Failed in CFM Exam! Now What?

Been there, done that! We understand how you feel right now, especially if you're a non member and you paid $815 just to take the CFM exam, but if you really want to become a certified facility manager, you need to do something.

You need to try something else.

You failed because you've done the same thing like the other test takers did.

Here are the most probable reason why you fail the CFM Exam and what you can do about it to help you get back on track and pass the CFM exam!

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1. You became over confident. 

And that's one of the main reasons. You thought the CFM exam is like a normal certification exam. That after attending the training institute, listening to the Instructor, answering few quizzes, you're ready to take the exam. 

Now that you realize it wasn't like that, you need to accept the fact that the exam is not easy. CFM is not comparable to other certification exam so your preparation shouldn't be parallel to that.

2. Your training instructor is not a Certified Facility Manager. 

As you well know, Certified Facility Managers are Rare! You can check on the IFMA Credentials Registry if your instructor is a Certified Facility Manager. And he should be because how can he teach the students if he is not a CFM?

If the propose instructor for CFM in the Institute you're going is not certified, then it is better to get the training directly from IFMA. Although it's more expensive, you'll be sure that what they will teach you will be based on the real principle surrounding the CFM, not solely based on the perception of the instructor. ​​

3. Your training instructor only reads the PowerPoint presentation.

CFM training requires a broad knowledge of the instructor. If he is not really qualified to teach the course, he might just read the power point presentation extracted from the book. If that happens, you won't get additional information from him and it would surely reflect on your result when you partake the actual exam.

During the discussion, you need to raise questions to your instructor. If you came from a training institute before you took and fail the CFM exam, try to negotiate if you could sit in on the new batch taking the CFM course. Most training institute will allow that.

4. You passed on some competencies and you fail on the other areas

That's the reason why the CFM exam is difficult to pass compare to other certification exams. CFM is very broad. You need to understand and do well on all competencies. You can't be so good in one area and be poor on the other. It should be balanced.

​Try to analyze where are your weak areas. When you know that, you can focus more on that area.

​If you need help in finding your weak areas, we have a practice exam for CFM that will show you your exam result for each competency, that way you will know where you should spend more of your time studying.

5. Lack of preparation

We understand that a lot of job opportunities are waiting for the Certified Facility Manager and the salary is very attractive, but you should take some time reviewing and practicing the CFM exam. The minimum preparation should be at least 3 months from the moment you finished taking the course. And the 3 months should be intensive, meaning, there's no time for side training or else your focus will be divided too!

Based on the average practice takers, our practice exam for IFMA CFM that contains 1,800 questions and answers could be finished within two weeks. 

If you get 50% during the first take, you need to repeat it again and aim for at least 70% in all competencies and that would take on the average a minimum of two months.