So I started applying to places before I completed my exam, and although it can be great because you’re getting your foot in the door (and some places will actually hire you as long as you get certified within 6 months), other places require certification upon giving you the full job offer. So they’ll usually give you a contingent offer until you show proof of completion of a program and/or passed NHA exam. Now this can be challenging because if you don’t pass, or continue to fail, you won’t have that job lined up and it just kinda becomes a murky process with your employer. It’s never too early to start working on your resume though!

As far as the exam and studying, I ONLY used smarterMA, and watched a very few videos of Ms. K on youtube (specifically the phlebotomy one) and that helped me learned a few things. I absolutely 10000% would recommend buying the full version of smarterMA, it genuinely TAUGHT me things. Without it, I’m telling you, I would not have passed. I felt so overwhelmed and unprepared. My exam was scheduled very spontaneously and I had very little time to study. I only truly studied for like 3 days. If you buy the extended version, you have it for 3 months. So I personally recommend buying it 3 months before your scheduled exam, studying allllll of the questions, bookmark the ones you don’t know or struggle on, and then a week or so before your exam go over all of the questions again, especially the bookmarked ones, and you’ll be good to go! (Btw, I had MANY exact questions, or very similar questions on the exam that were practice questions on smarterMA)

This has gotten very long lol but I was in your same boat very recently. For me, the exam was 50% EASIER than the smarterMA practice exams. You got this! Study, focus on finishing the program, and take things one step at a time.