Do employers know if you failed an exam?

[samdman82]

I recently failed exam 1. Would an employer count that against me? What if it takes me 4 tries? Would they know? would they care?

[Actuarias]

For sure, they care about how quick you can pass all the exams. If it takes you 4 tries to pass first exam, it probably takes you more than average time to attain FSA.

[Person Man]

They have no way of knowing if you failed.

How much did you study? If you put enough study hours in, and still failed exam 1, you have to question whether you will even have a remote chance at the higher, even harder exams.

[Hugh Jass]

I recently failed exam 1. Would an employer count that against me? What if it takes me 4 tries? Would they know? would they care?

I would imagine that if you are employed, then yes, they wil lknow because you wil lbe required to tell them. Most employers have a requirement that the students pass x/y exams to remain in the program. I would think that x/y must be > .50

If you aren't employed yet, the potential employer might ask you how many tries it took you to pass. I recommend telling the truth. You can never go wrong with that. They might care, especially if you're competing against someone else who passed it on the 1st try. From the company's perspective, the fewer tries, the better. Then again, if you keep trying after so many failures, that shows determination. But unfortunately, determination can't compete with success.
If it really takes 4 tries, you might want to consider a different career path. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but the exams get harder after P (well, the old exam FM was pretty easy). If it takes you that many tries, the employer will want to hear some very convincing arguments.

[Fermat83]

For sure, they care about how quick you can pass all the exams. If it takes you 4 tries to pass first exam, it probably takes you more than average time to attain FSA.


If it takes someone 4 tries to pass exam 1/P, then this is not the career for you period.


I recently failed exam 1. Would an employer count that against me? What if it takes me 4 tries? Would they know? would they care?


Yes employers will know you failed exams, they assume you are studying for exams and when you don't pass one after a year and a half they will assume you failed. However, I wouldn't get all worked up because you failed 1/P on first attempt. I passed the first 3 on first attempt and I am studying for CAS 3L, I would rank the difficulty of the exams as follows:
1.) 1/P
2.) MFE
3.) CAS 3L
4.) 2/FM

I ranked 1/P first for a couple of reasons. When I started study for 1/P I had just come off a year break from my math studies so I'm sure this had something to do with it. None the less 1/P can have some VERY tricky problems. Moreover I think the first exam one takes is going to be a challenge because you don't have proper actuarial study habits and you might underestimate the difficulty of the exam. Some advice: good study habits are essential to this profession. When I was studying for 1/P I was proving tons of theorems and studying the theory. This is the WRONG approach, solving tons of problems and esspecially the difficult ones is how you study.

[Wigmeister General]

I recently failed exam 1. Would an employer count that against me? What if it takes me 4 tries? Would they know? would they care?

Indirectly, we'll know. If after your working for us, you haven't passed an exam at least once every two years, then we know you failed -- or gave up trying. Before you started work, we're going to ask, "Have you sat for an exam, yet?" How do you plan to respond to that without:

a) Telling the truth, and admitting that your progress on Exam 1 is too slow.
b) Lying to us, and not passing part 1 on the 5th try (when we think it's only the 2nd try)
c) Lying to us, and getting a job offer instead of, "After you have passed 2 exams, give us a call. We'll do lunch, then."

[Vorian Atreides]

A failed exam "counts against" you only until you pass it. Taking four tries to pass an exam might make it tougher to get a job--e.g., you'll have to show your committment to the profession in other ways or by getting more exams passed than you might otherwise need to.

If you don't pass on a particular sitting, you need to ask yourself why? Was it not knowing the material well enough? Not working problems fast enough? You happen to be having a really crappy day (feeling sick, etc.) on Exam day?

And once you identify the why, then formulate the correction(s) needed to address that issue. Keep a good record of this (good for addressing a "What's one of your greatest weakness?" type question during an interview).

The only prelim exam I passed on the first try was Exam 1/P. In fact, it took me three attempts to pass (the old) CAS Exam 3. I've passed all of the prelims now, and it's not hurt my career any.

[MLD]

One thing to note is that it's tough to tell if you failed your 1st exam from looking a at a resume. If you put on your resume for example... "Passed Exam P in May 2008, Passed Exam FM in May 2009". Most people looking at your resume would assume you failed Exam FM in between those exams. They wouldn't know you actually took Exam P 4 times in order to pass it however.

I doubt anyone would ever hold failing 1 exam against someone. Most people fail multiple exams before they are done with them all. Like others have said... if it takes you 4 tries to pass exam P then you have to reconsider your future as an actuary. If you get a few passes under your belt no one will care that you failed P your 1st time.

[stg]

Almost every employer I talked to when looking for my first job asked me if it was my first try when I passed the first exam.

[Maine-iac]

1. There is no official SOA/CAS way to "know" if you are an employer or potential employer.

2. If you are employed, your employer will have every right to ask you if you passed, and may require proof. Eventually, they can get if from the pass list. There is no fail list.

3. As a job seeker, if you have a gap in your exam pass stats, the potential employer will assume you failed, or sat one out. Very, very high likelihood they will ask which it is. One fail likely will not count much against you. The more fails in a row you have, the more it hurts. Sitting out may or may not hurt you, depending on why you did it.

4. If you took multiple exams in a sitting, and passed some and failed some, a potential employer would probably never know that you failed something unless you volunteered the information.

[kazh]

A friend failed the second exam (Part 2 then) many times over several years. Solid employee, had done well in college statistics. Company finally transferred him to systems, where he became extremely successful.

Another friend at the same company failed the same exam several times. Solid worker, but unsure whether he wanted to be an actuary. He finally made up his mind, passed 8 straight exams with 10s, is now company prez.

You never know. No need to broadcast your failures. Study and work hard, and emphasize your successes. :tup:

[glassjaws]

If you work them and they pay for it, they're going to ask. Otherwise, they'll never have an idea.

[JMO Fan]

Your current employer will probably know if you fail. I see no need to tell any prospective employer, and the SoA/CAS won't tell them even if they ask. I have a friend, now a successful FSA, who took a break for a couple of years after ASA before deciding to finish.

[ReAct]

If it takes someone 4 tries to pass exam 1/P, then this is not the career for you period.

I think this is totally incorrect. I didn't even know what a study guide was when I took P. I could easily see someone going into it a couple of times not knowing what it really takes to pass exams before getting their act together. The exams are harder for some than other, but it just takes a desire to pass exams and a realization at some point of how much effort they take.