For those of you wanting to be an actuary ...

[JMO Fan]

Several of my actuarial employers considered a '6' to be the 'perfect' score. I agree - it means you balance your study hours with work. Good job!

Passing matters. Score usually doesn't, unless you bring it up. SoA/CAS will never report your score to someone else.

[TCB]

JMO Fan, thank you for your response. Very encouraging.

[Ebon]

Hi everybody...
I am from Pakistan. I have a B in Alevel maths...and i am currently awaiting the result of chem and phy...
I want to be an actuary, since they are an elite class...

I want to know a couple of thing...
1.University of Karachi and Iobm both offer BS in actuarial Sciences....are the any usefull?
2.Do I get exemptions from SOA if i do the course?
3.What are my routes to enter the profession??

THank you!

[want2beFCAS]

Just found out that I want to be an actuary ...

I was hoping for some advice since I do not know anyone in the field.

I wasted the opportunity I had while I was in college after high school not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I did however get good grades in Calc I and II, Microeconomics, and Corporate Finance. I have always loved math and especially probabilities, forecasting, decision tree analysis.

Anyways I want to be an actuary. I was wondering if I took and passed exams P and FM through self-study if any employers would consider hiring me even though I do not have a degree? Or should i at least be back in school in progress towards a degree before even thinking about applying for an internship or student position with 2 exams under my belt? Should I be on my last semester or year of coursework for a bachelors degree?

I am almost 29 and I am just super anxious to get any sort of work in the field asap. My hope is that it is possible to obtain some sort of position after passing two exams and then work towards completing my bachelors degree part time. Has anyone ever heard of someone becoming an actuary WITHOUT a degree? Is that even a possibility?

Thanks!

[Hella]

Hi, I'm 19 and entering my 2nd year as an Economics student. I've been looking into becoming an actuary and from what I've read it seems I won't be able to enter the field until at least two exams (P and FM) and some experience. My questions are: at this rate with me entering my 2nd year, how many exams would it be realistic/doable for me to pass by the time I graduate? The only resources (assuming a bit of college calculus and statistics, and whatever classes I take to get my BA in Econ) that I'll need to be able to pass are ASMs and practice exams, right?

[Michael_Adams]

I'm starting my actuarial education (as a third year transfer) into an actuarial science program, and my counselor has planned for me to pass 2-3 exams by the time I get my B.S., as I will be taking 3 exam-corresponding courses. There are self-study "courses" online, the best one I have found for FM/2 is a PDF of a 650 page textbook which includes lecture and sample problems. If you are sure that you would like to become an actuary you should look into switching majors / transferring into a good school as the preparatory classes will be helpful. As I understand, if you're not in the major its all about how much you study at home. realistically you could probably pass 2-3 if you work hard (and you're smart). Another thing to think about is transitioning from college to career... which would be much easier if you're in the major. At UCSB for example, representatives come from all over the country and the majority of the students are offered a job.

[Michael_Adams]

Also- don't say hella

[Irish Blues]

I haven't added this as a point [and I may not], but given a handful of posts I think it's important enough to mention.

If [when] you're lucky enough to get called for an interview, you'll have questions you want to ask. [If you don't, you should - not asking questions to the prospective employer is a MAJOR red flag.] When asking questions, it's important to ask the right question to get the answer you want. Ask "what's it like to work here" and you'll get generic, canned responses. Ask "what's the best thing about working here, and what's something you'd change about working here" and you'll get drastically different [and much more informative] answers. You want to make sure you ask the right questions to help you get as much information as possible to make the right choices.

It's also important to ask questions the right way; be respectful and choose words wisely when you ask. Don't just blurt out "tell me about the student program" - ask nicely. Don't ask "is the building located in a bad neighborhood?" Ask "what's the area like around the building?" and then "are there a lot of things to do in the neighborhood after work hours?" You'll get a more complete picture of the area and come across as being interested, instead of sounding like someone who's looking for an excuse not to work there.

This can really be applied to everything you end up doing if [when] you finally get hired - you'll have to ask others for information, and it's important that you can ask the right questions to get the information you're looking for. Others may have the information you want, but not know it if you don't ask in a way they can understand; if you can clearly articulate your questions, you'll get much better answers [and the entire process will take much less time] than if you just go off the top of your head and hope everyone else knows what you mean.