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Financial IT Certification Exam Report: A Personal Account of a Financial Project SE Passing with Over 80% in 8 Hours

紅茶＠大手SIer現役SE

Nice to meet you, I'm Kocha.
"The Financial IT Certification has no past exam questions and so little information, I'm worried..." Are you thinking that?
I was too. But by using a unique study method leveraging generative AI, I was able to pass in just 8 hours with a score of over 80% (245/300 points)!
What's more, I managed to get a perfect score in the "Financial Business" section!
As an engineer, I will reveal everything in this article about how I turned financial knowledge into my weapon 📝


1. Exam Overview

The Financial IT Certification is a qualification exam hosted by the Financial IT Association (FITA) that tests literacy in both finance and IT.

  • Exam Name: Financial IT Certification

  • Exam Format: Multiple-choice, CBT (Computer Based Testing) at a test center

  • Number of Questions: 60 questions

  • Time Limit: 60 minutes

  • Exam Fee: 8,800 yen (tax included)

  • Exam Scope: IT systems, financial business, financial systems, digitalization and innovation, strategy/governance, etc.

2. Impressions and Results

Exam Environment and Difficulty

This exam is in a CBT format, but it is not taken at home; it follows a style where you book a date in advance and take the exam on a computer at a CBT test center. Being able to choose the venue and date according to my own schedule was extremely efficient. Regarding the difficulty, my impression was that it covers a wide range of basic levels, but the biggest hurdle is the tight time allocation of "60 questions in 60 minutes." That is about 60 seconds per question. Since there is no time to hesitate, it is essential to solidify your knowledge until you can determine the correct answer instantly.

Actual Results - Certificate of Passing

I successfully cleared the passing criteria and achieved my goal of a score of over 80%!

  • Total Score: 245/300

    • IT Systems: 85 points

    • Financial Business: 100 points🎉

    • Financial Systems: 60 points☔️

  • Review of each section

    • IT Systems: 85 points

      • This was a field where my practical experience as an engineer was directly applicable. I was able to score consistently because many of the topics, such as cloud, security, and development methodologies, are things I encounter in my daily work.

    • Financial Business: 100 points🎉

      • Honestly, I was surprised myself that I got a perfect score here! Since I have always been interested in the financial sector, I found the content interesting while studying, so I thought I could aim for a high score, haha.

    • Financial Systems: 60 points ☔️

      • This part was difficult... The differences between accounting systems and information systems, as well as financial-specific rules (such as BOJ-NET and the Zengin System), were hard to understand without practical experience. This is an area I want to deepen my knowledge in further.

After taking the exam, you will receive an exam result report!

Exam Result Report

3. Study strategy that achieved over 80% in 8 hours

The total study time was about 8 hours. This time, I prioritized efficiency and focused entirely on output-oriented learning. 🕐
[Learning Process]
Step 1: Syllabus review (2 hours)
↓
Step 2: Generate mock exams with Generative AI x Prompts & repeated practice (5 hours)
↓
Step 3: Reinforce weak areas with the official textbook (1 hour)
↓
🎯 Achieved 245 points on the actual exam!

Step 1: Syllabus review and input

First, I quickly checked the official textbook and syllabus to grasp the overall picture.
The point here is not to try to understand everything perfectly. Since it takes too much time to dig deep from the beginning, I only focused on roughly grasping the following three points

  • What kind of fields are there

  • What terms I don't know

  • Basic terms especially in the financial sector (securities, insurance, etc.)

Step 2. Generate mock exams with Generative AI x Prompts & repeated practice

・ Generate mock exams with Generative AI x Prompts 📝

This is the biggest point of this study session. Surprisingly, there is no official past exam collection for the Financial IT Certification...

This was my biggest source of anxiety, but I took the approach of using AI to create my own 'high-quality mock exams' and solving them repeatedly. However, to create high-quality questions with AI, prompt design was extremely important. If I just gave random instructions, I would only get unusable questions. Through trial and error, I perfected a prompt that could mass-produce questions at the actual exam level.

I explain this 'specific method for using AI' in detail in the following article! Please take a look!

This article: [Practical Edition] Financial IT Certification: 100 Mock Exam Questions & AI Generation Prompts (with Answers and Explanations)
I am sharing everything below!
✅ High-precision AI prompts to generate exam-level questions
✅ 100 mock exam questions I actually solved (by field)
✅ Correct answers and detailed explanations for all questions
If you are wondering, "How did you create questions with AI?" or "I want to know the specific prompts," please check this out!

・ Repeated practice with mock exams

I went through the AI-generated mock exams using the following cycle:

  1. Solve all questions no matter what

  2. Mark the questions you got wrong

  3. Read the explanations to understand [2nd Round]

  4. Focus on re-solving the questions you got wrong

  5. Verbalize why you got them wrong

  6. Reinforce related knowledge with the official textbook [3rd Round]

  7. Time yourself (60 minutes) as if it were the real exam

  8. Check if you can answer instantly

  9. Review questions you were unsure about again
    → Through this repetition, my knowledge shifted from "understanding" to "being able to use it."

Step 3. Reinforce weak areas with the official textbook

I went back to the official textbook to dig deeper only into areas where I repeatedly made mistakes in the mock exams or felt my understanding was shallow. Especially...

  • Terminology specific to financial systems (accounting systems, information systems, BOJ-NET, etc.)

  • Latest trends in digitalization and innovation

  • Governance and compliance-related topics

This "go back only for weaknesses" method maximized my efficiency within the limited time!

4. Concrete actions you can start today🚀

Thank you for reading this far!
Finally, I have summarized a concrete action plan🗓️

✅ Step 1: Book your exam date

First, book your exam date on the official website.

Once you complete the registration, you will naturally feel motivated to study!Booking in advance is key!

✅ Step 2: Prepare your study environment

  1. Get the official textbook

  2. Check the syllabus on the official website

  3. If you are starting to study using AI, check out the practical articles below as well

Textbooks and notes are here↓

✅ Step 3: Create a 20-hour study plan

I think it's a good idea to plan what to do week by week!
Example: Taking the exam in 2 weeks
Week 1: Check syllabus + 50 AI practice questions
Week 2: Remaining 50 questions + strengthen weaknesses + final review

5. Conclusion

Thank you for reading until the end! Since there is little information available for this exam, the strategy of using AI to create an environment similar to past exams yourself was extremely effective.

As an engineer, understanding how business works is more than just a skill; it builds trust! Let's aim to develop more valuable products using financial IT knowledge as our weapon.

I am rooting for everyone's success! If you have any questions about study methods, please feel free to leave a comment~

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