Whether you’re coming from the Fundamentals of Insurance exam or brand new to the industry, the CAIB exam format can be a big shock. One of the key areas many students struggle with is in the short answer or narrative questions section. Hopefully, these 3 CAIB Short Answer Question Tips can help:
CAIB Short Answer Question Tips #1 – Key Action Words
In each of our CAIB courses, we have a glossary of key action words that tell you exactly how to answer each question. For example, when you see the action word “IDENTIFY” you will need to state items or facts and give examples. Sign up on our website and review the Key Action Words for free.
Tip #2 – Don’t Write Too Much
Make sure you’re writing enough to answer the question but not too much where you might accidentally include something that is incorrect. If you’re not sure about whether to add an extra detail, ask yourself how sure you are that what you want to add is correct and balance that with whether that point is even necessary.
CAIB Short Answer Question Tip #3 – Clearly Delineate Each Point
If the question is asking for 3 reasons, then make sure you’re making it very clear what your 3 reasons are. This means saying something like: “The first reason is…”, “The second reason is…”, and so on.
Many marks have been unfairly lost when people jumble their points together or ramble on.
Bonus Tip – 3 Marks = 3 Things
Since each short answer question on your exam is worth 3 marks, they’ll likely be asking for 3 things. They’ll either ask you to list 3 things, answer 3 short questions briefly, or some combination of the above if the question is broken up into multiple parts. For example, asking you to identify and explain something will likely be worth 2 marks.
I hope these are able to help some of you. If it does, let me know and I may write more of these. There are plenty more tips that I share with students inside the courses.
Good luck!