With our MBE Question of the Day starting up again tomorrow, I wanted to share an article I wrote about the importance of using updated questions…

The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is notoriously one of the most feared aspects of the bar exam.  It certainly was for me.  It was the only time in my life 6 hours didn’t seem like enough time to finish an exam.  Every second counts on the MBE, and two minutes can make the difference between passing and failing.  I drank a Red Bull during lunch break to help me stay focused.  It had its payoffs (I believe drinking Red Bull helped me pass the bar) and its consequences – I had to rush to the restroom after lunch because I didn’t want to “waste too much time.”  Because there is so much pressure on the MBE, a better name might be the mental endurance test.  No matter what you call it, it’s important that you fully understand the MBE before you take it.  Over the next few months, you’ll have the pleasure of getting to know the MBE as well as I did or maybe even better.

The MBE is the 200-question, 6-hour, multiple-choice portion of the bar exam administered on the last Wednesday in July and February.  Since the MBE tests content that is important to beginning the practice of law, the NCBE (National Conference of Bar Examiners) drafters evaluate questions on their relevance and credibility to beginning practitioners.  In recent years, the MBE has undergone many changes to become more consistent in style and format, resulting in more concise questions.  MicroMash Bar Review wants students to be aware of the several changes to the format of MBE questions that the NCBE announced and put into effect starting with the July 2009 bar exam:

1. There will be no “none of the above” or “all of the above” answer choices.
2. There will be no hypothetical fact-based answer choices (options that include “if” or “unless” statements which change the fact pattern).
3. Common nouns will be used in lieu of proper nouns when practical (e.g., “a painter,” not “Pat” or “Painter”).
4. There will be no “K-type” questions (Roman numerals in complex answer choices, e.g., I is true, but II and III are not true).
5. One question will relate to a single fact pattern, instead of a series of questions that relate to one fact pattern.

In addition, the language in the answer choices will be parallel.  That is, the test taker will have options comparing similar elements, such as four different causes of action or four defense theories, etc., rather than comparing an answer choice that has a cause of action to one that has a defense theory.

Here is an example of a “K-type” question you will no longer see on the MBE (or at MicroMash)!

What does this all mean?  In the end it really means only one thing: you should no longer be using MBE practice questions in the old format.  One of most oft-repeated pieces of advice regarding bar exam prep (and MBE prep in particular) is to practice as many MBE questions as you can, making sure to do those questions in as close to realistic test conditions as possible.  That means answering practice questions in a timed environment whenever possible.  It means finding questions that, on par, are about as difficult or as tricky as those you’ll see on the MBE.  Most importantly, it means answering only MBE questions that reflect the new question format!  Studying and practicing for the MBE with updated question formats will prepare you for the actual MBE and simulate what you’ll see on exam day.  It will also help you accurately score yourself and keep track of how much time you need to plow through the examination.

There are plenty of options available to assist you with bar prep (and MBE prep in particular).  Do yourself a favor and verify with your bar review company that their MBE practice questions are up-to-date with the current MBE question format standards.  The last thing you want is to show up on July 28^th and see questions that don’t look familiar!

MicroMash is one of the bar review companies that has updated its questions to the current MBE format.  We excluded “K-type” questions, our fact patterns no longer have multiple questions, and our answer choices have been updated so that there are no “none of the above” or “all of the above” choices in the options.

Continue visiting our blog for up-to-date “MBE Questions of the Day” starting tomorrow to help you study for the bar exam and stay tuned for more bar exam tips and tricks!

For more information on the recent changes to the MBE, please read “Recent Changes in NCBE’s Multiple-Choice Examination Programs” by Beth E. Donahue of the NCBE.

Here at MicroMash Bar Review, we are always looking for great people. They are the foundation of our success. As part of Thomson Reuters, we offer a terrific working environment, and a great opportunity to join and grow with a world class company. Thomson Reuters was recently highlighted as one of the most engaged brands in the world. This position (as well as the overall MicroMash business strategy) is more evidence of that engagement. We are reproducing the entire job description below. However, we ask that you follow this link to our corporate recruiting site to express your interest in the position, or to apply.

Social Media Mastermind & Brand Evangelist

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
MicroMash Bar Review is a provider of Bar Exam Preparation coursework and materials. We prepare students and professionals to pass the bar exam of their choice. Our computer programs allow students to study for the bar exam of their choice in a most convenient environment.

Our need for continued strong results presents a unique opportunity for employing a Social Media Mastermind & Brand Evangelist to promote MicroMash products. This manager level position will report to the Director and is responsible for driving revenue through our various websites, email campaigns and social media channels. This position is responsible for a variety of marketing related activities such as Internet Marketing, SEO/SEM, E-Mail, Print, Word of Mouth and community management. You will work collaboratively with employees within MicroMash Bar Review and Thomson Reuters, including but not necessarily limited to product development, editorial, engineering, customer service and the executive team.

Our corporate culture is steeped in customer service. We work hard and play hard, serving our customers needs daily, ensuring they leave us compelled to recommend MicroMash to their friends & family. To provide you with deeper insight into MicroMash Bar Review, here are our mission and values statements.

Mission
MicroMash is a trusted partner to time pressured bar exam takers. We provide a convenient, flexible, easy to use bar study program that ensures you pass the bar exam of your choice. Guaranteed!

Values
We want our customers to view us as:
High Quality, Reliable, Great Service, Easy to use, Knowledgeable, Convenient, Modern, Innovative, Good value, Interactive

MAJOR AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Execute, Manage and Improve the Marketing Plan – Execute and report against the 2010 marketing plan. Platforms to be utilized include web site, blog (WordPress), Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, print and more:

Web Site
• Manage and maintain the website (http://barexambrief.com) and blog (http://barexambrief.com), including the creation of strategically placed pages of new content.
• Manage banner ad promotions for the web site. Manage relationships with existing partners, identify and pursue new promotional partners.
• Drive traffic to both the web site and blog with the ultimate goal of increasing brand awareness, revenue and overall customer satisfaction.
• Create new and modify existing banner ad creative, or manage the work of contractors/partners toward same end.

Word of Mouth/Buzz
• Leverage our loyal following and drive results by creating a comprehensive community management program.
• Create new opportunities to expand our brand reach into new markets.

Email
• Collaborate with others within and outside MicroMash Bar Review to craft marketing copy.
• Analyze email campaign data and customer behavior to optimize performance of campaigns, and make improvement recommendations.
• Work with other Thomson Reuters businesses to identify and execute marketing opportunities for MicroMash Bar Review.

Reporting
• Analyze web site and blog visitor behavior with an eye toward improving performance and conversion.
• Monitor and measures key performance indicators of marketing platforms.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Education and Experience
• Undergraduate degree required (or proven history of 5+ years web marketing experience). Law degree a strong plus.
• 3 years of digital marketing and/or marketing communications experience preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Background
• Superior writing and presentation skills required.
• Proven knowledge of Internet marketing tactics including SEO/SEM/PPC, email, web analytics, social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• A strong understanding of marketing principles, practices and techniques.
• PowerPoint/Excel/Access/HTML experience, with basic knowledge of Web design.

Previous Experience with one or more of the following job descriptions/disciplines is preferred:
• Social Media, Community Manager, Brand Evangelist
• Legal Marketing, Copywriter, Public Relations, Online Strategist, Reputation Management, Interactive Marketing, Online Marketing
• Web Site Design, Webmaster, HTML, Website Usability

Please feel free to forward this along to anyone you know that might be interested (as well as re-tweeting it to your network using our retweet button above). We are based in Chicago, and have a very strong preference for a local candidate. That said, we’d be open to other arrangements for the right candidate.

]]> http://barexambrief.com/2010/01/08/micromash-is-hiring/feed/ 0 http://barexambrief.com/2009/12/28/thanks-for-the-feedback-on-micromash-please-keep-it-coming/ http://barexambrief.com/2009/12/28/thanks-for-the-feedback-on-micromash-please-keep-it-coming/#comments Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:17:54 +0000 Sean McGinnis http://micromashbar.com/blog/?p=590

Over at MicroMash Bar Review, we’ve been quite busy over the last few months.  We’ve updated our Mission Statement, changed our product configuration and pricing, and radically updated our Pass Guarantee to be more user friendly.  We’ve also launched a brand new web site, a Twitter feed, a Facebook fan page, and as of today a new design for this blog.  Wow!  It’s been hectic around here.  One of the most important changes we’ve made during these last few months has been to open ourselves up to feedback.  As we build out these feedback systems, and as our customers embrace them, I believe it’s important to share what we are hearing periodically.

As you may recall, we recently heard from a repeat exam taker who inspired us.  In direct response to that feedback, we decided to give away seven bar review courses to repeaters last Monday.  Last week we reached out for those who were selected, to give them the good news.  Below is what we heard from a few of them.

Oh my gosh,

You just made my Christmas. Thank you so much. I can’t even begin to tell you what this means to me.

…

I appreciate this so much and want to tell you that I am really enjoying (if you can enjoy a bar study course) this course. It is really a different way of looking at studying that (sic) a lot of the other courses do not have. I especially like the quizes at the end of the state reviews. They are great.Thanks again so much. I will wait to hear from you.

…

This is the only way to go.

One of my best friend’s used your program back in 2003, she passed on the first try and has been practicing every sense.

Thanks again, and Merry Christmas.

—  Bar Examinee T.B. sitting for Michigan bar exam

I was truly overjoyed when I received your email today informing me that I won the Bar Review Repeater Sweepstakes. Thank you for supplying a wonderful product. I have been using the MBE program for the past couple of weeks and not only have I learned so much just by doing the questions, but also have enjoyed my sessions. It has been invaluable for me to see where I am weak so that I may go back and review the reference outlines. Thank you again for selecting my name. I am sure that this is a sign of the good things to come!

— Bar Examinee R.K. sitting for Arkansas bar exam

I also just happened to hear from a former customer over the holiday break.

I would like to thank you for making such a great product….It has been a few years since I took the bar exam but without your great software I never would have passed. Thank you

— RJP

Lastly, I’ll share a piece of feedback from a former customer who also went to the trouble of referring us to a colleague. In response to that referral, I sent a small token/note of our appreciation. In response, her wrote the following:

Thank you SO much for the Starbucks gift card, I appreciate it! I’ve been raving to my co-worker about Micromash. It is an outstanding product and I believe that it was critical to my successfully completing the California Bar Exam. It was super easy to use, I could do it anywhere/anytime and the diagnostic tool provided much needed feedback. As a side note, the attorney-mentor was great too!

Again, thanks for the gift card. I hope you have a great holiday and I wish you continued success in the New Year!

— B.F.

Thanks for the feedback! These messages keep us fired up and driving hard on improving our products and services to better serve our customers.

If you have any feedback for us, on the blog, on the web site, on our products or our employees, please feel free to contact me directly and share your experience. I can be reached at 1-800-BAR-EXAM (1-800-227-3926) or via e-mail at sean.mcginnis – at – micromashbar.com. You can also just comment right here on the blog. Thanks!

Sean McGinnis, Managing Director, MicroMash Bar Review.

]]> http://barexambrief.com/2009/12/28/thanks-for-the-feedback-on-micromash-please-keep-it-coming/feed/ 0 http://barexambrief.com/2009/11/18/the-new-micromash-mission-statement/ http://barexambrief.com/2009/11/18/the-new-micromash-mission-statement/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:29:30 +0000 Sean McGinnis http://barexambrief.com/?p=540

A few weeks back I posted about the change to MicroMash’s Pass Guarantee. In that post, I mentioned that I would periodically discuss issues that affect or impact our students or our business. This post will be the second time I discuss a bit of the behind the scenes, day to day operations of MicroMash. In an effort to keep the length of this post reasonable, I’m introducing the discussion today with follow up posts once a week for the next couple weeks.

As mentioned in the previous post, I have been with MicroMash since July 2009. The first thing I did when I came aboard was to sit down with every employee to discuss what we did well and what could be improved; how we operated, and how we wanted to operate; what our products were and how they were priced – typical immersion therapy for any new executive joining a business.

During those initial meetings I learned that MicroMash was operating without a formal mission statement, and I resolved to change that as quickly as possible. Formally defining who we are and who we want to be quickly became job #1. I suspect a number of you are scoffing right now because you consider a mission statement nothing but corporate bureaucracy. I strongly believe (in both a business and a personal context) that “if you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything”. We all need a touchstone, a guidepost to ensure we are focused on the right things (even companies), and a strong, well thought out mission statement provides a company and employees with direction; it ensures we are focused on the right issues; it also helps us avoid distractions that do not fit our mission. By defining what you are and what you want to be, you also define who you are NOT and what you will NOT do.

As a precursor to drafting our mission statement, I asked all of the members of our team to consider companies that they loved doing business with. What is it about those companies that make them different? What need do those companies satisfy? Why do you enjoy doing business with them? We spent a few hours reviewing a diverse assortment of companies such as Zappos, Netflix, Southwest Airlines and many others. We also looked at companies that we hate doing business with (I won’t name names here) so we would know what practices to avoid. We took pages and pages of notes which helped us focus our thinking even further. The actual mission statement came together pretty quickly. We were left with a bunch of what I call “value” words that could have impacted our values statement. I asked the team to vote on each and we compiled them in order of the number of votes. What follows is the official MicroMash Bar Review Mission Statement and Values Statement:

Mission

MICROMASH is a trusted partner to time-pressured bar exam takers. We provide a convenient, flexible, easy to use bar study program that ensures you pass the bar exam of your choice. GUARANTEED!

Values

We want our customers to view us as:

• High Quality
• Reliable
• Great Service
• Easy to use
• Knowledgeable
• Convenient
• Modern
• Innovative
• Good value
• Interactive

The new mission statement was officially adopted in late July 2009, so we’ve been living with it for a while now. I have it as my background on my laptop, in an attempt to remind me daily what we are and what is important to us. As anticipated, it has guided many decisions we have made since July, impacting dozens of situations and customers. In future weeks, I’ll be sure to share with you the ways in which the new mission statement has affected both MicroMash and our customers. In the meantime, please feel free to share your MicroMash experiences (both good and bad) in the comments section below. Tell us what you like about doing business with us, and what you would change if you were in charge. We LOVE feedback from customers because it is the basis of our improvement. Cheers!

]]> http://barexambrief.com/2009/11/18/the-new-micromash-mission-statement/feed/ 0 http://barexambrief.com/2009/10/14/micromash-changes-pass-guarantee/ http://barexambrief.com/2009/10/14/micromash-changes-pass-guarantee/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:57:56 +0000 Sean McGinnis http://barexambrief.com/?p=265

Updating this blog with bar exam related news has been a lot of fun. Believe it or not, despite the pace of the updates, we do all have day jobs. Really this blog is a labor of love. Because our jobs require that we deeply immerse ourselves in the bar exam community, we thought it would be both fun and useful to provide a service to the law student community by widely publicizing the information we come across on a daily basis.

In addition to providing you with news about bar exams, we plan to use this blog periodically to announce changes to MicroMash and our policies. Today is the first of those posts. I have been with MicroMash for about three months now. As I came aboard I spoke with our team, with other stakeholders, and with a number of customers about their perceptions of the company. Nearly every person person I spoke with listed our Pass Guarantee as one of the reasons our customers choose to partner with MicroMash. Yet, as I dug a bit deeper, I uncovered a good deal of frustration with the terms and conditions of our guarantee. My research indicated that a number of people were confused about our guarantee qualification requirements. I also noticed during the recent bar exam that our team members were spending a LOT of time communicating with our customers about whether or not the conditions of the guarantee had been met.

After a bit of discussion with the team, we agreed a change was necessary – a change that would lift the burden off the shoulders of our customers and team members alike. No longer will we require a customer to jump through hoops in order to qualify for our Pass Guarantee. Specifically, a customer will no longer be required to answer every one of our 2,200 + MBE questions, or to spend a minimum amount of time on each question, or to invest in our full review, or to submit every essay to a mentor in a timely fashion.

Our new Pass Guarantee could not be simpler:

Purchase any MicroMash Bar Review program and we guarantee that you will pass the bar exam. If for any reason you do not pass, we will renew your materials at no cost until you do pass.

Unlike our old guarantee (and that of every other bar review company that offers a guarantee) there is no fine print. No asterisk. No terms or conditions to meet. A guarantee is a guarantee. Our customers want nothing more than to pass a bar exam. We want that too. This new policy allows our customers to focus on studying, and allows us to focus on our customers.

We are very pleased with this new development, and hope that you are too. Our goal with this decision, and with every decision that follows, is singular – to be the bar review company law students want to do business with. Convenient. Flexible. Easy to use. Great value. Those are just a few of the concepts we strive to represent. We hope you’ll agree that this change to our guarantee is a great first step. Let us know your thoughts on our new Pass Guarantee in the comments below. Or give us a shout out on our new Facebook page. Whatever you do, keep the feedback coming!

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