Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about how to Pass Operational Risk Manager (ORM) certificate, which is offered by PRMIA?

The post is dedicated to candidates who pursuit Operational Risk Manager (ORM) certificate, which is offered by Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA). Targeting ORM certificate is not an easy task, still it is not impossible. So let's list some challenges that candidates may face.

Challenge 1: in 2016, when I earned ORM, there was no mock exam, solved examples or exercises. Therefore, reading the handbook was the only available option I had to prepare for the exam.

Solution: I read the book many times. Let’s make things clear. I am not asking you guys to read the book like 8 times or something. May be it is sufficient for some candidates to read the book one time on the other hand, other candidates may prefer to read the book several times to ensure full coverage of the curriculum. At the end of the day, there is no size fits all. My advice is to adopt the best study plan for you and please consider the following;

• There are scarce resources of solved examples, mock exams & exercises, so studying the syllabus repeatedly is highly recommended.
• On the other hand, Fortunately, I knew PRMIA released couple of mock exams. I have only one. If you want it, please let me know.

Challenge 2: According to ORM curriculum and the guidebook, you should study case studies, since they weight 10% of exam questions (6 exam questions). When you check the cases studies, which are available in PRMIA site, some of them may not relevant to operational risk field.

Solution: For me, it was fun to study all of them. Moreover, I enrolled to PRMIA online courses, instructor elaborated the following cases studies:

1. Barings bank
2. Daiwa bank
3. World com
4. Taisei
5. Northern bank
6. NAB
7. AIB
8. Riggs bank

Still I recommend studying the entire cases studies.

Challenge 3: Chapter/reading 6; risk modeling: the reading is full of mathematical and statistical equations! These fuzzy equations were complicated and hard to understand. Add insult to injury, the weight of the chapter in the exam was 13% (8 questions)!

Solution: You will NOT be asked to do calculations in the exams. Therefore, no need to learn these fuzzy equations. However, you need to understand the main idea and the purpose of equations. For example, Passion equation is used to estimate the frequency of operational risk events. In exam, you will be asked for example:

Which of following equation is used to forecast operational risk events?

a)     Passion (the correct answer)

b)     log-normal

c)      EVT

d)     None of the above.

Recommendation:

• Study every aspect of the book and cases studies.
• For any inquiry, you are more than welcome to send me a message.
• Please visit PRMIA – ORM site, download the guidebook & read it carefully.