APM FAE 2013

myshirt · 20-08-2013 09:29PM

Guys, what way are ye splitting the time in the exam?

What to do in the 30 mins reading time?

Do we just tear into the first case study (say the longest) - meaning 30-35 mins reading and planning; and then we start drafting straight away as the invigilator says pick up your pens.

Or.... do we read all three, get a feel for what is there etc.

How did people do this in the mocks and how did it work out?

Dmac_Aca12 · 20-08-2013 09:37PM

My plan is to read 2 of the three cases

I'm going to make a plan then on the longest one with as much detail as I can.
Then I ll start with this case then do the one I have nt read yet and then the other.

I done this for the sim paper last year when there was 3 papers and I taught it worked well. When reading 3 in the time I tend to get mixed up between what's in each case

Dmac_Aca12 · 20-08-2013 10:05PM

When people are doing these cases are they using notes/the book or have they learnt off most of the stuff and testing themselves without referencing books

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 10:46AM

Anyone do boyne aviation yet . Can anyone tell me where the got 352 employee s from ?? I was thinking it should be 360 ..

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 10:48AM

Actually I just figured it out ... Thanks

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 10:54AM

Horrible case that one isn't it?

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 10:57AM

I think this has been the first case that I could answer most of. I do think that's becoz I had a vague memory of doing it or the mocks tho lol ... Approaching it blind would be hard alright. There s a lot of industry knowledge in that solution that I did nt really think to bring in even tho I would know it.

Do you know any topical industries this year ?? I m clueless when it comes to current affairs ;(

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 11:02AM

No although someone posted a list of some industry conditions in the main FAE thread which you might find a bit helpful? Nothing too detailed but good for pointers. Think I'm just going to spend an evening reading business news online, buy a Financial Times or two lol

Yeah I know what you mean, for Boyne I tried to imagine being the customer and thinking of the different features when I book online, but some of the conditions like the unionised employees I wouldn't have thought of, nor would I have the notion to research something like that beforehand!

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 11:05AM

Ya it can be hard - I taught about buying/ reading newspapers but its not gonna help now as the paper was prob set 6 months ago so it would of been issues around that time and not now...

Ya apparently airline stuff was big last year when this case came up ...

There is potential for transfer pricing on the paper which I hate ;(

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 11:13AM

Would it be numerical though do you think? I haven't seen many questions on transfer pricing, think there was just one in class. Wouldn't be great at transfer pricing either..

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 11:33AM

I d be afraid that it could be numerical but hopefully just theory. It's in one of sample cases is nt it.. I think everyone would be in trouble with it tho so we d be grand

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 02:02PM

I'm hating section 5 operating across border... There all very made up answers no guidance from book !! Redbarn issues that need to be discussed with jv/ licensing .. Seems easy then go to write and it's nothing like the solution ;(

Did anyone use particular notes for this ?

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 02:44PM

Just used notes from the green manual and anything else I could think of

On another note, I found this website http://www.wikiswot.com/SWOT/ for general SWOT analysis on different industries, might be worthwhile printing off a few just in case

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 02:47PM

okay I'm going through some of the SWOTs on the website and I see now some of them aren't great lol

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 03:06PM

There s hundred of them lol ... Might try print one from each industry ! The old multi d are great notes for swot for core if ur looking!

How are u finding the cases now. Have u most APM ones done ?? What's you plan for APM now. Will u do much on it. Not sure if I should start looking at SFMA or go back over and do cases and book questions again !!

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 03:23PM

lol I know, some of them look good, some have like 4 or 5 points overall, might take a while to find them! thanks for the tip, I'll have a look at those cases tonight!

Finding it really difficult to concentrate now. All I've done today is the leftover of a comp case that I started last night, and I'm still on my first APM paper, doing last year's mock which isn't going too well lol. Going to try for another paper then read some more theory.

Everyone seems to be going into overdrive at this stage but I'm finding it so hard to get the energy... though I figure getting some work done at a snail's pace is better than nothing lol

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 03:24PM

Think green book questions would probably be more useful now than SFMA - its more useful for studying investment appraisal but I would say that's about it

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 03:26PM

I'm same going very slow. I ve done boyne n redbarn from last year and that's it ;(

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 03:38PM

Black swan is disgusting , would of cried last year !!

kb6536 · 21-08-2013 04:23PM

I know lol it's no wonder the pass rate dropped last year, that paper was just disgusting, I would've failed it without a doubt.

About to start mock 2011... hoping it'll all magically come to me lol

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 04:27PM

Ya I taught sim 1 was ok but it went drastically down hill after that... I ve spent about an hour just figuring out where they got the figures from in the cal... Imagine the panic if u had that on the day .

Mark1916 · 21-08-2013 06:49PM

Dmac_Aca12 wrote: »

Black swan is disgusting , would of cried last year !!

Might give that a chance then so I'm in the mood for a fight tonight! Which means the paper usually wins and I go for tea and a few biscuits

Dmac_Aca12 · 21-08-2013 06:52PM

It might not be too bad for ppl doing core as after much taught its similar to an IT question from core.

Would u advise any good core cases for elective ?? I feel like I missing stuff I should know

Dmac_Aca12 · 22-08-2013 02:58PM

I decided to do the 2013 mock to see if I had improved !! I done the NPV worse than I did in the exam how is that even possible ... Losing the will to live !!

hooch-85 · 22-08-2013 03:00PM

Dmac_Aca12 wrote: »

I decided to do the 2013 mock to see if I had improved !! I done the NPV worse than I did in the exam how is that even possible ... Losing the will to live !!

I think your freaking out a bit too much, you have loads of time yet, spare a thought for the people who are doing Core & Elective!

kb6536 · 22-08-2013 03:17PM

Dmac_Aca12 wrote: »

I decided to do the 2013 mock to see if I had improved !! I done the NPV worse than I did in the exam how is that even possible ... Losing the will to live !!

You'll be grand don't worry, I make notes where I go wrong, take a break and come back later to it.

Now is not the time to stress lol positive thinking!

Dmac_Aca12 · 22-08-2013 04:37PM

Ya think sometimes the more u do the worse u get. Hopefully will pay off in the end.

When theory comes up in the cases eg. Pest analysis or pricing. How many pages are people writing in general. I feel my answers are way too short

kb6536 · 22-08-2013 04:53PM

Yeah I was told in the mock my answers needed more depth - think it depends on the case, like if it's to complement an investment appraisal it wouldn't be as long, but if it was an indicator just on pest would try and make it longer. No doubt in the real thing we'll be writing frantically to get as much as possible!

Dmac_Aca12 · 22-08-2013 04:57PM

Ya she wrote that all over my paper. But testing myself now and I still only writing the same level of detail really ;(

kb6536 · 22-08-2013 05:06PM

but you'll remember that in the real thing, it'll be in your head and you'll know to put in as much detail as you can. I've tabbed all the past papers for npv, pest etc so i can flick to them for ideas in the exam and remember the level of detail needed. might make a checklist of key things to remember to include for a certain type of question, but not sure, might be a waste of time?

think by the sounds of it you're just having a bad day, it'll be better tomorrow!

APM FAE 2013

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