Trying to find the time in our busy lives to prepare for an insurance license test can be, at best, limited. Because of this, you will want to be efficient in preparing for your insurance exam. In addition, if you want to be successful in passing your insurance license test, you will want to avoid these common mistakes:
1. Focusing too much on practice exams
A common temptation students may have is to read the course lessons or manual only once, and then take practice exams over and over. Practice exams are intended to reinforce the material that is learned within the lessons and manual. By repeatedly taking exams and ignoring the course material, you miss the connectivity between concepts and their full meaning. While our courses offer hundreds of exam questions, and while each exam randomizes questions being presented, shuffles the order of questions and possible answers, over time your mind is storing these to memory instead of fully grasping a concept. Practice exams should always be secondary to the course material.
2. Ignoring the State Exam Outline
As discussed in How to Streamline Your Insurance Exam Preparation, the State Exam Outline is a great resource because it shows how many questions are included in each section of the state insurance test. Why would you spend equal time studying for section that contains 5 questions to a section that contains 25 questions?
3. Not taking enough breaks
It is understandable that you want to study as much as you can within your limited time. However, by not taking breaks can negatively affect your ability to process the information being learned. We recommend studying in short, frequent sessions of no more than 45 – 60 minutes at a time. Then, take a short break to clear your mind and allow the information to set. This will help keep your mind and energy refreshed.
4. Not studying frequently enough
While you do not want to cram for the state test over the period of just a few days, it is also not recommended that you take too much time in your preparation. Set a study schedule over the course of a few weeks to a month. Repetition is essential to learning, so constantly reviewing the course material over a period of few weeks is the best approach. Also, schedule your state test as soon as you are prepared so the information is fresh in your mind on test day.
5. Rushing to take the test
Not being fully prepared for the insurance license test will almost guarantee a failing score. Whether your employer is rushing you to complete it or you just didn’t set aside enough time to prepare, you will have a difficult time passing the state test if you do not completely understanding each concept. This will result in having to retake the exam, which means more of your time and money. Even if you do take adequate time to prepare, it may be difficult to determine if enough study-time was placed on each section. To help eliminate this uncertainty, we developed an individualized Pass Report which displays which sections need additional study-time and gauges your overall readiness for your state insurance test.
