Dear Tutor MJ

Thank you for starting these Q&As. You put hesitant students like me at ease.

A little bit of background about myself…I am a former CIMA student under the old 2010 syllabus. I had managed to finish F1 and F2 then, but had to pause my studies due to personal reasons. I am now ready to restart my studies this year but have come back to the new syllabus.

I will need to get through E1 and P1, prior to taking the Operational Case Study exam. I am aiming to sit in May. On top of this, I am also planning a job hunt in the next couple of months.

Now I understand that the road ahead might be filled with challenges but I really want to make this happen. Do you have any advice on how I should go about realizing all these plans?

Sincerely yours
Gina

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Dear Gina

Firstly, I am glad to hear that you love the Q&As! I started writing them to help students with their uncertainties and doubts. So to hear that the Q&As have helped (at least) one student is music to my ears.

Now on to your question….

Your timeline at the moment for your CIMA studies is 4-5 months to do the following: Get through E1, then get through P1 (or the other way around, whichever you take first). After passing both, prepare for the case study exam.

If you’ve been reading my blog, then you know that 4-6 weeks is doable to prepare for the case study. However, this all depends on how much time you put in for studying. CIMA suggests at least 10 hours per week. More hours would obviously be ideal. After all, the more you practise, the better you get at it.

Having said this, if you put a job search in the mix, how much time and effort will that take?

It’s hard to tell, since only you would know your own unique situation. How well will your case study preparation go? If you need more time for your studies, then this would affect the time you have for the job hunt.

On the job search front, I don’t know what the job market is like where you are based. How easy is it to find a new job? How steep will your learning curve be at the new position? These are some things that will factor in your decision.

Personally, I prefer to take one step at a time. As much as I’d like change to immediately happen in my life, my chances of success become slimmer if my focus goes all over the place.

But please don’t let my personal preference deter you. If you are the type of person who can handle a lot more, then I wish you all the very best in your studies and job search. Nothing should stop you from making all these wonderful plans happen.

Good luck!

Your tutor
MJ

P.S. To start with your E1 and/or P1 preparation, you might want to check out the free version of Astranti’s Operational OT Study Resources.