will make your exam day so much easier.
As for the 79 I am going to follow my approach as to not spend more than 10 days studying for it as I have actually devoted a lot of time studying IB concepts so unless something goes awry I don't anticipate this requiring a different study schedule.
Good luck!
Not sure what they've provided you for training materials, but I would try and steer clear of STC training materials if possible. Wasn't a fan... While STC did get the job done, I've heard that Kaplan is a lot more comprehensive and relevant for 63/79. Can't speak to SIE since I'm grandfathered in.
EDIT: In regards to the 90-day policy... That's pretty standard across the board. Smaller firms have a more relaxed view, but generally the 90-day up or out rule is widely adopted at larger firms. I was jammed when taking both 79/63 and only studied over the weekend, but I highly recommend hunkering down and spending more time to ensure that you feel comfortable at the testing center. Quizlet cards helped to memorize the mundane BS that makes up the 63... 79 should be a lot more intuitive.
Agreed on the STC material I did not find it that helpful and have heard good things about the other providers.
Hey cmbsdude - 90 day deadlines for passing your FINRA exams is actually pretty standard, though usually it's just one or two exams and not three. They call this a 'condition of employment' and it's accepted because frankly, you're not all that useful to the firm you just joined until you get this license.
The FINRA SIE Exam is something you can pretty easily sit for within your first month. It's a general exam ("a mile wide and an inch deep") and is considered the 'entrance exam' for finance, while the Series 79 Top-Off would then complete your Series 79 license. The Series 63 is a supplemental license.
I would ignore the numbering and go SIE --> 79 --> 63 personally. The 79 will be the toughest and then the 63, with the SIE being the easiest. You can easily do the SIE within your first 30 days, and then you should probably even start studying for the 79 before you take the SIE.
One thing I'd ask them about is whether you have leeway if you take an exam and fail, but are gearing up for a second try. If you fail the first time, you can take all three of these tests a second time 30 days later - but that 30 day window might put you outside the 90 day threshold. See if you can buy yourself some extra time in this instance to lower your anxiety - because passing three Series exams on the first try in 90 days is a pretty aggressive schedule.
You Kaplan and use all of the questions in the Qbank. There are around 1300 or so questions in the Qbank; exhaust them all. You want to see as many possible questions that could be asked on the real exam.
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