5 Tips on How to Pass the IFMA CFM Exam on Your First Try

Probably you've heard that it's not easy to pass the CFM exam and now you're wondering how to pass the IFMA CFM Exam on your first try. So now, we will try to explain to you in the most honest way we can on how you can surely pass the CFM exam in one try.

1. Master All The 11 Competency Areas

Well, we will be frank but attending the CFM training is not enough. Actually, if you just attend the training and you take the exam right after that, your
 chances of passing the CFM exam are very small, unless you have mastered all the competency from your previous training.

What I mean is for example, you're already a Certified Quality Manager so, for sure, the topic about Quality is easy for you, but remember there's 11 competencies and that means, having mastered in one, two or three competency doesn't assure you'll pass the CFM exam right away.

I have known one test taker of IFMA CFM, he is a Certified Quality Manager, LEED Green Associate, Certified Construction Manager, actually he's holding a lot of certifications and yet he brought the question bank for CFM, and luckily he did because only then he discovered that he is weak in three competencies, particularly, Finance and Business, Sustainability and Leadership.

After repeating the practice exam for CFM, and seeing that he's getting a consistent result of 80% in all competencies, he took the exam and he passed the actual exam.

---

​2. Read the Official Study Resource CFM Book

I am talking about the IFMA Facility Management Learning System Book. You can have that book if you enroll directly from IFMA. And yes, of course you can have that book if you know someone who have that and is willing to give it to you.

If you're a wide reader, it's easy for you to read that book twice, and retain the information you read, if not, then it's really a problem unless you have a question bank.

Unlike the other question bank you saw around the web, our 1,800 questions and answers were based on that book. We took all the necessary information so you can familiarize with the terms without going through the book several times.

We don't want to waste your time reviewing or practicing so all of our questions, all though its 1,800 questions, it's all direct to the point. 

3. Use CFM Practice Exam

After attending the training, and after reading the book, you need to do the Practice exam. And that's important because information is easier to retain if you practice answering. One study showed that, 95% of information is retained after repeating or practicing the practice exam for 5 times.

​There's a lot of free and paid practice exam for IFMA CFM but what made us different is we can show you your result for each competency so you will know which area you need more focus.

4. Ask The Previous Test Taker About Their Experience

If you're lucky and you found an IFMA Certified Facility Manager, (I mean you're really lucky because they are not common) you can ask them for tips how they pass the exam or perhaps they can tell you what they saw on the actual exam. Specific questions, perhaps? If they can still remember.

You can also ask your colleague who tried their luck on CFM exam, and ask which part of the exam, they find most difficult and use their experience so you can avoid doing the same thing wasting your time, effort and money and in the end just failing the exam.

5. The Actual CFM Exam is Situational But Straight Forward

If you ask a lot of previous test takers of CFM, you will notice one common feedback from them. They are all saying that the CFM exam is situational and that makes it difficult.

Actually, it's true that the CFM exam is situational, but it is also straightforward. Example, during the actual CFM Exam, one of the question is

You are a facility manager in Ace Hardware and you are facing a problem. Which tool you need to determine the root cause of the problem?

A. Fish Bone Diagram
B. Checklist
C. Process Control Chart
D. Scatter Diagram

 If you are not familiar with the choices above, you won't be able to answer it correctly, although the question is already telling that the answer should be related to "root cause analysis"

Some questions are longer than that because they elaborate "the problem", I mean, they will give a specific question or situation. But that doesn't mean that when the question is longer, it's already difficult to answer. Actually it's easier because they are trying to make their question understandable, you just need to read and comprehend the questions.

We hope that we gave you the useful information that you need and this makes you boost your confidence in taking the CFM exam.

If you're too busy to go back and read your book, use our 1,800 questions and answers, practice exam for CFM to help you familiarize yourself with the terms or elements, and help you pass the CFM exam and become a Certified Facility Manager.