CIA Exam-Taking Tips and Techniques

The types of questions a candidate can expect to see in the CIA Exam are objective and scenario-based multiple-choice (M/C) questions. Answering the M/C questions requires a good amount of practice and effort.

The following tips and techniques will be helpful in answering the CIA Exam questions:

  • Stay with your first impression of the correct choice.
  • Know the subject area or topic. Don’t read too much into the question.
  • Remember that questions are independent of specific country, products, practices, vendors, hardware, software, or industry.
  • Read the last sentence of the question first followed by all choices and then the body (stem) of the question.
  • Read the question twice or read the underlined or circled keywords twice, and watch for tip-off words, such as not, except, all, every, always, never, least, or most, which denote absolute conditions.
  • Do not project the question into your organizational environment, practices, policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines. The examination is focusing on the IIA’s Professional Standards and Publications and on the CIA’s exam syllabus (i.e., content specifications).
  • Try to eliminate wrong choices as quickly as possible. When you get down to two semifinal choices, take a big-picture approach. For example, if choice A and D are the semifinalists, and choice D could be a part of choice A, then select choice A; or if choice D could be a more complete answer, then select choice D.
  • Don’t spend too much ...

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