Passed SIE today.
51 Hours of Studying in Achievable and over 3000 questions over 2 months. At first I took notes by hand on every chapter, but found out that typing was better for my memory retention.
Practice Exams were rough at first even with instant feedback. But persistence, perseverance, Ken Finnen from Capital Advantage Tutoring, and The Series 7 Guru helped.
I graduated college last year from a finance Target school in NYC without a finance degree.
About 1/3 of my classes were business and finance related which helped a little on the SIE.
Over the past year, the only job I got was seasonal at Whole Foods for 3 months.
After becoming unemployed I looked for jobs during 2 months and couldn’t find another part, full time, or contract job.
Granted I’m in the Washington DC area which has the worst job market in the nation. In my Maryland County alone, 33k fed workers got laid off right as I graduated.
I know that having the SIE probably won’t get me a job, but this challenging experience has made me confident enough to try to go to Grad School and get a better GPA than the slightly 3.1 I had in undergrad.
I also know realize that I have to network despite my horrific social anxiety about being a Black Man in Finance who’s never had an internship opportunity in America despite being 24.
Like the SIE temporary Pain, for long term gain.